Bread making - Pause?

Not only is it possible to slow the process, but it is preferable. I often make dough and let it rise in the refrigerator. The flavor and texture is improved. At the point that the dough is ready for the first rise, I simply put it in the refrigerator. Make sure you give it enough room to expand -- I often just put the dough into a plastic bag. When you are ready to continue, remove it from the refrigerator, form you loaf, and let it rise again. You will have to add an extra 30 minutes or so to the second rise because the dough is cold. Bake as usual.

You can also make a small portion of the dough without the salt and let it rise on the counter overnight, then combine it with the rest of the ingredients the next day. If you want, you can then retard *this* dough overnight. This should yield really good bread.

When you think about it, there are only five ingredients in classic bread: flour, yeast, water, salt and technique. Once you've decided on the proportions of the first four things, the only variable is the technique. Don't be afraid to experiment. Remember, there are no bread failures, just more bread crumbs.

Barry

Or do it the other way around. Do the first rise at room temperature, shape loaves, let them just begin to move and then refrigerate over night. Bringing them totally to room temperature the next day is not necessary before baking. Janet

I'll give that a try. I am somewhat afraid that the final product would over-rises in the refrigerator.

I've done refrigerator rises for years and never had a problem. The guidelines are for 2-24 hours. Most of the rise will take place in the first two hours, then it slows down or stops.

Karen

To add another datapoint...

I've done second (i.e. final) rises of up to 5 days in the fridge. The resulting leavening power is not consistent enough that it could be used commercially but it's fine for home. It's especially good for having dough around all the time that can be put together for quick pizza dough, bread sticks, focaccia, etc. I always have a supply of dough loaded in pans and wrapped in my fridge.

It is pretty scary sometimes, when you look in the fridge and the dough is still rising like crazy. It is still working off of internal heat and heat that it generates. But as another poster said, it slows or stops after a couple of hours. The advantage for me is that I can start the bread when I get home from work; it does the bowl rising at its leisure during supper and until I am almost ready for bed. I then shape up the dough and put on/in pans or baskets, let it just begin to move a bit and then put it in plastic bags and in the refrigerator. First thing when I get up in the morning, I turn on the oven to preheat for about an hour, take the bread out of the refrigerator and put the bread in the oven when the loaves feel right(light, but not jiggly). The temperature of the dough at this point will probably still be quite cool--doesn't matter. Actually, if you are going to slash the loaves, a cool loaf slashes more easily. I can get the bread baked before I go to work in the morning. This works out very well during the summer when you don't want heat in the kitchen later in the day. Janet

This method is great, especially for weekend brunches. Taking it out of the fridge, turn on the oven, brew the coffee, read again about how lousy the Seahawks and Sonics are, and presto, time to bake the bread, or my favorite Saturday brunch: onion bagels, cream cheese and lox.

right(light,

The reason that I never tried to make-up the final products is because, as you point out, the dough can rise at an amazing rate in the refrigerator. There have been times that have had to deflate the dough and let it raise a second time in the frig. That's why I always smile when I see people who are overly concerned about proofing boxes and draft-free environments.

Retarding is refrigerating your yeast dough to slow the fermentation. Make sure your liquid is 75º and your refrigerator is between 35ºF and 40ºF.