dough raised w/o being covered?

I've raised french bread loaves in a cold oven (no dafts) w/o covering or misting and have had excellent results. Also, I have noticed the bakery in the Dominick's/Safeway store raises their loaves w/o covering.

Howdy,

The purpose of covering the rising dough is just to keep the surface moist. There are several ways to do that other than covering the dough with something that would touch its surface.

One way is to put the dough in some location that preserves the humidity. That may be the reason that rising it in the cool oven works. It is the same idea as putting the rising dough into a plastic box with a reasonably well sealed lid.

Another technique is to take a large plastic bag, and put the rising dough in. Then, flap the bag to "gulp" in some air, and close the end with a rubber band. The bag will look "inflated" and will not touch the dough. It will keep the interior humid because the vapor generated by evaporation from the moist dough cannot escape...

One other thought:

Indeed, a slightly drier exterior can help with the slash, but, it the skin that forms is too dry, it is more likely to tear as the loaf rises.

All the best,

I let mine raise in the convection oven on proof temp and yes, it is uncovered.

That's because the skin has remained thin enough. If you left it much longer, it might dry too much of the dough.

Yup. But I use a proofer, which adds humidity and keeps the surface moist.

Why don't you just use a bigger bowl, and cover it? Then it won't stick to plastic or get a skin on it. As a result, I have no need to oil the plastic.

That's fine for the first rise or two. I believe that the OP may have been referring to the final rise after the product has been formed. I don't like to use towels and I have had a number of incidents where plastic wrap has become hopelessly stuck to the loaves.

Well, on the final product in our home, we use the plastic, with no sticking. I guess some people get stuck on the minor points. :)

I can't tell you how many times I have had plastic stick to my loaves. I must be doing something wrong. The only thing that prevents the plastic from sticking is if I flour the loaves before covering with plastic. I like to do the final rise in the oven or microwave, uncovered, with a big container or boiling hot water to add humidity. I use the oven for multiple loaves, putting the boiling water into a broiler pan.

Exactly, Vox. I let the dough sit in the bread machine container for the first rise or two (since I'll be deflating it anyway). It's the final rise after I've shaped it that I find works just as well au nataral, sitting on the peel (or in my case, the rimless lid to my stove-top smoker). Like you I've had plastic wrap stuck in loaves and I don't own a bowl large enough to cover the final boule. So I started letting it rise in the open air and it all seems to have worked out so far-- no cracked skins. Worst-case: I lightly spritz the skin half way through. I can't believe I'm the only person to do this.

jk

Nice tip.

I can't even begin to tell you how may breads I have made. And of course trial and error is among the best ways to perfect your final product. But then again, so to is my school to assist.

There are 2 fermenting stages in the making of breads. Most bakers distinguish the first and second by reffering to the second as 'proofing/retarding'

The first fermenting is the leaving of the dough as whole or portioning it and then leaving it to rest and relax for a bit to allow the gluten to condition. Here, it is common to either lighly dust the dough with flour or to lightly spray it with a non-stick cooking spray and cover it with a BIG GARBAGE BAG (not put it inside the bag) and let it rest till double size and relaxed. For a small amount you may also choose to place the dough in a lightly sprayed stainless steel bowl, but making sure you toss the dough around so as just to cover it with the spray, then tightly cover the bowl with saran wrap and place it in a lukewarm (not to hot ) area, such as on top of an oven (not inside).

Once your dough has doubled in size, you will want to return it to a lighly dusted floured table, punch the dough down so that the air has been released. Then you will portion and shape your dought accordingly. At that point you will move onto the proofing stage.

During this stage, you will shape your dough, and keeping the product covered with a plastic garbage bag, or damp towel so as not to develop a skin, until all your doughs are molded and ready to be placed on your baking sheet or in your container. Next you will proof your dough till double size by either

1) warm and moist place (proof box) uncovered. 2) place tray and doughs in a garbage bag and place in a fridge for 8+ hours 3) let sit out uncovered - a skin will develop but so will you get a nice medium crust.

Proofing is done with you lightly press on the dough ad a a slighy indentation remains.

Slashes on breads are not only for appearance, but as an aid to relieving pressure. The produt increases in volume at a greatly accelerated speed during the first 5 minutes of baking. This can cause the surface to break or crack at any weak point. A bread that is underproofed is very prone to surface breakage. By slashing the skin into decorative patterns, these points become predetermined, and the expansion is uniform and controoled. In most cases, the cuts are made just under the skin of the loaf and not deeptoward the center.

I hope the garbage bag doesn't touch the dough. Garbage bags aren't food-safe containers. Besides containing plasticizers untested for contact with food (both in type and quantity), they are often treated at by the manufacturer with deodorants and pesticides.

If a health inspector from most US states saw this type of thing in a restaurant, the establishment's owner would likely get a violation written up and be ordered to trash the dough. I don't know the rules in Canada, but I'd be surprised if they were substantively different--and the underlying reason is still the same.

WOW. When I was in culinary school not to long ago, I wondered why so many cooks were carrying around tool boxes and tackle boxes, rather than a specialized kitchen equipment carrier. Most if not all chefs use a lot of interesting tools in their arsenal of food preparation and presentation. Plumbing copper pipes may be cut down, sanded out, and cleaned to be used to mold towers of pasta, salad, ice cream, etc.. Sure you can use a lot of different tools, (saws, hammers, pliers, nails, etc,) and a lot of different mediums (ceramic bathroom tiles in place of plates), plastic bins or straw baskets for fermenting or proofing breads. And that is completely up to you.

To get to the point, and back from my tangent.......yes the Garbage bag does touch the dough. If you want to come down to the nitty-gritty......everyone can find anything bad in everything. Obviously don't use the perfume-lilac scented garbage bags from arm&hammer co., Industrial black or clear garbage bags work well and can be used over and over again. Where I would prefer to lighly dust the dough with flour, one of my friend's prefers to spray pam over the dough. and when you want, actually use them for garbage and discard. You can use plastic containers that are lightly sprayed with oil to prevent sticking. As for the Health Inspectors....none that I know have had any problems with these methods - in Canada or from a number of friends in the USA. But as I am curious myself, I will call US depts of health and in Canada to get their take.

Charles Baker.

The box you carry your tools in, even if it's leaching plasticizers and outgassing solvents, just isn't going to have much affect on the tools therein. Especially if you wash it first.

Metal is generally free of chemical contaminants - especially if it's been sanded down. Ceramics are heated hot enough to vaporize any organics that might be in them, and glazed ceramics don't even present the possibility of leaching heavy metals that may or may not be in them.

Nails are slightly iffy. They are frequently coated to make them stick to the wood. You'd want to run them through a commercial grade dishwasher first. ditto just about any woodworking equipment - often coated with water repellants. After the dishwasher, though, no problem.

Those plastic bins may have actually been specified as food-safe. Never heard of anybody putting dough directly inside a straw basket. Seems like you'd get straw in the dough.

Garbage bags, however, smell funny when warm, which indicates that they are outgassing . . . . something. something i don't want in my bread. I don't know what it is, but I'll pass.

The health codes are written on the state level, not federal, so you'd have to call a state's department of health. For restaurants, inspections are often performed at the county level (i.e., County So-and-So Department of Health), where the county health regulations are based on that state's health code.

My brother is a county health inspector; I double-checked with him, and he said it was a definite violation. His further response: "All food contact surfaces and storage containers must be made of food grade material as defined by the FDA or NSF," else it's a violation.

And it's not just a matter of "perfume-lilac scented garbage bags from arm&hammer co."; as noted in my original post, there's the issue of plasticizers (used to make plastic more pliable). They can be toxic, especially if ingested, and plastics that are not certified as food-grade may leach them into the food they touch. Even food-grade plastics may do so, if heated (see: ). And the deodorants/pesticides on garbage bags aren't necessarily listed on the package--i.e., the product can be unscented and contain the additives.

[snip] [snip] I noticed Charles' note too. So I went to the FDA's Website to check current regulations...couldn't find anything definitive. However, Glad maintains their 4-gallon size trash bag is certified for food use; the only one of their trash bags that is.

Whew... Just use a large food-grade bag.

HTH,

I agree. I was talking about this with my brother last night, and he said that you can buy food-grade bags just like large trash bags for a similar price (at restaurant supply stores), but that chefs rarely bother.