Presently proofing white bread dough. Is it possible to cover too tightly? All I have to cover is plastic wrap, and I have been struggling with ensuring it's air tight. To ensure this one is air tight, I wrapped it twice. However, now I'm worried it's going to be too tight for the dough to rise freely. What should I do?
Welcome to r/AskBaking! We are happy to have you. Please remember to read the rules and make sure your post meets all the requirements. Posts or comments that do not follow the rules will be removed.
Not sure where you got the information that it needs to be covered air tight? This is just not true. A cloth cover is more than sufficient, and that is mostly to keep a "cold draft" from slowing or stopping the proof. My oven has a Proof setting, which does not require I cover the bowl at all.
I got a bread book, and it just says "cover". It doesn't specify. I made some bread the other day and followed the cover instruction with a kitchen towel and my dough developed hard spots on it. Therefore, when the book says "cover" I just automatically think airtight.
The dough ball and proofing bowl should oiled before it is covered. If using a wicker or cloth basket for proofing, just oil the dough ball, then cover. The oil will work to prevent any hard spots.
Professional baker here. The industry secret is that no bakery wraps their dough. When you’re shaping 100+ loaves by hand, we don’t have the luxury of time. Leave your dough unwrapped, it doesn’t make any difference to the final product
Of the 8 or so bakeries I’ve worked for over the last 25 years, all of them used dough tubs with lids. Most of them used racks with plastic covers on them for proofing shaped dough, and some used plastic bags to cover individual trays of proofing dough. All of these practices are equivalent to covering the dough with plastic wrap to keep it from forming too thick of a skin, which absolutely negatively impacts the final product.
The loaves in bannetons have the tops and sides protected from drying out by the bannetons and liners. The loaves below them are literally individually wrapped in plastic wrap.
As I’m sure you know, you need a basket or tin to keep the shape. The bannetons are made of wicker, they’re be no means airtight. The wrapped doughs below are 3.5kg of croissant dough, completely different story, just the easiest way to cold proof that amount of dough before laminating. I’m sure you know this with your 25 years of baking so apologies if I’m over-explaining
Ah yes, that makes sense about the croissant dough. I thought you were trolling or something. I know that one of the roles of the banneton is helping dough maintain shape, but they also help regulate the surface moisture of the dough. They aren’t airtight, and you are right that some doughs can cold proof uncovered and not suffer, I’ve done the same at my own bakery, but they do offer a mediation between the air and the dough and offer a lot of protection from the dough drying out too much. Definitely a million ways to make good bread.
100%, I always say there’s no right or wrong when it comes to baking. My tutor always used to say “it’s only bread”. Whatever works for you (and me) 🙏🏻
It will skin over, but it won’t affect the final product. Next time you bake, make two loaves, cover one, leave the other. I’m confident you won’t see a difference
My bread has been proofing for almost two hours and it doesn't look ready yet. I think the kitchen was too cold, so I moved it to a warmer room. When do you realize you might have messed up somewhere along the way and start over?
Difficult to say without knowing your recipe or process but the poke test is always a good way to know when your dough is ready. It should have grown in volume and when you poke it, it should slowly rise back up, but not all the way. If it springs back immediately, it needs more proofing. If it doesn’t spring back at all and your poke has left an imprint, it’s starting to overproof and you should bake it.
No, I’d say if you’re following a recipe and you’ve got the exact size pan it’s recommending, then 1” above seems reasonable. Give it a poke and see anyway!
If you’re proving the bread on your counter, I’d consider putting a bowl upside down over it. Alternatively I often put mine in the oven to proof and leave it uncovered, with a pan of hot water to keep the humidity up.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Welcome to r/AskBaking! We are happy to have you. Please remember to read the rules and make sure your post meets all the requirements. Posts or comments that do not follow the rules will be removed.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.