November 21, 2022 - 8:33am
Brod and Taylor proofer - bulk fermentation
Hello,
I have use glass or plastic containers for my dough and a small beaker (50 ml) for the sample for the bulk fermentation stage. I am wondering whether the differences in material/thickness of glass in these containers will have any effect on rate of fermentation on the dough and sample. Does the sample in a beaker, made of thin glass, ferment faster than the dough in a thicker glass mixing bowl? Both are sitting on the wire rack that emits heat. Thank you.
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What I find is that if the dough temperature and the glass temperature are quite a bit colder than the proofing box setting, then the dough temperature will lag that in the smaller aliquot jar/tube. In order to reduce this different, I will keep the aliquot jar/tube in direct contact with the dough in the glass container. This way the aliquot jar will more closely follow the main dough temperature as it gradually comes up to the temperature of the proofing box.
Benny
Hi Benny,
Normally, I put the tube beside the dough container in the proofer. But, I have not thought of your idea of putting the tube right inside the container with the dough! I am a beginner baker and making one loaf at a time. I will give this a try next time I bake. Thanks.
Hi, this question has no answer, actually, because it depends on the mass of the dough that you bulk ferment and its initial temperature more than on the container walls. It heats from within due to yeast fermentation releasing heat and raising the internal dough temperature at the rate of 1-2 degrees Celcius per hour.
If the mass of the dough is large enough, that extra heat stays inside, it is not lost and the dough will ferment faster than the sample in a small beaker that quickly loses internal heat to the environment due to its small size.
You would need to determine it experimentally once. Place both in graded containers and watch them rise to determine if they rise equally or one rises faster than another. To grade your containers, simply add water, 1L, 2L, 3L etc. and mark the level of water with a marker or a piece of scotch tape outside.
Hi Mariana,
I am a newbie so, I make one loaf at a time. Based on your comments, there should not be any issues with temperature differences between dough and sample. I never quite trust whether the sample rise is actually happening with the dough at the same rate. I will take your advice and experiment to find out what what works for my kitchen in both summer and winter. Thanks.
Most if the recipes I’ve read call for controlling the starting temperature of the dough. If your dough starts out at your proofing temperature and your proofer is already warm, I don’t see where it would make any difference. Unless, of course, your containers temperature is a drastically different temperature and it has enough mass to make a difference. Even that could be addresses by keeping your fermentation containers in the proofer to get them up to temp.