Making several at a time. Temperature control & consistent results. What's your method?
When I'm only making one loaf or two loafs I use a Brod & Taylor proofer when the kitchen is cooler to get consistent results. I can control the temperature the entire process, it's a wonderful device. The tough part is getting consistent results when you making more than a couple loaves as the proofer isn't that large.
My goal is to sell sourdough boules/batards & focaccia weekly in my community. The problem is, when I'm not using the proofer, or it's summer, I really struggle with temperature fluctuations, and in turn, I get inconsistent results: under proofed, or over proofed bread that turns out looking average, at best.
I've tried the 'poke' test method with mixed results. When I want to push the proofing time for bigger alveoli & spring (like the attached pic), I find this method doesn't work well.
What do you do?
That look like a nice loaf. Some things that I do to help with consistency are: (a) take the temperature of the dough right after the final mixing, (b) take the temperature of the kitchen, (c) keep notes about the timing of the various stages of the bread production.
From knowing the temperature of the dough and the kitchen, I have some idea about how long the bulk fermentation will likely take. There is, of course, no substitute for watching the dough, but at least I have a sense of what to expect. The notes allow me to look back at previous bakes and see what the conditions were and how they affected the length of time and the final result.
There are a lot of variables. Things that will change during the year include the humidity in the kitchen. Sometimes I add water during the initial mix and sometimes not (my notes tell me whether this occurred). The amount of time the loaves bake will vary a little from one bake to the next. For this I look at how much moisture is on the inside of the bags that held the loaves overnight in the refrigerator and get an idea of how much water might already have left the dough. I watch the crust as it darkens. When mixing the dough I pay attention to the feel of the dough. Sometimes the gluten forms more readily than other times, which might take a few more French folds or some more pulling and working the dough in my mixing tub.
In general, for consistency you would benefit from experience and notes. The experience will give you knowledge and feel for a particular type of bread, and the notes will give you a reference as your sample size of bakes increases.
Good luck with your project.
Ted
This might not be relevant depending on your house, but my approach, for the summertime at least, is to do the bulk fermentation overnight in the basement or outside where temperatures will stay cooler or get cooler overnight. Doing it overnight is always a little bit of a gamble because you can't (or at least I don't want to) check the progress. But if you have a petty good sense of how long the bulk fermentation usually takes for you starter and inoculation % then you can have a sense of how much slower that might take with temperatures lower.
I also find this table helpful for getting a ballpark idea of what to expect since proofing time vs. temperature is not a linear relationship: https://www.wraithnj.com/breadpics/rise_time_table/bread_model_bwraith.htm