Is it 100° where you are? · The Bread & Butter Way

Is it 100° where you are?

In my state of Minnesota (& extreme weather) today we are under a heat advisory. Crazy hot & humid. Two weeks ago, it was starting to warm up. It was still upper 70s so it was what I thought was perfect to mix dough. So I thought. I was prepping for the first farmers market of the season, where I was planning to bring 70 loaves of bread. I had upgraded my fridge so it could hold more dough, and got new containers. However, within 45 minutes, my dough was overflowing out of the containers, I quickly split the dough and put into additional containers. I knew that my dough hadn't fermented completely, it was just aggressively rising. Those containers started to overflow as well! So I split that dough and put them into even more containers. Then put them in fridge to cool down. That helped, but they were still overflowing. I broke all of my rules...and had a mess to show for it. There was one point that when I opened the fridge, the dough had stuck to the door. oof. All the new elements created a layer of unpredictability.

Summer kitchens move faster. Doughs rise quicker. Starters wake up before you’ve had coffee. That doesn’t mean you have to quit baking until September. It just means you need a different rhythm. This week inside BBW, we’re talking about how to bake with the heat instead of fighting it: shorter countertop time, more fridge time, and dough schedules that actually work in the heat.

If you haven't ever baked in the heat, try it for fun (when there is no pressure) bake one loaf this week using cooler water and at least one cold proof. Notice how long it takes to rise, how the dough feels, and what changes in your crumb. Any summer bake is data.

You’re not “messing it up” — you’re learning how your dough behaves when it’s warm.

This last week for farmers market, I used cold water, started after the sun started to set and split my dough more evenly through the containers. But it cooled off quite a bit and took FOREVER to rise, but we got there and I didn't have a mess to clean up.

Question for you: What’s the warmest your kitchen gets this time of year?

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Is it 100° where you are?