The experiment: same dough, 2 batches, bulk fermented to 40% & 50%

Gaylord Foreman

23d • 🍞 Recipes

I’m using the KitchenAid mixer this time…

Formula: 100/75/2/10 total flour weight, 1200g, including flour in Hank.

Recipe… 2 loaves

540g high gluten flour

540g all purpose flour

780g water

240g Hank

24g salt… added after 30 minutes Fermentolyse

—————-

2124g total weight

I made 2 batches of this same dough exactly the same way…

Pour Hank into KA mixing bowl + 780g water… whisk by hand. Add all the flour and let the mixer mix it to a shaggy mass. Scrap the bottom of mixing bowl to make sure there no dry flour. Fermentolyse for 30 minutes.
Add salt and let the mixer develop the gluten on speed 4 four 6 minutes. The dough passed the windowpane test. I removed the mixing bowl and let the dough bench rest in it for 20 minutes.
Dump dough out on wet work bench and do a lamination… not to add structure, just to add layers.
Put dough in cambro for bulk fermentation on the heating pad that’s set at 84°f. Dough temperature 82°f.
After batch A had risen 40% I dumped it on the work bench to divide it, preshape it and bench rest it for 20 minutes. Then I final shaped it and put the 2 loaves into bannetons. 1 went in the fridge 4 hours after the start of mixing, and 1 was final proofed at room temperature. It went in the oven, unscored, after 20 minutes of final proofing. Then I did the same process with batch B after it rose 50%, which took 30 minutes longer in bulk fermentation to get the extra 10% rise. The fridge loaf took 4.5 hours.

The loaves both came out fantastic… they were bigger than normal. I think the mixer added more gluten strength/structure and the extended fermentation time gave more gas for the oven, ears and crumb.

14 comments

The experiment: same dough, 2 batches, bulk fermented to 40% & 50%