Book of American Baking / A Practical Guide Covering Various Branches of the Baking Industry, Including Cakes, Buns, and Pastry, Bread Making, Pie Baking, Etc.

by Various

Probably the most important step in bread-making is the fermentation period. To start the fermentation correctly means to have the dough mixed correctly as to temperature and ingredients added, to obtain the best results in fermentation.

Yeast ferments best at a temperature of 86 degrees. But, if a dough is set at this temperature, and has a tendency to warm up during fermentation, it gives even a higher temperature when the dough is ready for the pans. Other ferments also start to develop at this temperature which cause the dough to become sour, to a more or less degree, and in this way either cause sour bread or at least a loss of the rich wheat flavor.

A dough works best at a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr., having the room at 76 degrees Fahr. The danger points in the temperature of a dough under these conditions are 76 degrees and 86 degrees Fahr. If a dough is mixed at 80 degrees Fahr. and put into a dough room having a temperature of 76 degrees Fahr., it will probably go onto the bench at 82 degrees Fahr., which gives the best results in the bread. If a dough is mixed warmer than 80 degrees Fahr. it is necessary to watch it much closer and take it at exactly the right time. Even with the most careful observation of a dough at a warm temperature, a loss of flavor or a tinge of sourness develops. Our advice is to be wary of a warm dough.

The age of dough is the critical point in bread-making. How to tell the age of a dough is a question we have never seen satisfactorily answered. Most bakers tell intuitively, and this has required long experience. The color, texture, volume and flavor of the resulting bread are dependent almost entirely on the age of the dough.

The length of time of the first rising in a straight dough is a point many bakers do not consider. If the dough is too young, give more time on the first rising; if too old, shorten the time of the first rising. The age of a dough is governed to a considerable degree by the first rising.

A strong flour requires three risings by the ordinary methods of bread-making. There are processes used where the dough is punched at stated intervals. This, however, is used more successfully where very good control is had over the temperature and humidity.

Technically, a dough is ready when the yeast has reached the maximum of its energy. If the proper development of gluten and the maximum of energy of the yeast is not reached, a young dough is the result. A young dough will not spring in the oven, the texture will be coarse, the color will be yellow in varying degrees, and a generally poor loaf is received.

If the fermentation is carried too far, the yeast will have lost its vitality, other ferments will have started to develop. The loaf will have a tendency to fall in the oven. It will not spring in the oven, the texture will be coarse, the color dark and the wheat flavor lost, a sour odor will also be noticeable.

If the dough is fermented at too high a temperature, both young and old characteristics will be noticeable in the loaf.

Any improper handling of a dough, either by ingredients added, length of the period of fermentation, or wrong temperature, will give a dark, coarse and small loaf. The miller is usually blamed for these results, which in reality are not caused by the flour, but by the improper use of the ingredients and methods of handling.