Although there are over 1, distinct species of yeast and many more strains which range from helpful to hurtful , when we bake bread, we are almost always using Saccharomyces cerevisiae , whose name we won't worry about trying to pronounce.
Commercial baking yeast, whether we we're talking about fresh cake yeast, active dry, or instant, are all purified cultures of the same species. Different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are also commonly used to brew beer, and specifically ales. When we choose what kind of commercial yeast to use for bread, it's important to remember that they're all the same species and strain.
Whichever variety of yeast you buy, make sure to measure accurately and all will be fine. Sourdoughs and starters are another can of worms, and we'll cover them in later posts. Yeasted breads get bigger. That's why we call them leavened. For a baker, this is what we call rising. Rising is the most dramatic physical change a dough undergoes on account of yeast activity.
Technically speaking, rising is a product of a process called respiration, which occurs in conjunction with fermentation, that we'll discuss next. You see, S. And flour just so happens to be packed with starches—long chains of simpler, smaller sugars, such as glucose, sucrose, and maltose. When our flour met our water during the autolyse, enzymes called amylases began breaking down the flour's starches into these simpler sugars, which the yeast readily devour.
As the yeast eat sugars released by the starch, they belch out carbon dioxide, and that gas congregates in tiny air bubbles. It's those same air bubbles that we incorporated into our dough during mixing. These bubbles are in turn held inside our dough by the gluten structure we developed during mixing, and which we'll further develop during bulk fermentation. As the yeast respirates, our bread rises.
In the simplest of terms, fermentation is what happens when yeast cells eat and poop. Specifically, it's what happens when yeast cells consume sugars and produce ethanol and other derivative chemicals. The alcohol produced by the yeast during fermentation—along with a multitude of other reactions—are what give great bread its characteristic flavors and aroma. Generally speaking, more fermentation means tastier bread.
In the most technical, terms fermentation is an anaerobic reaction meaning it happens in the absence of oxygen that the yeast performs after respiration, which is aerobic and requires oxygen. In bread baking, the word proofing most commonly refers to the final rise dough undergoes, which takes place after being shaped into a loaf, and before it is baked. In practice, however, the words proof and fermentation are sometimes used interchangeably. What's important to realize here is that shaping dough affects its physical form, but doesn't impact its internal chemistry—the processes and chemical reactions at work during our bulk and final rises are the same.
With that vocabulary in mind, let's take a look at the dough we all just birthed, and, armed with patience, get back to work. The bulk fermentation for any dough is a crucial step in the bread baking process, even if it isn't the most exciting one. We call it a bulk fermentation because we are letting our dough—the entire batch—ferment as one mass, before dividing and shaping it into loaves.
It's during our bulk fermentation that the yeast does the majority of its work, helping our dough gain flavor as ethanol and other byproducts are produced, and gain structure as CO2 inflates our gluten network. At a comfortable room temperature, our bulk fermentation for the workhorse loaf will take about one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours.
As a rule, warmer dough will rise faster than colder dough, so make sure you take stock of the environment in which you're baking. I can hear you asking, "Why not make my dough really warm so it'll proof faster and I can have bread sooner? Chief among them is that the fermentation that produces good flavor really only takes place in earnest after the yeast have exhausted most of their oxygen supply. If we allow our dough to rise too quickly, we'll get lots of CO2 but less alcohol than we want, meaning our bread won't taste as good.
Furthermore, gluten is less temperature sensitive than yeast. Meaning that if we get our dough too warm, our yeast will inflate the dough faster than its gluten structure can organize itself—the bubbles that make up our dough's internal structure will over-inflate and pop like balloons.
This will hurt our shaping efforts later and give us flatter, less sexy looking bread. I know, two hours feels like a long time. Trust me, it's worth it.
Don't rush the bulk rise. So, can the bulk rise be slowed down? A slower bulk rise will encourage more flavor and structural development up to a point. But remember, the yeast has a limited food supply, and we want to make sure to leave it enough food for a successful final proof, and make sure enough sugars are present to allow our crusts to properly caramelize when we bake them.
If you want to let you dough proof for longer, try bulk-fermenting it in a cooler place, but don't allow it to go longer than three hours or structure and flavor may be compromised. For the workhorse loaf, a bulk proof of approximately two hours gives us the optimal balance of flavor and texture.
Practically speaking, all this means you shouldn't let the workhorse bulk-ferment anywhere you wouldn't want to hang out. If you're working in a really hot kitchen, allow your dough to bulk ferment in cool a cabinet close to the floor. If you're working in a very cold kitchen, put your stove on low and set your dough near it.
If you live in a home where you can control the temperature of rooms without needing to beg your superintendant for a favor, set your thermostat to 75 degrees and stop thinking about it. But a watched dough never rises, so don't stare at it the whole time. Eat a sandwich, make your bed, or get to work cooking the rest of your meal. Let the dough do the work and try not to mess with it too much.
Distractions are a home-baker's best friend. That said, us bakers do have some important work to do during the bulk fermentation. About a half hour into the bulk rise, it's time to fold, or turn, our dough. Folding dough effectively takes a bit of practice, but is one of my favorite parts of making bread.
A good fold lets us stare into a dough's soul. So, why do we fold dough? Lots of reasons. To start with, folding dough develops gluten structure. By first stretching and layering our gluten, we help our dough more effectively hold water and air. As we trap more air in our dough during these motions, folding also helps to establish a more open crumb structure in our baked loaves.
Secondly, folding dough redistributes our yeast and its food, making sure each little Cookie Monster gets its fill. Also, folding dough helps to regulate its temperature, keeping it consistent through its mass. Together, these two consequences of folding regulate yeast activity, and help our dough stay on schedule. As the yeast "breathes" or respires, it causes the bread to grow and rise.
The bulk fermentation, or first proof, for any dough is a crucial step in the bread-baking process. It is called bulk fermentation because you are letting the dough—the entire batch—ferment as one mass before dividing and shaping it into loaves or rolls.
It is during bulk fermentation that the yeast does the majority of its work, helping your dough gain flavor as alcohol and other byproducts are produced and gain structure as carbon dioxide inflates the bread. At comfortable room temperature, bulk fermentation will take one to two hours. As a rule, a warmer dough will rise faster than colder dough, so make sure you take stock of your prep environment.
After punching down , kneading , folding , and stretching your dough, you will portion out the dough into serving sizes or loaves. You get it ready for its final proof by putting it into its final shape. You can place the shaped dough into baskets, bowls, or bread pans, cover with towels, and perform a shorter second rise at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
During this time, the loaves should nearly double in size. Proofing loaves in the fridge, known as retarding , will slow down the final rise. This can give your loaves more flavor and make them easier to handle and score before baking.
Over proofing occurs when a fermenting dough has rested too long, resulting in the bubbles growing so large that they pop. Dough baked at this point would result in a bread with poor structure. Under proofing can also negatively affect the structure. If you poke the dough and it springs back immediately it is under proofed and needs more time. Fermentation is when the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough, and at times the words proof and fermentation and used interchangeably.
Proofing bread is crucial to the overall flavor and texture of your final loaf. Baking bread is a process. Since bread proofing is an important step in a much larger process, I wanted to provide you with an overview of bread making. Check out our article on sourdough bread for a more complete, detailed how-to. Seems like a perfect day for some breadmaking practice homebaked homemadebread diy.
Tools of the trade make the bread making process easier. The following is a list of equipment that can be helpful in your bread making journey. Bulk fermentation, or the first rise of the dough in bread making, is a very important step in the breadmaking process because this is where we let our dough ferment before dividing and shaping it into loaves. It is during this fermentation process that the yeast is going to work its magic. The process of fermenting helps the dough gain flavor as the yeast is creating alcohol and other by-products.
Related Post: 40 Fermentation Recipes. You do not want to rush your bulk fermentation as this is where all the yummy flavor is produced! If you allow the dough to rise too quickly, you will get a lot of carbon dioxide but less alcohol, and this will make the bread have an off flavor.
The alcohols released by yeast give bread its tasty, rich, earthy flavor , but if the dough is allowed to rise for too long, that flavor will become pronounced and the bread will have a heavy yeasty taste or smell. Stretch, fold, rest. Proofing the dough too fast will also interfere with the gluten structure as the yeast will over-inflate and pop, resulting in a dense or more flattened bread. However, you can slow down the bulk rise and this will encourage more flavor and structure.
But remember that the yeast only has so much food supply, and there needs to be some sugar to allow the crust to caramelize when you bake the bread.
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