the effects of bulk fermentation on a basic dough

[norma427]

John,

Great job!    The crumb, bottom crust browning and whole pizza look delicious.

Norma

[fazzari]

John,

Great job!    The crumb, bottom crust browning and whole pizza look delicious.

Norma

Oh to have the time and resources to thoroughly test a procedure Norma!!

John

[slybarman]

Forgive me resurrecting this slightly older thread, but I had read it the other day and decided to have a go at balling the dough after it had fermented. I used 100% AT @ 60% hydration and I balled after 24 hrs cold ferment and 8 hours before baking. I took the dough from the fridge 3 hrs before baking.

I found the dough much tougher to stretch than usual. However, I definitely got better spring and more structure than I had been by balling right after mixing.

Is the tougher stretching common for this method?

[TXCraig1]

I think to the extent that you have less time in balls, AOTBE, it will be more difficult to stretch. Your dough only had 8 hours to relax vs. 32.

[slybarman]

I think to the extent that you have less time in balls, AOTBE, it will be more difficult to stretch. Your dough only had 8 hours to relax vs. 32.

LOL - Craig, I find myself having to Google at least one thing from each of your posts - AOTBE.

What you say makes sense. The final product wasn't really tougher or chewier, but for sure harder to stretch.

[scott123]

Steve, re-balls develop a considerable amount of gluten.  100% AT dough has a load of gluten potential.  If you re-ball a dough with that much protein in it, it's could easily be tough to form, even with 8 hours. AT (and Kyrol and KASL) really wants to make gluten. That's what it was put on this earth to do. Look at it sideways and gluten starts forming   If you don't want to end up with a difficult form or a tough crust, for a cold fermented dough, you have to treat it with kid gloves by severely underkneading it and giving it plenty of time after the reball.  This is why lower protein flours (such as Full Strength or Spring King) or AT/AP blends are so much easier to work with. You don't have to tiptoe around them for fear of creating too much gluten.

[slybarman]

Steve, re-balls develop a considerable amount of gluten.  100% AT dough has a load of gluten potential.  If you re-ball a dough with that much protein in it, it's could easily be tough to form, even with 8 hours. AT (and Kyrol and KASL) really wants to make gluten. That's what it was put on this earth to do. Look at it sideways and gluten starts forming   If you don't want to end up with a difficult form or a tough crust, for a cold fermented dough, you have to treat it with kid gloves by severely underkneading it and giving it plenty of time after the reball.  This is why lower protein flours (such as Full Strength or Spring King) or AT/AP blends are so much easier to work with. You don't have to tiptoe around them for fear of creating too much gluten.

Scott:

I got a good laugh at your visual of a ticking gluten bomb just waiting for an excuse to explode.

I am not sure if what I did was technically a "re-ball" since I did not ball it after mixing. I balled it only once 8 hrs before baking. I did under-knead as we have been discussing in the other thread.

I have about 15 more lbs of AT to go through and then I can consider a lower protein flour for next time.

[scott123]

Steve, remember, you can blend it.  66 AT/33 AP works nicely.

How aggressively are you balling, btw?  You should turn the dough over itself maybe 2-3 times max.

[slybarman]

I am probably doing double that, but will try less next time.

[slybarman]

Steve, remember, you can blend it.  66 AT/33 AP works nicely.

How aggressively are you balling, btw?  You should turn the dough over itself maybe 2-3 times max.

Does the blend warrant slightly higher hydration than straight AT?

[scott123]

Steve, lower protein requires less water, but, in this instance, 60% hydration is perfectly fine for the blend.

[slybarman]

Scott:

Thanks as always for being generous with your time and knowledge.

[scott123]

You're welcome, Steve