Who knew! Very informative. This answers a lot of questions as to why I get variable results with my recipes. I was aware of the less water in the summer, but the temperature rules add a whole new prospective to bread baking. I do keep my yeast in the freezer. I also keep my whole wheat flour in the refrigerator. I keep a canister of all purpose on the counter and the rest of my ap in the refrigerator. This means that at any time my ingredients before water is added can be different temperatures. It also means that the flour in the refrigerator is not absorbing water during humid weather except for that canister of flour I keep on the counter (which I have to refill constantly). To complicate this just a tad, I use my bread machine to knead and take the dough through the first rise. The instructions for the bread machine indicate to not use warm water. This is because the temperature in the bread machine is kept at an optimal level throughout the kneading and rising process. Thank you for such detailed info. I am going to see how I can apply it. Cheers.
June 24, 2018 at 11:16am