Hi Becky, all bread recipes (whether yeast-raised, entirely naturally leavened, or a combination of yeast and sourdough starter) require some bulk fermentation time, although the duration of time the dough is allowed to rise in the bowl and how the dough is developed (traditional kneading or a series of folds) can vary from one recipe to the next. Bulk ferment generally refers to the time the dough needs to rise in the bowl before shaping, although including folds, as recommended in this blog post, is often helpful as a way of checking in with the dough and making sure that adequate dough strength has been developed and proper fermentation has occurred.The amount of yeast or sourdough starter included in the recipe impacts how long it takes for the dough to ferment during the bulk ferment, with more yeast or more starter generally making the process happen faster. Other factors that influence this timing can be the type of flour called for in the recipe, since wholegrain flours tend to ferment more quickly than white flours. Deciding how you want to develop the dough strength is impacted by the timing of all this, but also by the type of recipe you're making. For a sandwich bread, such as the Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread recipe, which is baked in a loaf pan, you're generally not as interested in developing an airy crumb structure, so this type of recipe does fine with a more traditional kneading process and may require little or no folding during the rise in the bowl. Since you decided to add the yeast to this recipe I would go with the recipe recommendations as far as how to develop the dough and also in terms of the timing of the rises. If you wanted to include an overnight in the refrigerator with this type of recipe you're right to consider how much time the dough is allowed to rise at room temperature because of the added yeast. In this case you might want to reduce the room temperature bulk ferment time to more like an hour and then put the dough in the refrigertor overnight. The next day I would suggest doing a light preshape in disk form, and then letting the dough rest at room tempeature on a floured surface (covered well) for about an hour before you shape the dough and put it in the pan to rise. At this point the timing has more to do with letting the dough come closer to room temperature before doing the final shape. A loaf that is shaped directly from the fridge is more likely to rise unevenly, since the center of the loaf will remain cooler than the outer layers of dough.
January 7, 2022 at 11:11am
In reply to I usually use bulk… by Becky (not verified)
Hi Becky, all bread recipes (whether yeast-raised, entirely naturally leavened, or a combination of yeast and sourdough starter) require some bulk fermentation time, although the duration of time the dough is allowed to rise in the bowl and how the dough is developed (traditional kneading or a series of folds) can vary from one recipe to the next. Bulk ferment generally refers to the time the dough needs to rise in the bowl before shaping, although including folds, as recommended in this blog post, is often helpful as a way of checking in with the dough and making sure that adequate dough strength has been developed and proper fermentation has occurred.The amount of yeast or sourdough starter included in the recipe impacts how long it takes for the dough to ferment during the bulk ferment, with more yeast or more starter generally making the process happen faster. Other factors that influence this timing can be the type of flour called for in the recipe, since wholegrain flours tend to ferment more quickly than white flours. Deciding how you want to develop the dough strength is impacted by the timing of all this, but also by the type of recipe you're making. For a sandwich bread, such as the Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread recipe, which is baked in a loaf pan, you're generally not as interested in developing an airy crumb structure, so this type of recipe does fine with a more traditional kneading process and may require little or no folding during the rise in the bowl. Since you decided to add the yeast to this recipe I would go with the recipe recommendations as far as how to develop the dough and also in terms of the timing of the rises. If you wanted to include an overnight in the refrigerator with this type of recipe you're right to consider how much time the dough is allowed to rise at room temperature because of the added yeast. In this case you might want to reduce the room temperature bulk ferment time to more like an hour and then put the dough in the refrigertor overnight. The next day I would suggest doing a light preshape in disk form, and then letting the dough rest at room tempeature on a floured surface (covered well) for about an hour before you shape the dough and put it in the pan to rise. At this point the timing has more to do with letting the dough come closer to room temperature before doing the final shape. A loaf that is shaped directly from the fridge is more likely to rise unevenly, since the center of the loaf will remain cooler than the outer layers of dough.