I keep my house at 65 deg. in the winter, so I do the initial bulk proofing in the oven with the light on and a mug of just boiled water. No problem with anyone turning it on since I use the larger of my two ovens for proofing and it is never turned on unless it is Thanksgiving. It's much more likely that someone will want to use the microwave than the oven. In lieu of that, I would suggest putting the dough in a medium sized cooler along with a jar of hot water. Much more cost effective than forking over $200 for a proof box if you are only an occasional user. For the second rising (after shaping), I don't do anything special. The second rising always goes much quicker since the yeast is pretty active at that point, and at that stage, I worry more about overproofing.

• Reply