Proving bread overnight in the fridge.

[4merlyknownasSHD]

Because the gannets in our house demolished a loaf of bread at lunchtime on Saturday, I needed to make another loaf (half sponge), but forgot we were going out. After mixing in other ingredients and kneading, I shoved it in the fridge for it to rise overnight. Baked off yesterday morning straight from the fridge. Bread OK, but didn't rise quite as much. Should I have let it warm up a bit before popping in the oven?

Did it actually rise as much as normal in the fridge?

Its just at low temp the yeast will not metabolise at anything like the speed it would in a warm place so it will not produce as much CO2.

I've often done that when I used to make bread - always rose just as well if not better than usual. And I put it in straight from the fridge.

it just depends how cold the fridge is and how long it's there for.
the same thing happens in the fridge as out, just more slowly.

and the slower it rises the better flavour you get.

Flavour is excellent and yes, it did rise as much in the fridge, it just didn't get as much 'bounce' when it went into the oven. It normally increases about 1 inch in height when I bake it, but this was barely half an inch.

Its depends upon fridger . how long you kept them into.to get better flavour fridge should
should be slower.

Right. If it did rise as much in the fridge as normal but just didnt rise so much in the oven I suspect that wat happened was the crust hardened on the outside in the early stage of cooking before the inside of the loaf got really warm enough. As a result, the CO2 bubbles did not expand as much as normal during the cooking so you didnt get the normal bounce.

I would think that, because it was very cold when you put it in oven, the heat didn't get into the dough to expand the air quite as much as it would normally have done. Perhaps having the oven a little hotter than usual might have done the trick. Its a difficult one because if you have left it in kitchen to warm up a bit it might have collapsed. I think we need a physics degree!

BeenBeta, you may be right. May be I should have slashed the top a little deeper. Jangly, my oven only goes up to Gas Mark 9, how hot did you have in mind?

There was no problem with the bread, just with 20yr old and 17yr old rugby players in the house, the bigger the loaf, the longer it lasts (perhaps).

surely the oven would need to be less, not more, hot, to give more time for the heat to diffuse to the middle before the crust is done?

like when you are cooking something from frozen, you turn the heat down a tad and increase the time.

sethstarofbethlehemsmum, that sounds sound thinking. Thanks all!

Hi all well I know that a series produced in the 80's did a recipe for the first proving in the fridge and it worked a treat and the best bit was that the bread lasted at least five days, I'm trying to get that recipe and I think I may have it soon, when I do i'll post it

Is this a first proving or second, or do you just prove once with this method?

My dad is (was) a baker and used to "retard" the loaf (after first proving) in the fridge (retarder) overnight, then into the prover for 30 minutes before going into the oven, I do think the dough was too cold to rise properly, I would do the same again but put it in a warm place for 30 minutes before baking. He no longer has his own bakery but bakes bread at home, it never lasts long and that is with just two pensioners! Fresh bread is hard to resist (this coming from a wheat intolerant!)

Gosh, I thought we had finished with this one!

Earwiggy, it was the second proving. It is a recurring problem (well, actually only needed to try it a couple more times. I do have a batch of sponge in the fridge today which I will finish off tonight (I hope).

Chrisppm, a Half Sponge loaf should last 5 days anyway, provided it is not eaten first. When the lads are away, a loaf lasts my DW, DD and I a week. When they are at home, it is a case of two loaves or more per week!

I started a sponge at 10.00am on Sunday, and left until around 8.00pm last night (34 hrs in total) with it being in the fridge for 24 hrs. Talk about increasing the flavour; it is bursting with flavour! My only trouble now is to keep enough space in the fridge to do that every time.

I find my bread starts to deflate after too long and once left in the fridge the yeast is stopped working - retarded. like the posts above.

For any failed bread I pop into fridge with cover, I take half of it out and mix 50% fresh, gives a lovely flavour. Have left for over 1 week too.

I'm still hit and miss with loafs.