Most people are intimidated by baking for two reasons:
1) Kneading
2) Proofing
That’s part of the reason that the no-kneed bread techniques (which I’ve used extensively) have been so popular – they remove these two elements from the act of bread baking.
As you develop your own sense of baking you realize you must go back to these proven techniques to really develop great bread.
Today I’ll talk a bit about proofing. Wikipedia reliably defines proofing as:
Proofing (also called proving) is a step in creating yeast breads and baked goods where the yeast is allowed to leaven the dough. This step is not often explicitly named, and normally shows up in recipes as "Allow dough to rise".
To successfully proof bread you need to have a combination of these three elements:
1) Warm temperatures
2) Controlled humidity
3) Lack of air flow
This normally means bakers are instructed to clover their dough with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for a while. The humidly is usually naturally provided by the kitchen environment and the evaporation of the water from within the dough. The warm temperatures are usually provided by the location of where it’s stored.
Bill is a good friend of mine and he swears by proofing his loaves in an empty (but just run) dishwasher, which provides excellent warm temperatures and humidity and a nice enclosed space (for lack of airflow). A recent Cooks Illustrated tip talked about boiling 1/2 of a cup of water in a microwave oven, then popping the dough in to proof, allowing for all three necessary elements.
Recently I’ve been using a modified technique. I place my baguette pans on the top of my pre-heating oven and then cover them with a tent of plastic wrap. The warming oven and the humidity of the kitchen seem to do the trick.
Either way, proofing is an important step. Give it a try for yourself and bake some bread today!
-Matt the weekend baker
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