[0:00] [Music]
[0:10] hi I'm Tom coming to you from The
[0:12] International Institute for the
[0:14] advancement of sourdough science and
[0:16] research of Cleveland Ohio also known as
[0:19] my kitchen thank you for selecting this
[0:22] video in today's video we're going to
[0:24] talk about one of the biggest challenges
[0:26] souro Bakers have and that is trying to
[0:28] figure out when do you cut off off bulk
[0:30] fermentation this is the most
[0:32] challenging aspect of sourdough baking
[0:35] I've done dozens of videos on this topic
[0:38] and people still continue to struggle
[0:40] with it now if you look at the most
[0:43] popular recipes that are out there many
[0:46] recipes will give very simplistic
[0:48] guidance that says you mix your dough
[0:51] you do your stretch and folds and that
[0:53] you let then you let your dough rise at
[0:55] room temperature until it doubles in
[0:57] volume what I'm going to show you in
[0:59] today's video is that that guidance is
[1:02] completely wrong I've done a number of
[1:05] experiments over the years and I've
[1:07] proven that the percentage rise in bulk
[1:10] fermentation that you're looking for is
[1:12] related to the dough temperature warm
[1:15] fermenting dough needs to be cut off
[1:17] earlier than cool fermenting Dough
[1:20] because that dough keeps fermenting in
[1:23] the downstream steps after bulk
[1:25] fermentation is done it keeps fermenting
[1:28] and pre-shaping bench rest final shaping
[1:31] and then when the dough goes into the
[1:32] refrigerator typically for a cold
[1:35] the dough keeps fermenting so that
[1:37] ending temperature of the dough
[1:41] determines what happens after bulk
[1:44] fermentation so you need to synchronize
[1:46] the percentage rise with the dough
[1:49] temperature this is the biggest secret
[1:52] of sourdough bulk fermentation I'm going
[1:54] to explain it here
[1:58] today
[2:00] now before we jump into the details I
[2:02] just want to reply to the people who've
[2:04] been asking about brother Bob now for
[2:07] those of you who watch my videos you
[2:08] know that brother Bob was here around
[2:10] the 4th of July and we were filming the
[2:12] sourdo brothers souro for busy people
[2:14] video and Bob suffered a head injury in
[2:16] my kitchen during the filming of that
[2:19] video brother Tom I'm so happy to be
[2:25] back Bob's doing okay he's back in
[2:28] California he's back at his teaching job
[2:31] but Bob's having a little trouble with
[2:33] his memory Bob thinks that somehow when
[2:37] he was here he was involved in an Amish
[2:39] barn raising I have no idea what he's
[2:41] talking about but I think Bob's going to
[2:43] be fine and we're looking forward to
[2:45] creating more sourdo Brothers videos in
[2:47] the
[2:53] future now let me give you some
[2:55] background on this question of when do
[2:57] you cut off bulk fermentation as people
[2:58] know I've been doing research on this
[3:00] for years the first time I looked into
[3:02] this was in
[3:03] 2021 when I did two videos in my when is
[3:06] bulk fermentation done series episode 7
[3:09] and episode 8 and what I was looking at
[3:11] at that time was this discrepancy
[3:14] between recipes where things like the
[3:17] Chad Robertson tarene country loaf
[3:19] recipe that I follow religiously
[3:21] recommends a 30% rise in the dough in
[3:24] bulk fermentation and then many other
[3:26] popular recipes were recommending 100%
[3:28] rise in the dough and I couldn't figure
[3:30] out how is that possible in those
[3:33] experiments I found the first glimpse
[3:35] into this issue that the percentage rise
[3:38] in the dough needs to be correlated with
[3:40] the dough temperature warm dough needs
[3:43] to be cut off earlier than cool dough so
[3:46] in this example I cut off Chad
[3:48] Robertson's recipe at a 30% rise which
[3:51] is what he recommends because the dough
[3:54] temperature he recommends is 80° fenhe
[3:56] or 27° C that's a very warm fermentation
[4:01] temperature then I compared that to
[4:03] other recipes that were bulk fermenting
[4:05] at 70° F or 21 de c those could tolerate
[4:10] a much higher percentage rise in the
[4:11] dough and I was able to produce the
[4:14] exact same results at the end so I
[4:16] continued doing experiments and in
[4:18] January of 2023 I published this article
[4:22] the mystery of percentage rise and bulk
[4:24] fermentation you can find this on my
[4:25] website and you can find this in the
[4:27] description of the video this was
[4:29] usually a breakthrough where I put all
[4:31] the science together and in this
[4:33] document I published this table which I
[4:36] had proven through multiple experiments
[4:38] that shows when you bulk ferment at warm
[4:41] temperatures you need to cut off the
[4:42] dough earlier when you bulk ferment at
[4:44] cooler temperatures you can go for a
[4:46] higher percentage rise so what you can
[4:48] see on this chart is if your dough is
[4:50] bulk fermenting at 80° fahr you cut that
[4:53] off at a 30% rise if your dough is bulk
[4:56] fermenting say at 70 Dees Fahrenheit the
[4:58] third line here you cut that off at a
[5:00] 75% rise and the only time you go for
[5:03] 100% rise is if your dough is very cool
[5:07] lower than 70° Fahrenheit or 21° C in my
[5:11] experience it needs to be around 65°
[5:14] Fahrenheit or 18° Celsius to tolerate
[5:17] 100% rise in the dough this chart has
[5:20] been cut and pasted out of my document
[5:23] and shared tens of thousands of times on
[5:26] social media this is the most shared
[5:29] piece of content on social media right
[5:31] now around bulk fermentation really
[5:34] around sourdough baking in general
[5:36] everybody is sharing this content
[5:38] because this is a breakthrough it
[5:40] refutes the general guidance of just let
[5:44] your dough double at room temperature if
[5:46] you do that generally speaking your
[5:49] dough will overproof and I've seen this
[5:50] in many many examples hundreds of people
[5:53] over proofing their dough every month
[5:55] because they're following the simple
[5:58] simplistic and an inaccurate guidance of
[6:01] just letting your dough
[6:07] double so now you might be asking the
[6:09] question how does this actually work
[6:11] here's how it works you mix up your
[6:13] dough and when all the ingredients are
[6:15] initially mixed you're going to put that
[6:17] in a measuring vessel and you're going
[6:18] to measure your starting volume of dough
[6:22] then you do your stretch and folds you
[6:24] let your dough rise and as the dough is
[6:26] rising you take the temperature of your
[6:28] dough my D is at 70° f 21° c so I
[6:34] consult my handy chart that says at 70°
[6:38] Fen 21° C I'm looking for a 75% rise in
[6:42] the dough so I take my starting volume I
[6:45] multiply that by
[6:47] 1.75 and I put this second marker on my
[6:50] measuring vessel and I wait for the
[6:52] dough to hit that percentage rise when
[6:54] the dough hits that percentage rise it's
[6:56] perfectly fermented then I shape the
[6:59] dough I pre-shaped the dough I let it
[7:01] rest for 30 minutes I final shape the
[7:03] dough I put it into the refrigerator I
[7:05] take it out the next day anywhere from 8
[7:07] to 16 hours after it's been in the cold
[7:10] in the refrigerator and the dough
[7:12] is perfectly proofed and this works at
[7:16] any temperature if you synchronize the
[7:19] percentage rise with the
[7:21] temperature here are some examples 80°
[7:24] dough cut off at a 30% rise perfectly
[7:27] proofed 75° dough cut off at a 50% rise
[7:31] perfectly proofed 70° D cut off at a 75%
[7:36] rise perfectly proofed 65 degree dough
[7:40] cut off at a 100% rise perfectly
[7:43] proofed this method works and what you
[7:47] can see is the only time you want your
[7:50] dough to double in volume is when your
[7:52] dough is very cold in my example 65° f
[7:56] 21° c so all the guidance out there
[7:59] there that says let your dough double at
[8:01] room temperature if if your room
[8:03] temperature is above 65° F which it
[8:06] usually is in most people's kitchens
[8:08] your dough is going to
[8:13] overproof so now you ask the question
[8:15] how does this work and the reason this
[8:18] works is because we tend to think of
[8:21] bulk fermentation as the end of
[8:23] something I mean we call it that the end
[8:25] of bulk fermentation but you need to
[8:27] think of that as the beginning of
[8:29] something the end of bulk fermentation
[8:32] is the beginning of the rest of the
[8:34] fermentation process so when you cut off
[8:37] bulk fermentation that's an arbitrary
[8:39] point the yeast doesn't know bulk
[8:40] fermentation is over lactic acid
[8:42] bacteria doesn't know bulk fermentation
[8:44] is over they're just going to keep
[8:46] fermenting so you cut off bulk
[8:48] fermentation then you pre-shape the
[8:50] dough you let it rest on the countertop
[8:52] for 30 minutes you final shape it during
[8:55] that 30 minutes or so that dough is
[8:57] still rapidly fermenting it doesn't no
[8:59] bulk fermentation over then when you put
[9:02] that dough into the refrigerator it
[9:04] takes 10 hours for the dough to get down
[9:08] to the refrigerator temperature a lot of
[9:10] people assume I mean it's easy to assume
[9:12] you put that dough in the refrigerator
[9:14] and it just immediately stops fermenting
[9:17] and it goes down to the refrigerator
[9:18] temperature that doesn't happen here's
[9:21] what actually happens take a look at
[9:22] this
[9:23] chart if we take our 80° Fahrenheit
[9:26] dough 27° C we pre shape it bench rest
[9:30] it final shape it that dough temperature
[9:32] drops to about 78° F before it goes into
[9:35] the refrigerator it goes into the
[9:37] refrigerator and for the first hour that
[9:41] dough is still rapidly fermenting it's
[9:43] it takes an hour to get down to 70°
[9:46] Fahrenheit or 21° C which is a lot of
[9:48] people's kitchen temperature the dough
[9:51] thinks it's still fermenting at room
[9:53] temperature then in the next 3 hours
[9:56] that dough drops from 70° F to about
[9:59] about 50° F 10° C that's still a fairly
[10:04] moderate fermentation range there is
[10:06] real fermentation happening there in
[10:08] those 3 hours then the next 3 hours the
[10:12] temperature drops from 50° F to about
[10:14] 41° Fen or 5° C the dough is still
[10:19] slowly fermenting and then in those last
[10:22] 3 hours it drops from 41 degrees
[10:25] Fahrenheit to 39 degrees Fahrenheit or 4
[10:27] degrees celsi and that's where the yeast
[10:31] finally goes to sleep and it starts
[10:33] fermenting very very slowly it never
[10:36] actually stops in the refrigerator but
[10:38] when it hits 39° fah or 4° C you can
[10:41] consider it to be very very slowly
[10:44] fermenting so now if you look at this
[10:46] chart you can see what's happening when
[10:48] you put very warm dough into the
[10:50] refrigerator there are two things that
[10:52] dough is rapidly fermenting before it
[10:55] goes into the refrigerator because the
[10:56] fermentation rate is related to the
[10:58] temperature 80° fah dough 27° C is
[11:03] rapidly fermenting so it goes in moving
[11:06] very quickly and because it's a warmer
[11:09] temperature it takes a longer time for
[11:11] the temperature to get down to 39° F or
[11:15] 4° C where the the yeast goes to sleep
[11:18] so you get a lot of fermentation
[11:20] happening in the refrigerator contrast
[11:22] that with very cool dough 65° Fahrenheit
[11:26] dough 18° C it goes in at a slower rate
[11:31] of fermentation because it's cooler
[11:33] going into the refrigerator and it goes
[11:37] in at a lower point on the curve so it
[11:39] hits the refrigerator temperature more
[11:42] quickly and the yeast goes to sleep more
[11:44] quickly so the cool dough ferments much
[11:47] less in the refrigerator so that's where
[11:50] this formula basically makes sense
[11:53] you're doing the same amount of
[11:55] fermentation between bulk fermentation
[11:58] and the final proof proofing but the
[12:00] amount of fermentation happening in bulk
[12:02] fermentation versus in the refrigerator
[12:04] is different based on that dough
[12:07] temperature and when you cut off the
[12:09] bulk
[12:10] fermentation if you want to learn more
[12:12] about the science behind this chart
[12:14] there's a link to the article in the
[12:16] description of this video and you can
[12:18] find it on my website at the sourdo
[12:20] journey.com
[12:29] so when I think about that cut off of
[12:30] bulk fermentation I think of it a lot
[12:33] like as if you were throwing a javelin
[12:36] when you throw a javelin the moment it
[12:38] leaves your hand you have no control
[12:41] over what happens that's the cut off of
[12:43] bulk fermentation once you decide that
[12:45] cut off basically you have no control
[12:47] over the dough going forward until it
[12:49] comes out of the refrigerator when you
[12:51] throw a javelin the thing you do have
[12:54] control over is the speed of your hand
[12:56] and that trajectory of the javelin that
[12:59] determines where it will land so you can
[13:02] imagine for warm dough where I'm bulk
[13:04] fermenting at 80° fah but I'm doing that
[13:08] cut off at a 30% rise I have a long
[13:11] distance to cover so I need a lot of
[13:13] speed and a steep trajectory to get the
[13:15] javelin to land in the right place if
[13:18] I'm bulk fermenting at cool temperatures
[13:21] that dough is fermenting more slowly so
[13:23] my hand speed is slower and I've already
[13:26] achieved a higher percentage rise so I'm
[13:29] releasing it at a lower trajectory both
[13:31] of those javelins will land in exactly
[13:34] the same place so here's an example of a
[13:36] javelin throwing competition where we
[13:38] have two throwers but in this unique
[13:41] competition each one of them can decide
[13:43] how far they want to run down the field
[13:45] before they stop that's the end of bulk
[13:48] fermentation and then they throw the
[13:49] javelin from there that's the cold
[13:51] so the first thrower represents
[13:54] our 80° Fahrenheit dough which we would
[13:56] bulk ferment to a 30% rise so this
[13:59] thrower runs down the field 30 m towards
[14:02] the target then he stops that's the end
[14:04] of bulk fermentation but this thrower
[14:07] has a very strong arm because at that
[14:10] 80° Fahrenheit dough temperature the
[14:12] dough is fermenting very quickly so he
[14:14] can release the javelin with a fast hand
[14:18] speed and a high trajectory and he can
[14:20] make the distance to the Target doing
[14:22] most of the fermentation after the end
[14:25] of bulk fermentation compare that to the
[14:27] second thrower he represents the 70°
[14:30] fahit dough that we would bulk ferment
[14:32] to a 75% rise before the cut off he runs
[14:36] 75 M down the field he needs to get
[14:39] closer to the Target because he has a
[14:41] weaker arm the dough temperature is only
[14:44] 70° Fahrenheit so he doesn't have the
[14:46] same hand speed or that same trajectory
[14:49] so he goes closer to the Target the 75%
[14:52] rise then he releases his Javelin it
[14:55] lands in the exact same spot so what you
[14:57] can see with this example is that both
[14:59] the javelins travel the same distance
[15:01] they just get there through different
[15:03] means part of the way is through running
[15:05] and part is through throwing the running
[15:07] is the bulk fermentation the throwing is
[15:09] the cold and what you see with
[15:12] warm dough the 80° Fahrenheit dough that
[15:14] travels a long distance in the air
[15:17] during the cold a lot of
[15:19] fermentation is happening in the
[15:20] refrigerator and with cooler dough less
[15:23] of the fermentation is happening in the
[15:25] refrigerator but they both land in the
[15:27] same place but once it leaves your hand
[15:30] you have no control over it its outcome
[15:33] is predestined once you decide that cut
[15:36] off of bulk
[15:43] fermentation here's another example
[15:45] trying to determine that cut off of bulk
[15:47] fermentation is like trying to figure
[15:49] out if you're driving a speeding car on
[15:51] a slippery Road and you see a stop sign
[15:54] up ahead when do you need to hit the
[15:56] brakes that's the cut off of bulk
[15:58] fermentation and you can imagine if
[16:01] you're driving really fast you need to
[16:03] hit the brakes earlier because you're on
[16:05] a slippery Road and you're going to
[16:07] start skidding when you hit the brakes
[16:09] so you need a longer stopping distance
[16:11] if you're traveling more slowly you can
[16:14] wait later to hit the brakes because you
[16:16] have a shorter stopping distance the
[16:18] speed of the car is the equivalent of
[16:21] the bulk fermentation dough temperature
[16:24] warm dough ferments very quickly
[16:27] compared to cold dough so here's a live
[16:29] example of the speeding car we're going
[16:31] to have Santa with a couple of his
[16:33] reindeer in his tricked out Chevy low
[16:35] rider here Santa's going to be driving
[16:38] his car from the beginning of bulk
[16:40] fermentation that's this blue line here
[16:43] this line would be 100% rise in bulk
[16:45] fermentation and then the stop sign that
[16:48] Santa sees ahead is this big red dutch
[16:51] oven that's after shaping and the cold
[16:54] in the refrigerator which was
[16:56] represented here and that's when when
[16:58] the dough is going to get into the oven
[17:00] so basically you're speeding through
[17:02] bulk fermentation you want to hit the
[17:04] brakes on the slippery Road and you're
[17:06] going to slide in here to stop right
[17:08] before it goes into the oven at the stop
[17:10] sign here's Santa he's going to be going
[17:12] 80 M hour that's 130 km per hour and
[17:17] let's assume that's the equivalent of a
[17:18] 80° fah dough temperature 27° C based on
[17:23] our chart that means Santa needs to hit
[17:25] the brakes on the slippery Road at the
[17:27] 30% rise Mark which is way back here
[17:30] early and bulk fermentation because he's
[17:32] going so fast and he's used to driving a
[17:35] sleigh this car has rear wheel drive it
[17:37] doesn't have antilock brakes this is not
[17:38] going to be pretty so if Santa's driving
[17:41] 80 M an hour and let's say he doesn't
[17:44] know about that chart he comes flying
[17:46] through bulk fermentation and he does
[17:48] 100% rise like you read in some recipe
[17:50] and he hits the brakes here he skids out
[17:53] of control there's a rollover accident
[17:55] Christmas is cancelled I mean this is
[17:57] the real you're Without a Santa Claus
[17:59] this is a Christmas tragedy so if you go
[18:02] too far in your bulk fermentation at a
[18:05] warm temperature your dough is going to
[18:07] over
[18:08] prooof then we say Santa check out the
[18:11] chart dude 30% rise you need to hit the
[18:14] brakes right here so Santa comes
[18:17] speeding into bulk fermentation at 80 M
[18:19] hour now he hits the brakes here he goes
[18:21] into a skid he's going past the 100%
[18:24] rise Mark and he Parks it right next to
[18:27] the stop sign goes into the Dutch oven
[18:30] and gets baked into a perfectly proofed
[18:32] loaf of bread because he hit the brakes
[18:35] earlier which he needed to do because he
[18:37] was driving so quickly here's another
[18:40] example Santa got a speeding ticket need
[18:42] to slow down lead foot Santa so now he
[18:45] only drives at 40 mph that's half the
[18:47] speed he was at before and that's
[18:50] actually the equivalent of about this
[18:51] 70° fenhe or 21° C temperature that's
[18:56] almost half of the fermentation speed of
[18:58] the 80° F dough it's much much slower
[19:01] just in that 10° fhe difference so now
[19:04] Santa's cruising along at 40 m per hour
[19:06] that's 65 km per hour he's taking his
[19:09] time he sees a stop sign up ahead here
[19:12] he's got a lot of safe stopping distance
[19:14] so he's going to go for a 75% rise based
[19:17] on the chart so he hits the brakes here
[19:20] he cruises through slides it in boom
[19:24] right into the stop sign Santa goes into
[19:26] the oven and makes a perfectly proof
[19:28] loaf of bread for Christmas dinner so
[19:31] warm dough is just like a speeding car
[19:34] you need to hit the brakes early to
[19:36] ensure that you have a safe stopping
[19:38] distance if you want to learn more about
[19:40] this speeding car example there's a link
[19:42] to the article in the description of
[19:44] this video and you can find it on my
[19:47] website at the souro journey.com
[19:54] now that you understand this in theory
[19:57] let's talk about how do you put put this
[19:58] into practice so most sourdough recipes
[20:01] will tell you you need some specialized
[20:02] tools for sourdough baking you need a
[20:04] digital kitchen scale you need a l you
[20:06] need a banatan you need a dutch oven but
[20:09] what they don't tell you you need is a
[20:13] digital probe thermometer to take the
[20:15] temperature of your dough during bulk
[20:18] fermentation and you need a measuring
[20:21] vessel to measure the change in volume
[20:24] which is the percentage rise in the
[20:25] dough in bulk fermentation here's an
[20:28] example of a measuring vessel this is a
[20:29] large one here's a small one there are
[20:32] all kinds of measuring vessels you want
[20:34] to find something with milliliter or
[20:36] leader or qut markers on it that's how
[20:39] we're going to measure the percentage
[20:41] rise in the dough it's the change in
[20:43] volume which is measured in liters or
[20:46] quarts you can buy small kitchen storage
[20:50] vessels like this one this has Mill
[20:52] markers on it this is perfect for bulk
[20:54] fermenting one small batch of dough if
[20:56] you work in a laboratory you could
[20:58] borrow one of these scientific beakers I
[21:01] like to use this that's a 3 l Beaker I
[21:03] can do a two loaf rise in that vessel so
[21:07] anything with milliliter markers on it
[21:09] this is the one I showed earlier this is
[21:12] a what's called a batter bowl it's
[21:14] basically like a bowl with a handle but
[21:15] that has the milliliter markers on it as
[21:17] well there are a lot of kitchen vessels
[21:20] out there you need to find one of those
[21:22] and the important thing we don't need is
[21:26] a
[21:27] clock with this method you ignore the
[21:31] time you have absolutely no use for this
[21:34] device put it away step away from the
[21:36] clock no need to measure the time let me
[21:39] go back and talk about this chart
[21:42] because I've been talking about the way
[21:44] you do this is measuring the dough
[21:45] temperature and the percentage rise and
[21:47] if you read the whole document those are
[21:48] the two variables that you need I show
[21:51] the timing on this chart just so people
[21:53] can understand how much longer the dough
[21:56] will take to rise if you're bulk
[21:58] fermenting at these low temperatures but
[22:00] you never use the time to determine when
[22:03] bulk fermentation is done the time will
[22:06] lie to you the temperature and
[22:08] percentage rise never lie it's
[22:11] impossible it's physically impossible
[22:13] for them to lie the clock will lie
[22:15] because certain starters will rise
[22:18] faster or slower than others different
[22:19] flower will rise faster or slower than
[22:21] others if you have different recipes
[22:23] that you're using they'll rise faster
[22:25] and slower so you can never rely on the
[22:27] time
[22:28] only rely on the temperature so I use
[22:30] this chart just to show the relative
[22:33] time but we are not going to use
[22:35] this ignore the time this is all we need
[22:39] for the rest of the process temperature
[22:41] and percent rise gives you 100%
[22:44] reliability and it's repeatable no
[22:46] matter how long it
[22:52] takes so this is the point in the video
[22:54] where you might be saying to yourself
[22:57] wow this sounds so simple how come I
[23:00] never heard of this
[23:01] before because most popular recipes are
[23:06] wrong I don't know any other way to say
[23:08] it I looked at the top 10 most popular
[23:11] sourdough recipes out there and eight of
[23:13] the 10 say mix your dough do some
[23:17] stretch and folds and then let your
[23:18] dough rest at room temperature until it
[23:21] doubles in size that is the instruction
[23:24] for bulk fermentation in eight of the 10
[23:27] most popular sourdough recipes that
[23:29] instruction is wrong let's just talk
[23:32] about it the first part let your dough
[23:34] rise at room temperature I mean what the
[23:36] heck is room temperature I mean my
[23:38] temperature in my kitchen right now is
[23:40] 74° fah if I lived in Australia right
[23:43] now my kitchen temperature would be 90°
[23:46] fenhe or 32° C if I lived in Finland
[23:49] right now my kitchen temperature would
[23:51] be 50° F or 10° C so any recipe that
[23:57] tells you to do something at room
[23:58] temperature is completely meaningless
[24:01] because room temperature can be an
[24:03] incredibly wide
[24:05] variation the second problem with these
[24:07] recipes is they say let your dough
[24:10] double which isn't a bad concept but
[24:14] they don't actually measure the doubling
[24:17] if you watch those videos and look at
[24:19] the photos in the recipes they're using
[24:21] a bowl like this with their dough in it
[24:24] and they show a picture that says okay I
[24:27] let my dough double at room temperature
[24:29] and they show a picture of a puffed up
[24:31] ball of dough that's not actually
[24:34] doubled there's no way to tell if it's
[24:36] actually doubled let me say it that way
[24:38] doubling is a mathematical concept if
[24:42] you went into your boss's office and
[24:44] your boss said congratulations I'm going
[24:47] to double your salary you know what that
[24:49] means it's two times your salary that's
[24:53] what double is if your child is 3T tall
[24:57] and they grow to be 6 feet tall you
[25:00] would say oh my gosh my child has
[25:03] doubled in height it's a measurable
[25:06] thing unless you're a Sourdough Baker
[25:09] and then doubling means I look at my
[25:12] dough and it's kind of puffed up and if
[25:15] I feel like I'm ready to go to the next
[25:17] step I just decide it's doubled that's
[25:19] how these recipes work but you say but
[25:22] these Bakers they then show on the video
[25:24] the dough comes out perfectly it's
[25:27] because they're eyeballing the dough
[25:29] they're using other criteria that
[25:31] they're not explaining to you they're
[25:33] smelling the dough you can't even see it
[25:34] but they're smelling it they're shaking
[25:36] the dough they're using the same bowl
[25:39] that they always use so they can tell if
[25:41] the dough is touching the side of the
[25:43] bowl at a at a specific point but that
[25:45] dough I'm telling you is not doubling
[25:48] unless the dough temperature is below
[25:51] 70° fenhe 21° C otherwise their loaves
[25:54] would overproof so it's just a lazy way
[25:57] of doing instruction I don't know any
[25:58] other way to to say it and I hate
[26:00] criticizing other sourdough Bakers and
[26:03] instructors but telling people to let
[26:05] your dough double at room temperature is
[26:07] lazy and it's usually wrong now there
[26:10] are two notable exceptions when I said I
[26:13] looked at the top 10 uh recipes that
[26:16] people
[26:17] use look at this one Chad Robertson
[26:20] taram bread my favorite recipe in the
[26:22] world Chad Robertson is one of the two
[26:25] that does provide do temp in percentage
[26:28] D he specifically says during bulk
[26:31] fermentation the dough temperature
[26:32] should be between 78° F and 82° F that's
[26:36] 25.5 to 28 deges
[26:39] C and he tells you the percentage rise
[26:41] between 20 to 30% rise in the dough when
[26:44] you cut off bulk fermentation that's
[26:46] exactly where my studies came out here
[26:49] for 80° dough 27° C you go for a 30%
[26:54] rise Chad Robertson had this figured out
[26:56] in 2006 he told people how to do it the
[26:59] other
[27:00] example very popular recipe from elain
[27:02] body elain tells you let your dough
[27:06] double in size but she gives you the
[27:08] specific dough temperature 18° C to 20°
[27:12] C which is 64° f to 68° F which is
[27:18] exactly what I found in my studies at 65
[27:22] degree do temperature which is right
[27:23] where Elaine's uh recipe is you go for a
[27:27] 100% rise in the dough elain's method
[27:29] works and Elaine even tells you what
[27:32] bowl to use she specifies this bowl I
[27:35] went out and bought this and she says if
[27:36] you follow her recipe and you let the
[27:38] dough rise up to this line below the rim
[27:41] that'll be 100% rise in the dough I
[27:44] actually measured this I put it on a
[27:45] scale and I measured the milliliter
[27:47] volume up to that line it's actually
[27:49] about 113% rise in the dough not 100%
[27:53] but that's well within the realm of a
[27:55] rounding error when you're trying to to
[27:57] measure the percentage rise in the dough
[28:00] so Elaine good job Chad Robertson good
[28:04] job because they told you the dough
[28:06] temperature and the percent rise in bulk
[28:09] fermentation these are two of the most
[28:11] popular and most successful recipes out
[28:14] there and it's not a coincidence the
[28:16] other eight people I think you have some
[28:18] work to do on your
[28:20] instruction and this is the point in the
[28:22] video where you might say wow this Tom
[28:25] guy sounds like a cranky old dude
[28:28] criticizing other people's recipes let's
[28:31] roll back the clock 5 years to
[28:33] 2018 check out Jack Sturgis from the
[28:36] bake with Jack YouTube channel Jack is
[28:39] the opposite of a cranky old dude and
[28:42] five years ago Jack made this video
[28:45] called leave your D to double question
[28:48] mark and in that video Jack basically
[28:51] said telling people to let their dough
[28:54] double in bulk fermentation is nonsense
[28:57] and and any recipe that recommends that
[28:59] is a bad recipe now Jack did not in that
[29:02] video say the way to do it is by
[29:05] measuring the temperature and the
[29:06] percentage rise he described the
[29:08] techniques for reading the dough and
[29:11] this is what a lot of expert Bakers rely
[29:13] on they shake the dough they smell the
[29:15] dough they look at the Dome they go like
[29:17] this and that Baker's intuition is
[29:20] basically what they're using but as a
[29:23] proxy they're telling you that the dough
[29:25] has doubled just because that's a easy
[29:27] way to describe a puffed up ball of
[29:29] dough that they've expertly assessed to
[29:32] be finished with bulk
[29:34] fermentation but with this method you
[29:36] don't need to be an expert read the
[29:38] chart temperature percent rise tells you
[29:41] when bulk fermentation is
[29:47] done now let's talk about how we
[29:49] actually do this measuring the dough
[29:50] temperature and the percentage rise
[29:52] dough temperature is easy you need a
[29:55] digital kitchen probe thermometer like
[29:57] this you're going to take your bowl of
[29:59] dough and you're going to put that probe
[30:01] right in the center of the dough that's
[30:03] your true fermentation temperature
[30:05] mine's sitting at 70° F and a lot of
[30:08] people are nervous about poking their
[30:10] dough with this thermometer you can poke
[30:13] poke poke it's not a balloon you're not
[30:15] going to deflate your dough by taking
[30:17] the temperature I even do it every half
[30:19] hour sometimes it has no detrimental
[30:21] impact on the dough by poking it with a
[30:23] thermometer so I have 70° fhe 21° C D
[30:28] the other thing I like to know is what's
[30:30] my kitchen temperature so I also keep a
[30:33] small thermometer in my kitchen this is
[30:36] at 74° F which is about 23° C because as
[30:42] my dough is fermenting if I'm not
[30:44] keeping this in some kind of proofing
[30:45] chamber the dough temperature is
[30:47] ultimately going to try to equalize with
[30:49] your kitchen temperature so you always
[30:51] want to be aware of that difference so I
[30:53] know the longer this do sits out at 70°
[30:56] f it wants to be at 74° F why does this
[31:01] create a problem because if people use
[31:04] thermometers like this these infrared
[31:06] thermometers these just test the surface
[31:08] temperature of the dough and if I let
[31:10] this sit here for about a half an hour
[31:12] the surface temperature of the dough
[31:14] will say 74 Dees fah which is my kitchen
[31:17] temperature really quickly but the true
[31:21] fermentation temperature of the dough in
[31:23] my opinion is always that temperature at
[31:25] the center that's what you want to use
[31:28] when you're looking at the chart it's
[31:30] the temperature at the center of the
[31:31] dough another question people ask is
[31:35] what if the dough temperature changes
[31:37] over time because you're bulk fermenting
[31:39] over a long period of time let's say I
[31:41] mix this dough at 70° Fahrenheit but it
[31:44] ends up at 75° fahren which number on
[31:48] the chart should I use should I use 70
[31:50] should I use 75 should I use 72 1/2 the
[31:53] average the most important temperature
[31:55] when you're using this method method is
[31:58] the ending dough temperature and you
[32:00] know why because that is when the
[32:03] javelin is released from the hand the
[32:06] ending dough temperature is what carries
[32:08] forward into pre-shaping bench rest
[32:11] final shaping and into the refrigerator
[32:14] and that Downstream impact of the
[32:16] fermentation that perfectly proofs it is
[32:19] based on the temperature as the dough
[32:22] goes into the refrigerator so if your
[32:24] temperature changes over time use the
[32:26] ending temperature
[32:32] so now for measuring the percentage rise
[32:33] in the dough let's talk about the
[32:35] fermentation vessels I showed some
[32:37] examples earlier these are great
[32:39] examples because these have liters or
[32:40] quarts or cups marked on them I tend to
[32:43] do it in liters or milliliters that's
[32:45] what you want to measure the volume in
[32:47] if you're doing a small batch of dough
[32:49] you can even use these small Pyrex
[32:52] containers those have milliliter markers
[32:54] on them I like this one this is a 2 L
[32:57] vessel with milliliters on it you can
[33:00] buy all these things with milliliters on
[33:02] them that's the best way to do it
[33:04] milliliters are the way that you measure
[33:06] the change in volume that's the metric
[33:09] system equivalent of of cubic inches or
[33:13] cups I guess in the US system or the
[33:15] imperial system but you always want to
[33:17] use milliliters that's the true measure
[33:19] of volume and you want to have that
[33:21] accuracy which is it's a more accurate
[33:23] measurement than using cups or
[33:25] quarts and then some some people say
[33:28] come on do I really need to measure in
[33:30] milliliters I mean does it need to be
[33:32] that accurate can't I just use my trusty
[33:35] bowl and Eyeball this to tell when it
[33:38] doubles let me ask you a question if you
[33:40] went to a golf class and the golf
[33:42] instructor said you only need to bring
[33:44] one thing to class you need to bring a
[33:46] golf club and you show up at the class
[33:48] and you say I don't have a golf club but
[33:50] I have this stick and I really think I
[33:53] could play golf with this stick they
[33:55] would say that is not the tool to play
[33:57] golf with you can't take the class with
[33:59] a stick and then if you went to a
[34:02] baseball school and they said you need
[34:04] to bring a baseball mitt and you showed
[34:07] up with you know a kitchen oven glove
[34:10] and it's even on the wrong hand and
[34:12] you'd said I'm good I got my mitt here
[34:15] they would say you can't play baseball
[34:18] with an oven mitt you need a basball
[34:21] mitt but with sourdough baking for some
[34:24] reason when people say you need to
[34:26] measure the percent rise in milliliters
[34:29] people say I'm good got my bowl got my
[34:33] bowl right here I can tell when this is
[34:35] double it's impossible to tell when your
[34:38] dough doubles in a bowl like this and
[34:41] then you might say okay Marty what about
[34:45] this bowl where I can actually look
[34:47] through the side of it because then I
[34:50] can tell the height change in this and
[34:52] if the height doubles that would be a
[34:54] doubling of my dough wrong
[34:57] answer the doubling of the dough is
[35:00] measured in milliliters not in height
[35:03] because if your bowl flares out on the
[35:05] side like this the first 3 in of height
[35:08] is about 1/3 of the total volume of the
[35:11] bowl and the second 3 in of height is
[35:14] 2/3 of the volume of the bowl so there's
[35:16] no way to measure the percent change in
[35:20] volume the perc rise in the dough using
[35:22] a flared out bowl like this just by
[35:25] eyeballing it you can't just look at
[35:27] engage it based on the height however if
[35:31] you have a perfectly straight sided
[35:34] vessel like this you can use this but
[35:38] you need a ruler so here if you have
[35:40] straight sides on the vessel you can
[35:42] measure the height because then the
[35:44] change in height is the change in volume
[35:47] only with a perfectly straight sided
[35:49] vessel so take a ruler put a piece of
[35:51] tape on here and measure this either in
[35:54] inches or centimeters I recommend doing
[35:56] it in centimeters because the math is a
[35:57] little bit easier to do you can turn
[35:59] this into a measuring vessel I do this
[36:01] all the time and then some people still
[36:04] say not going to do it not going to go
[36:06] out and buy a straight-sided vessel
[36:08] because I got my bowl I just want to use
[36:10] my trusty bowl there is a way you can
[36:13] make any shape or size vessel into a
[36:16] milliliter measuring vessel by doing
[36:19] what I call the water trick here's how
[36:22] you do it take any shape or size vessel
[36:25] as long as it's transparent you need to
[36:27] be able to see through it and you're
[36:28] going to put a piece of tape on the side
[36:31] of this vessel then you're going to put
[36:33] that on the scale you're going to zero
[36:35] out your scale and you're going to pour
[36:37] in 100 G of water at a time 100 G of
[36:42] water equals 100 ml that's how the
[36:45] metric system was designed it's around
[36:47] the density or the volume of water so gr
[36:51] equals milliliters only for water not
[36:53] for other liquids I put in 100 Mill of
[36:56] water I marked my first hash mark I put
[37:00] in another sorry I said milliliters it's
[37:02] the same 100 G more now I'm up to 200 I
[37:06] put my hash mark on the
[37:14] tape then when you finish filling this
[37:16] up to the top you're going to pour the
[37:17] water
[37:18] out and then using your best penmanship
[37:21] you're going to write in those
[37:22] milliliter markers 100 200
[37:28] that's a 2400ml bowl that's 2.4 L I did
[37:32] not know that and now I have another
[37:34] measuring vessel in my kitchen that I
[37:36] can use to measure the percentage rise
[37:38] in my
[37:43] dough so now people ask how do you
[37:45] measure that starting volume of the
[37:46] dough what what is that starting line so
[37:49] the starting line is the volume of the
[37:51] dough after all the ingredients have
[37:52] been mixed together a lot of recipes you
[37:55] mix everything together at the same same
[37:56] time some of them delay adding the
[37:58] starter they delay adding the salt they
[38:00] delay adding some water so you want to
[38:02] wait until you have all the ingredients
[38:03] in the bowl once they're in the bowl
[38:06] then you're going to move that into your
[38:08] measuring vessel to mark your starting
[38:10] line so I'm going to do that right here
[38:12] this is my mixed dough has all my
[38:14] ingredients in it I move that into my
[38:17] measuring vessel and I want to Pat this
[38:19] down so that it's level you want to do
[38:22] the best you can I mean it's dough it's
[38:24] not going to be perfectly level but you
[38:26] get that level then you look through
[38:28] your milliliter markers on the side of
[38:30] the bowl and you measure your starting
[38:33] volume and this is
[38:36] 750 Mill so I'm at 750 I put a piece of
[38:41] blue tape on the side of that bowl where
[38:43] my starting volume
[38:45] is that's my starting line now you look
[38:48] at this and say Tom this is a little
[38:51] crazy you mix this the dough in this
[38:52] bowl then you put it in this bowl but
[38:54] now I still need to do my stretch and
[38:56] fold or my coil folds or whatever what
[38:58] do you do I take the dough
[39:01] out and I put it back
[39:04] in my larger Bowl where it's easier to
[39:07] do the coil folds stres and folds
[39:09] whatever and I don't have to worry about
[39:11] this start if this starts rising in that
[39:12] bowl because I already know my starting
[39:14] line and the other really interesting
[39:17] thing is once you do this for a given
[39:19] recipe it's always exactly the same the
[39:23] volume of the mixed dough is the same
[39:25] for recipe so you only have to do that
[39:27] transfer one time and now I know my
[39:29] starting line is 750 if I mix this exact
[39:32] same bash tomorrow or a month later or a
[39:34] year later the starting volume is always
[39:36] 750 so write that down on your recipe
[39:39] card or sheet so you always know what
[39:41] your starting volume is then you don't
[39:43] have to do this transfer you just Mark
[39:45] the bowl when you mix the dough there's
[39:47] another great trick or shortcut you can
[39:50] use I've done this many times hundreds
[39:52] of times where I've mixed the dough I
[39:53] moved it into the measuring
[39:55] vessel the volume of the mixed dough if
[39:58] you're following a standard sourdough
[40:00] recipe with 75% hydration 20% starter
[40:04] inoculation 2% salt salt it's kind of
[40:07] the standard recipe that you find a lot
[40:09] of times that dough mixes up at 1.5
[40:13] times the flour weight in milliliters so
[40:17] if I'm mixing a 500 G batch of dough I
[40:21] take 500 * 1.5 that's 750 look what
[40:24] number I have here 750
[40:26] it's 1.5 * the weight in g equals the
[40:29] milliliters that really works I mean
[40:31] that will get you very close a lot of
[40:34] the time and again once you validate
[40:36] that for a recipe it never changes so I
[40:40] use that when I'm doing my routine
[40:42] recipes over and over again if I'm
[40:43] making a recipe for the first time I
[40:46] might actually move it into the bowl and
[40:48] Mark that starting line rather than
[40:50] doing the 1.5 Rule now related to this
[40:55] some people will say how do I know how
[40:57] big of a vessel I need for my bulk
[41:00] fermentation because I showed you some
[41:02] examples here how did I decide whether I
[41:04] was using this small one or this bigger
[41:07] one I needed this bigger one because I
[41:09] have to allow for the dough to rise and
[41:11] the way to calculate that is you want to
[41:13] take three times your flower weight in
[41:17] grams and that will equal the maximum
[41:21] height that you need in your vessel in
[41:23] milliliters for the dough to double in
[41:24] size if you wanted it to double which is
[41:26] uncommon but that gives you some head
[41:28] room so here's the example 500 G flour
[41:31] weight recipe * 3 tells me the
[41:33] milliliters I need if that dough were
[41:36] going to double in volume 500 *
[41:39] 3,500 so I need at least a 1,500ml
[41:43] vessel or 1.5 L vessel this vessel
[41:46] happens to be 2,000 M or 2 L so I have
[41:49] plenty of Headroom in this vessel that's
[41:52] how you size it use that rule of three
[41:54] times the flower weight so so now I know
[41:57] my starting point I have my dough in my
[41:59] stretch and fold Bowl I'm doing my
[42:01] stretch and folds I'm doing my coil
[42:02] folds the dough starts Rising do I need
[42:04] to worry about that you don't need to
[42:06] worry about that because it's never
[42:08] going to hit your target before you
[42:10] finish the stretch and fold that would
[42:11] be incredibly uncommon so do your
[42:13] stretch and folds then once your stretch
[42:15] and folds or coil folds are done you're
[42:17] in the middle of bulk fermentation here
[42:19] that's when you're going to carefully
[42:21] take your bulk fermenting dough out of
[42:23] your stretch and fold vessel and put it
[42:25] in into your measuring vessel and you're
[42:27] not going to touch this until it's done
[42:30] so I carefully take my dough out I put
[42:32] it in my measuring
[42:34] vessel now we can figure out what is the
[42:38] target percent rise that we're looking
[42:40] for how do we do
[42:42] this I take the dough temperature and
[42:45] the dough temperature will tell me the
[42:48] Target percent rise I take my dough
[42:51] temperature 70° f 21° c I look at at my
[42:56] chart 70° f 21° c needs a 75% rise in
[43:02] the dough how do I get that number I
[43:05] know my starting line was 750
[43:07] milliliters so I take that starting line
[43:09] times
[43:11] 1.75 that's a 75% increase 750 * 1.75 I
[43:17] think is
[43:20] 13125 mlit computer what's 750 * 1.75
[43:26] 5 good afternoon Tom 750 * 1.75 is
[43:34] 13125
[43:37] 13125 so I Mark that on my
[43:41] tape I find that measurement on my
[43:43] vessel to the top of the tape to the
[43:45] best of my
[43:50] ability that's my 75% rise now I walk
[43:54] away I go do chores I go watch TV I'm
[43:56] not doing anything here I'm not watching
[43:58] the clock at all all I'm doing is
[44:01] watching the dough and when that dough
[44:02] Rises and hits that line the top of that
[44:05] tape 13125 MERS that's a 75% rise bulk
[44:09] fermentation is done shape it pre-shape
[44:12] bench rest final shape put it in the
[44:14] refrigerator for 8 to 16 hours bake it
[44:16] the next day it's perfectly
[44:25] proofed
[44:45] now a lot of people ask questions and
[44:46] ask how do you measure that ending
[44:48] volume because as the D is rising it
[44:52] domes up on the top you can see that
[44:54] here in this example for sure that's the
[44:56] natural way that this D will rise so
[44:59] what I typically do is you have two data
[45:01] points you can look at look at what's
[45:03] the milliliter marker where the dough is
[45:06] touching the side of the bowl and then
[45:08] you look through the bowl and say what
[45:10] would the milliliters be if I could lay
[45:12] something flat on top of the top of the
[45:15] Dome and you so you have those two
[45:17] numbers and basically split the
[45:20] difference between those so in this
[45:21] example if I have the side of the dough
[45:25] tou ing my vessel right now at 1,000 ML
[45:30] and the top of the Dome is at 1100 ml
[45:34] I'm going to call that 1,50 mlit where
[45:37] I'm just splitting the difference
[45:39] between the two another way to think
[45:40] about it is if at that exact moment in
[45:43] time that dough liquefied the sides
[45:46] would come up and the top would go down
[45:49] so splitting that difference is very
[45:51] similar to using that liquefication
[45:52] example it has to be higher than the
[45:55] outside edge top touching the bowl and
[45:57] it has to be lower than the Dome just
[45:58] pick the midpoint it's close
[46:03] enough then people ask the question they
[46:06] say oh my gosh I was watching TV the
[46:08] dough kind of ran away from me I didn't
[46:10] catch it right at the moment of
[46:12] 13125 ml did I ruin my dough you didn't
[46:17] you have a window to let the dough go
[46:19] past the these estimated percentage
[46:22] Rises but it's related to the
[46:26] temperature and again this goes back to
[46:27] the speed of fermentation is related to
[46:30] the temperature of the dough so let's
[46:32] say for example in this case I'm looking
[46:34] for a 75% rise in this dough at at 70°
[46:40] fah 21° C that's a fairly cool bulk
[46:43] fermentation temperature so you have a
[46:46] bigger margin of error on cool dough so
[46:49] let's say I'm going for a 75% rise this
[46:51] could go up to 80%
[46:54] 85% I mean may maybe even up to 90% this
[46:58] dough would still be okay because it's
[47:00] relatively cool with warm dough 80° F
[47:05] 27° C you have about a 5 percentage
[47:08] Point margin I'm serious I mean it is
[47:10] really tight if this called for a 30%
[47:13] rise and you you let it go to 50% it's
[47:16] overproofed you let it go to 40% it's
[47:19] right on the edge of overproof maybe you
[47:21] can go 30 to 35% rise to get it
[47:24] perfectly proed
[47:26] so that window your margin of error
[47:28] depends on the dough temperature cooler
[47:29] dough you can overshoot the target
[47:36] more so we're almost there your dough
[47:39] has perfectly risen you've done
[47:40] pre-shaping bench rest final shaping the
[47:42] dough has gone into the refrigerator
[47:44] from 8 to 16 hours and some people will
[47:46] say wow 8 to 16 that's a pretty large
[47:49] window go back to this
[47:51] chart after eight hours the fermentation
[47:54] is largely done I mean you're down here
[47:57] at 40° F 4.4 de C very very slow
[48:00] fermentation so the difference between 8
[48:03] hours and 16 hours is very minimal
[48:05] fermentation activity happening so you
[48:07] have a big window on the back end of
[48:10] that refrigerator final proofing time
[48:13] which is great if you're trying to work
[48:14] around a busy schedule I've left my
[48:17] dough in the refrigerator for up to 3
[48:18] days and baked it as you start to go
[48:21] past 24 hours the thing that you want to
[48:23] think about because that dough is still
[48:25] very slowly fermenting if you start
[48:28] adding days instead of one day you go to
[48:30] two days two days you go to three days
[48:33] each day that you add in the
[48:34] refrigerator is a little bit I'm going
[48:36] to make a gross generalization it's a
[48:38] little bit like adding an extra hour of
[48:40] bulk fermentation so your dough will
[48:42] continue to proof in the refrigerator
[48:45] but you have a wide
[48:46] window but the refrigerator temperature
[48:49] is an important part of this formula so
[48:53] we've been really hyperfocused on our
[48:56] dough temperature during bulk
[48:57] fermentation and our percentage
[48:59] rise what if your refrigerator
[49:02] temperature is too warm I mean this
[49:04] happens in the summer you have kids
[49:05] going in and out of the house they're
[49:06] opening the refrigerator they're leaving
[49:08] it open for 10 minutes at a time if you
[49:10] have dough in there and your
[49:11] refrigerator is warmer than you expect
[49:14] it to be this chart doesn't get down to
[49:17] 40° Fen or 4° C very quickly it's going
[49:20] to stay a little bit higher than that
[49:22] your dough can overproof in the
[49:24] refrigerator because of the refrigerator
[49:27] temperature not because of where you cut
[49:29] it off for final proofing so those two
[49:32] things are closely connected so what I
[49:35] suggest is when you take your dough out
[49:38] of the refrigerator to bake it the next
[49:40] morning always take the temperature of
[49:43] your dough before you score it and bake
[49:45] it because that will tell you if your
[49:48] dough actually went to sleep and got
[49:51] down here because I'm using this
[49:54] model based
[49:57] on the assumption that your dough
[50:00] temperature will hit 39° fahit or 4° C
[50:04] in the refrigerator if your refrigerator
[50:06] doesn't get down to that temperature
[50:08] these percentages will be too
[50:10] high I made a video earlier this year
[50:12] called post-pandemic sourdough for busy
[50:14] people and in the latter half of that
[50:17] video I talk about how to adjust and
[50:19] calibrate all of these percentages your
[50:22] percentage rise in bulk fermentation
[50:24] your refrigerator temperature the amount
[50:26] of time that's in the refrigerator if
[50:28] you want to really dial this in I
[50:30] recommend watching the second half of
[50:31] that video the link is in the
[50:33] description of this video and it will
[50:36] tell you how to monitor and calibrate
[50:38] all those
[50:44] temperatures so I use that term
[50:45] calibration because this is an essential
[50:48] step in the process I wish that
[50:50] sourdough baking were as simple as just
[50:53] a piece of paper with eight numbers on
[50:55] it it it's pretty close but it's not
[50:57] foolproof so what you need to be able to
[50:59] do is after you apply these criteria you
[51:02] need to assess your Chrome and determine
[51:03] if it's overproofed or underproofed so
[51:05] you bake your loaf you cut it open you
[51:08] look at the bsection of the loaf and
[51:09] then you should consult the video I have
[51:11] how to read a Sourdough crumb and
[51:13] there's a guide that you can print out
[51:15] and you're going to compare your loaf to
[51:16] that guide and it will tell you does
[51:18] your loaf look overproofed or
[51:19] underproofed so let's say for example in
[51:21] our scenario our 70° loaf at 75%
[51:26] let's say that looks a little
[51:27] underproofed if that's the case you want
[51:29] to repeat that process exactly but I
[51:32] suggest going up in 10% increments so
[51:35] the next time you want your percent rise
[51:37] to be 85% rise instead of 75% rise you
[51:41] bake that loaf you cut it open you look
[51:43] at it and you say oh my gosh 85% rise in
[51:47] bulk fermentation my loaf is slightly
[51:51] overproofed 75's under 85s
[51:55] over wonder what would happen if we
[51:58] tried an 80% rise so you make it a third
[52:00] time at the 80% rise in bulk
[52:03] fermentation it's perfectly fermented
[52:06] perfectly proofed you make a note of
[52:08] that on this sheet and say okay my
[52:10] records now say at a 70° Fahrenheit
[52:14] dough temperature I need to go to an 80%
[52:17] rise it will repeat the same results
[52:20] every time I mean once you dial that in
[52:22] for a specific recipe it is repeatable
[52:26] every time that's the beauty of this
[52:28] method it takes the guesswork
[52:50] out now for people who've been watching
[52:52] my videos for years you might look at
[52:55] this method and say wow this is really
[52:57] interesting but this is a little
[52:59] different than the method Tom
[53:01] popularized back in 2020 which was
[53:04] called the bul comatic system the
[53:06] bulkmatic system is a technique where
[53:08] you have nine criteria to determine when
[53:10] bulk fermentation is done it's
[53:12] specifically based on the tarene recipe
[53:15] for that very warm temperature range
[53:17] around 80° fah or 27° C D temperature so
[53:23] there is one exception to this chart on
[53:26] line number one if you're bulk
[53:28] fermenting at 80° F 27° C that 30% rise
[53:33] is a good approximation but you want to
[53:36] augment this chart with the incredible
[53:40] bomatic system nine criteria because the
[53:44] dough is fermenting so quickly at that
[53:48] dough temperature things can go south in
[53:50] 15 minutes I've seen it so you can't
[53:53] rely entirely on the percentage rise
[53:56] that'll get you in the ballpark but then
[53:58] you need to ask the question is it domed
[54:00] on top does it have bubbles on the side
[54:02] does it wobble when you shake it what
[54:04] does it smell like what does the window
[54:06] pane feel like you need to use all your
[54:08] senses and all your tools as a baker to
[54:11] be able to bulk ferment dough at 80°
[54:13] Fahrenheit or 27° C believe me that is
[54:16] really expert level fermentation
[54:18] territory when the dough is at that
[54:21] temperature so for dough fermenting at
[54:24] 75° Fahrenheit or less all you need to
[54:26] measure is the percentage rise and the
[54:28] dough temperature if you're around 80°
[54:31] or higher you want to augment that with
[54:33] the bomatic
[54:39] criteria so in today's example we just
[54:42] fermented this dough at room temperature
[54:43] we didn't try to control the temperature
[54:46] and in our example 70° fah we did the
[54:49] 75% rise and as I've been saying the
[54:52] whole time you want to ignore the timing
[54:54] this is really just to show the possible
[54:56] relative differences here because
[54:58] everybody's starter is different but
[55:00] let's say you do this process three or
[55:03] four or five times and you keep really
[55:04] good records of this and you're getting
[55:06] perfectly fermented dough at 70° fah
[55:10] with a 75% rise and the guidance here
[55:15] says in my kitchen that would take about
[55:17] 12 hours with my starter let's say yours
[55:20] takes 10 hours and it takes 10 hours
[55:22] every time you do it this process
[55:25] becomes incredibly predictable when you
[55:28] repeat it like that and you'll find that
[55:30] your fermentation times will be almost
[55:33] exactly the same at those same
[55:36] temperatures so then people start to ask
[55:38] the question wow this is as predictable
[55:41] as Clockwork what if I actually
[55:44] manipulated my dough temperature then I
[55:47] can make more sourdo because I can get
[55:50] the timing to fit within my window so if
[55:52] 10 hours is a bad time slot for you to
[55:55] work with between mixing the dough and
[55:57] shaping the dough you could say what if
[56:00] I sped that up to 75° fah to try to get
[56:04] it to happen faster that's where people
[56:07] use proofing Chambers so here's an
[56:10] example this is the broad and Taylor
[56:13] proofing box this is incredibly popular
[56:15] it's a great tool this has a thermostat
[56:18] on the side and you dial in what
[56:20] temperature you want your dough
[56:21] temperature to be at so let's say we
[56:22] wanted to do it at 75 degrees Fahrenheit
[56:25] I punch in
[56:27] 75° I put it in put my dough in here and
[56:30] it'll maintain that temperature these
[56:32] things work perfectly I also use this
[56:34] for the tarene method where I'm bulk
[56:36] fermenting at 80° fenhe or 27° C that's
[56:40] way higher than my room temperature
[56:41] would ever be so I bulk ferment my dough
[56:44] in here because it ferments faster and I
[56:47] want that timing I want a shorter time
[56:49] window when I'm making that dough so
[56:51] these warm proofers are great but
[56:53] there's also something really cool which
[56:56] is a warm and cold
[57:02] proofer now if you've seen my videos
[57:05] with Bob the sourdough for busy people
[57:07] video or my post-pandemic sourdough for
[57:09] busy people video I use this incubator
[57:12] this can warm or cool your dough so
[57:15] think about this once you get this
[57:17] fermentation process down where you
[57:20] literally can walk away from your dough
[57:22] you all you look at is the percentage
[57:23] rise now you can focus on controlling
[57:26] timing where you can make your dough
[57:28] work around your schedule so if 10 hours
[57:31] isn't a good time window for you at 70°
[57:33] fah 21°
[57:36] C you could say I want to lower my dough
[57:39] temperature to 65° Fahrenheit because
[57:42] then I can stretch out the time you can
[57:44] do that in here these are warmers and
[57:46] coolers you basically mix your dough
[57:49] after your stretch and folds you put
[57:51] your dough in here you specify what
[57:53] temperature you want your dough to be at
[57:55] and you walk away these things work like
[57:58] a clock I mean once you get this process
[58:00] down if you set this at 65° fenhe and it
[58:04] takes 12 hours it'll take 12 hours every
[58:07] time I mean it's unbelievable because
[58:09] when you control temperature you control
[58:12] time and when you control time you can
[58:15] make more sourdough bread because you
[58:17] can fit it into your busy
[58:19] schedule these are the future of
[58:22] sourdough baking I'm telling you for
[58:23] home Bakers
[58:25] these warm and cold proofers give you
[58:27] the ability to make dough on your
[58:29] schedule if you're interested in that
[58:31] concept watch my videos post-pandemic
[58:33] sourdough for busy people or the
[58:35] sourdough Brothers for busy people
[58:38] thanks again for watching this video and
[58:40] good luck on your sourdough
[58:44] [Music]
[58:53] Journey
[59:03] [Music]
[59:15] he