The SECRET of Bulk Fermentation: Measuring Dough Temperature and % Rise - The Two-Factor Method

[00:00] [Music]

[00:10] hi I'm Tom coming to you from The

[00:12] International Institute for the

[00:14] advancement of sourdough science and

[00:16] research of Cleveland Ohio also known as

[00:19] my kitchen thank you for selecting this

[00:22] video in today's video we're going to

[00:24] talk about one of the biggest challenges

[00:26] souro Bakers have and that is trying to

[00:28] figure out when do you cut off off bulk

[00:30] fermentation this is the most

[00:32] challenging aspect of sourdough baking

[00:35] I've done dozens of videos on this topic

[00:38] and people still continue to struggle

[00:40] with it now if you look at the most

[00:43] popular recipes that are out there many

[00:46] recipes will give very simplistic

[00:48] guidance that says you mix your dough

[00:51] you do your stretch and folds and that

[00:53] you let then you let your dough rise at

[00:55] room temperature until it doubles in

[00:57] volume what I'm going to show you in

[00:59] today's video is that that guidance is

[01:02] completely wrong I've done a number of

[01:05] experiments over the years and I've

[01:07] proven that the percentage rise in bulk

[01:10] fermentation that you're looking for is

[01:12] related to the dough temperature warm

[01:15] fermenting dough needs to be cut off

[01:17] earlier than cool fermenting Dough

[01:20] because that dough keeps fermenting in

[01:23] the downstream steps after bulk

[01:25] fermentation is done it keeps fermenting

[01:28] and pre-shaping bench rest final shaping

[01:31] and then when the dough goes into the

[01:32] refrigerator typically for a cold

[01:35] the dough keeps fermenting so that

[01:37] ending temperature of the dough

[01:41] determines what happens after bulk

[01:44] fermentation so you need to synchronize

[01:46] the percentage rise with the dough

[01:49] temperature this is the biggest secret

[01:52] of sourdough bulk fermentation I'm going

[01:54] to explain it here

[01:58] today

[02:00] now before we jump into the details I

[02:02] just want to reply to the people who've

[02:04] been asking about brother Bob now for

[02:07] those of you who watch my videos you

[02:08] know that brother Bob was here around

[02:10] the 4th of July and we were filming the

[02:12] sourdo brothers souro for busy people

[02:14] video and Bob suffered a head injury in

[02:16] my kitchen during the filming of that

[02:19] video brother Tom I'm so happy to be

[02:25] back Bob's doing okay he's back in

[02:28] California he's back at his teaching job

[02:31] but Bob's having a little trouble with

[02:33] his memory Bob thinks that somehow when

[02:37] he was here he was involved in an Amish

[02:39] barn raising I have no idea what he's

[02:41] talking about but I think Bob's going to

[02:43] be fine and we're looking forward to

[02:45] creating more sourdo Brothers videos in

[02:47] the

[02:53] future now let me give you some

[02:55] background on this question of when do

[02:57] you cut off bulk fermentation as people

[02:58] know I've been doing research on this

[03:00] for years the first time I looked into

[03:02] this was in

[03:03] 2021 when I did two videos in my when is

[03:06] bulk fermentation done series episode 7

[03:09] and episode 8 and what I was looking at

[03:11] at that time was this discrepancy

[03:14] between recipes where things like the

[03:17] Chad Robertson tarene country loaf

[03:19] recipe that I follow religiously

[03:21] recommends a 30% rise in the dough in

[03:24] bulk fermentation and then many other

[03:26] popular recipes were recommending 100%

[03:28] rise in the dough and I couldn't figure

[03:30] out how is that possible in those

[03:33] experiments I found the first glimpse

[03:35] into this issue that the percentage rise

[03:38] in the dough needs to be correlated with

[03:40] the dough temperature warm dough needs

[03:43] to be cut off earlier than cool dough so

[03:46] in this example I cut off Chad

[03:48] Robertson's recipe at a 30% rise which

[03:51] is what he recommends because the dough

[03:54] temperature he recommends is 80° fenhe

[03:56] or 27° C that's a very warm fermentation

[04:01] temperature then I compared that to

[04:03] other recipes that were bulk fermenting

[04:05] at 70° F or 21 de c those could tolerate

[04:10] a much higher percentage rise in the

[04:11] dough and I was able to produce the

[04:14] exact same results at the end so I

[04:16] continued doing experiments and in

[04:18] January of 2023 I published this article

[04:22] the mystery of percentage rise and bulk

[04:24] fermentation you can find this on my

[04:25] website and you can find this in the

[04:27] description of the video this was

[04:29] usually a breakthrough where I put all

[04:31] the science together and in this

[04:33] document I published this table which I

[04:36] had proven through multiple experiments

[04:38] that shows when you bulk ferment at warm

[04:41] temperatures you need to cut off the

[04:42] dough earlier when you bulk ferment at

[04:44] cooler temperatures you can go for a

[04:46] higher percentage rise so what you can

[04:48] see on this chart is if your dough is

[04:50] bulk fermenting at 80° fahr you cut that

[04:53] off at a 30% rise if your dough is bulk

[04:56] fermenting say at 70 Dees Fahrenheit the

[04:58] third line here you cut that off at a

[05:00] 75% rise and the only time you go for

[05:03] 100% rise is if your dough is very cool

[05:07] lower than 70° Fahrenheit or 21° C in my

[05:11] experience it needs to be around 65°

[05:14] Fahrenheit or 18° Celsius to tolerate

[05:17] 100% rise in the dough this chart has

[05:20] been cut and pasted out of my document

[05:23] and shared tens of thousands of times on

[05:26] social media this is the most shared

[05:29] piece of content on social media right

[05:31] now around bulk fermentation really

[05:34] around sourdough baking in general

[05:36] everybody is sharing this content

[05:38] because this is a breakthrough it

[05:40] refutes the general guidance of just let

[05:44] your dough double at room temperature if

[05:46] you do that generally speaking your

[05:49] dough will overproof and I've seen this

[05:50] in many many examples hundreds of people

[05:53] over proofing their dough every month

[05:55] because they're following the simple

[05:58] simplistic and an inaccurate guidance of

[06:01] just letting your dough

[06:07] double so now you might be asking the

[06:09] question how does this actually work

[06:11] here's how it works you mix up your

[06:13] dough and when all the ingredients are

[06:15] initially mixed you're going to put that

[06:17] in a measuring vessel and you're going

[06:18] to measure your starting volume of dough

[06:22] then you do your stretch and folds you

[06:24] let your dough rise and as the dough is

[06:26] rising you take the temperature of your

[06:28] dough my D is at 70° f 21° c so I

[06:34] consult my handy chart that says at 70°

[06:38] Fen 21° C I'm looking for a 75% rise in

[06:42] the dough so I take my starting volume I

[06:45] multiply that by

[06:47] 1.75 and I put this second marker on my

[06:50] measuring vessel and I wait for the

[06:52] dough to hit that percentage rise when

[06:54] the dough hits that percentage rise it's

[06:56] perfectly fermented then I shape the

[06:59] dough I pre-shaped the dough I let it

[07:01] rest for 30 minutes I final shape the

[07:03] dough I put it into the refrigerator I

[07:05] take it out the next day anywhere from 8

[07:07] to 16 hours after it's been in the cold

[07:10] in the refrigerator and the dough

[07:12] is perfectly proofed and this works at

[07:16] any temperature if you synchronize the

[07:19] percentage rise with the

[07:21] temperature here are some examples 80°

[07:24] dough cut off at a 30% rise perfectly

[07:27] proofed 75° dough cut off at a 50% rise

[07:31] perfectly proofed 70° D cut off at a 75%

[07:36] rise perfectly proofed 65 degree dough

[07:40] cut off at a 100% rise perfectly

[07:43] proofed this method works and what you

[07:47] can see is the only time you want your

[07:50] dough to double in volume is when your

[07:52] dough is very cold in my example 65° f

[07:56] 21° c so all the guidance out there

[07:59] there that says let your dough double at

[08:01] room temperature if if your room

[08:03] temperature is above 65° F which it

[08:06] usually is in most people's kitchens

[08:08] your dough is going to

[08:13] overproof so now you ask the question

[08:15] how does this work and the reason this

[08:18] works is because we tend to think of

[08:21] bulk fermentation as the end of

[08:23] something I mean we call it that the end

[08:25] of bulk fermentation but you need to

[08:27] think of that as the beginning of

[08:29] something the end of bulk fermentation

[08:32] is the beginning of the rest of the

[08:34] fermentation process so when you cut off

[08:37] bulk fermentation that's an arbitrary

[08:39] point the yeast doesn't know bulk

[08:40] fermentation is over lactic acid

[08:42] bacteria doesn't know bulk fermentation

[08:44] is over they're just going to keep

[08:46] fermenting so you cut off bulk

[08:48] fermentation then you pre-shape the

[08:50] dough you let it rest on the countertop

[08:52] for 30 minutes you final shape it during

[08:55] that 30 minutes or so that dough is

[08:57] still rapidly fermenting it doesn't no

[08:59] bulk fermentation over then when you put

[09:02] that dough into the refrigerator it

[09:04] takes 10 hours for the dough to get down

[09:08] to the refrigerator temperature a lot of

[09:10] people assume I mean it's easy to assume

[09:12] you put that dough in the refrigerator

[09:14] and it just immediately stops fermenting

[09:17] and it goes down to the refrigerator

[09:18] temperature that doesn't happen here's

[09:21] what actually happens take a look at

[09:22] this

[09:23] chart if we take our 80° Fahrenheit

[09:26] dough 27° C we pre shape it bench rest

[09:30] it final shape it that dough temperature

[09:32] drops to about 78° F before it goes into

[09:35] the refrigerator it goes into the

[09:37] refrigerator and for the first hour that

[09:41] dough is still rapidly fermenting it's

[09:43] it takes an hour to get down to 70°

[09:46] Fahrenheit or 21° C which is a lot of

[09:48] people's kitchen temperature the dough

[09:51] thinks it's still fermenting at room

[09:53] temperature then in the next 3 hours

[09:56] that dough drops from 70° F to about

[09:59] 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

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