On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1020

fermenteddoughsfeelsofterandeasierto
workthannewlykneadeddough.
FoodWords:Knead
The wordknead comes from an IndoEuropeanrootmeaning“tocompressintoa
ball”; related words aregnocchi, quenelle,
knoll,andknuckle.
Doughsmadefromhigh-proteinflours
maybeputthroughasecondrisingtodevelop
theirtougherglutenfully.Eitherway,the
fermenteddoughisthendivided,gently
roundedintoballs,restedforafewminutesto
allowtheglutentorelaxsomewhat,andthen
moldedintoloaves.Theloavesarethen
allowedanotherpartialrise,or“proof,”to
preparethemforthefinalanddramaticrise
duringbaking.
Retarding the Fermentation Traditional
breadmakingcanlastmanyhours,andbakers
wouldoftenhavetoworkthroughthenightin


ordertosellfreshbreadinthemorning.Inthe
1920s, bakers in Vienna began to experiment
with breaking the work into two periods, a
daytime stint for mixing, fermentation, and
molding into loaves, and then an earlymorningbaking.Duringthenight,theformed
loaves were kept in a refrigerated chamber.
Cool temperatures slow the activity of
microbes substantially; yeasts take 10 times
longertoraisebreadintherefrigeratorthanat
warm room temperature. Refrigeration of

dough is therefore calledretarding, and the
cold chamber aretarder. Retarding is now a
commonpractice.
Inadditiontogivingthebakergreater
flexibility,retardinghasusefuleffectsonthe
dough.Long,slowfermentationallowsboth
yeastsandbacteriamoretimetogenerate
flavorcompounds.Colddoughisstifferthan
warmdough,soit’seasiertohandlewithout
causingalossofleaveninggas.Andthecycle
ofcoolingandrewarmingredistributesthe