Expert: Elyse Grau - 1/17/2010

Question
What prevents the dough of some breads and brioches from rising properly. For ex. a recipe  asks for the brioche to rise at room temperature then to be refrigerated for 4 hours then again out in room temperature for half an hour before being baked;  These recipes never say what is room temperature supposed to be.  I don't seem to have that problem  when the temperature is over 70. It seems to me that letting the dough  stand for half an hour after 4 hours or longer in the refrigerator is not enough.  Is that the problem?
Thank you.

Answer
Bertrand:
When bread dough is refrigerated, it slows down, but does not prevent, the rising. The dough should have been sufficiently risen before it was put in the frig. Don't rely exclusively on the time set in the recipe, but do the finger test to be sure it is finished rising. When you bring it out of the refrigerator before baking, that is just to give it time to warm up a bit, so that it won't burn before it is done baking.

If the bread hasn't risen enough, it may be that you didn't knead it long enough, or that your yeast is old. If on the other hand, it seems to have sufficiently risen, but falls during baking, then you probably kneaded it too much.

Room temperature is usually considered about 72 degrees. My house is never that warm except during the summer, so I always need more time for dough to rise.

Elyse