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Scaling and Benching Dough

February 12, 2011 Melissa Leave a Comment

Scaling and benching refers to the step that comes after fermentation where you divide your dough into separate loaves (if doing so), pre-shape them, and let them rest for a period of time. When you divide your dough into equal pieces you want to take care not to over-work the … [Read more...]

Guides benching, dough, scaling, techniques

Proofing your shaped loaves

January 29, 2011 Melissa 1 Comment

Proofing is the term used for the second rise of your dough, which will now be in its shaped form. Proofing times depend on different conditions such as the temperature of the room, the type and amount of yeast used, and the humidity of your kitchen. The tricky part of proofing … [Read more...]

Guides dough, loaves, proofing, shaped, techniques

Turning Dough or Folding

January 22, 2011 Melissa 2 Comments

Not every recipe calls for a turn or a fold halfway through its initial fermentation but some do. Think of it as a better way to punch down dough, because it does not destroy all of the precious air pockets within the dough. There are a couple of methods that I use the first is … [Read more...]

Guides dough, folding, gluten development, techniques, turning

Fermenting your dough

January 14, 2011 Melissa 3 Comments

Fermenting your dough or letting it rise the first time is critical to having a light and airy loaf of bread. If you were to knead you dough and then immediately shape it and bake it would turn out like a hockey puck, very dense with little to no oven spring. During fermentation, … [Read more...]

Guides dough, fermenting, proofing, techniques

Resting the Dough or Autolyze

January 4, 2011 Melissa 8 Comments

This resting of the dough occurs just after you have mixed your ingredients together. In France the term for this is called an autolyze period. All recipes can take advantage of a resting period, but some recipes will specifically say to let your dough rest after mixing for ten … [Read more...]

Guides autolyze, baking, bread, dough, resting, techniques

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