Hi everyone! Quick question, should I be letting my dough ferment until this stage? https://instagram.com/p/BVo-oiRhgFT/ It looks so billowy and airy and almost fluffy?? My dough never looks like that (I've always been ultra cautious with stopping fermentation - I usually pre shape the dough once I see a couple of bubbles on the surface). Does hydration affect how much air the dough will hold? (So the rather stiff 65-70% hydration doughs I've been making will never hit that stage before they collapse?)
I am unable to access your picture. When clicking on the link it says the picture link is broken.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVo-oiRhgFT/
First, read this thread here on the same subject. The video you posted shows a truly lovely batch of dough, probably 75% hydration or so and made with mostly bread flour. The lower hydration doughs you are making won't look quite like that, but I make one that is between 65% and 70% hydration and it is quite similar, after a couple of hours at room temperature then overnight bulk ferment in the fridge. Mind you, this is also a poolish bread (so, made with a tiny bit of commercial yeast in the pre-ferment and a tiny bit more in the final dough), so the timings for the bulk ferment will be a little different. End result is much the same though.
Look for some videos from Northwest Sourdough on Youtube. I think she might have a few that show finished dough of different kinds too.
Thanks! Perhaps it's also more observable with a big batch of dough. I will try pushing bulk ferment on my next loaf :)
bulk ferment on one of Lazy Loafer's posts! The pics show the bubbles visible in the sides of the dough, the bubbles on the top of the dough, and the rounding of the top of the dough in the container at the end of a refrigerated bulk ferment:
http://weightloss-slim.fit/comment/384487#comment-384487%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThis isn't a high-hydration dough and is commercial yeast based, but the dough should look the same at the same stage of development regardless of the leavening agent.
Seriously love the straight-sided clear containers for watching the bubbles and the rise (and seeing all of the bubbles on the bottom, too).
It's well worth pushing the ferment a time or two - even to the point of over-fermenting or over-proofing, just to get the experience of what happens, and what the dough looks and feels like as it approaches the max and then tips over... For me, it was also important to learn not to be "afraid" of that stage --- since the resulting bread still tastes great, and it really is NOT as much of a disaster as I had thought!