The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [14]
A good method of providing steady heat is to place the bowl of dough on a towel on a heating pad, using newspapers or towels to protect it from drafts. Here again, the thermometer enables you to tinker with the arrangement to get the temperature just right.
If your oven has either a gas pilot or electric bulb to maintain warmth, maybe the easiest place to keep the rising dough is inside. Ovens have the advantage of being very good at protecting the dough from drafts, but be sure to check the temperature: many ovens with pilots are far too warm inside when the door is shut. Use a rolled-up towel or some other innovation to prop the door open a little, and keep your thermometer inside to check on the temperature, making adjustments with the door opening to maintain 80°F.
6. Deflating
Often, you will see bread recipes that tell you to let your dough rise “until it doubles in volume.” But the amount the dough has come up in the bowl doesn’t really provide much reliable information about its state, at least not when you are using whole-grain flours. It may have risen as much as it can long before it doubles—or it may have the power to rise much more.
There is a more accurate way to tell whether dough has risen as much as it should, one we learned from a professional baker: the finger-poke test. When the dough has just been kneaded, it will feel firm and a little sticky when you press on it. After a time, though, it becomes light and spongy. When it has risen substantially, you can check to see how it is progressing: moisten your finger with water so it won’t stick and gently poke it about ½ inch deep into the center of the dough. Does it feel firm or spongy? If it feels firm and the hole fills in somewhat when you take your finger out, more rising is needed. If the hole does not fill in, and its circumference sighs slightly downward, the dough has probably gone just a little bit longer than it should. Go on to the next step and make sure to catch the dough in time on the second rising. Be sure that the rising temperature is not too hot. At 80°F, the first rise should take just about an hour and a half.
If the dough feels spongy and the hole does not fill in at all, the first rising is over; the dough is ready to be deflated.
The dough is now full of tiny gas bubbles that need to be released. This is best done gently, without tearing the gluten, and for this reason we like to call this step “deflating” rather than the more traditional “punching it down.” More care here means higher bread.
Moisten your hand with water and press it gently into the center of the dough first; then flatten the dough all around the sides. Next, using a rubber spatula, carefully dislodge the underside of the dough from the bowl. (You can see the gluten strands where you do this.) Fold the dough under itself all around the edge until you have a small, firm ball again. Cover the bowl and return it to its warm spot to let the dough rise once more.
7. Letting it Rise: II (About 45 minutes to 1 hour at 80°F)
Because the yeast has been growing and multiplying, the dough will rise about twice as fast the second time. The dough develops while it is rising until the gluten attains its maximum strength and elasticity. When the dough completes its second rise, you can look for the signs that show it is ripe and ready to shape.
To tell if the dough is ready, test it with your moistened finger again, as just described. Now the dough should have lost all its stickiness, even on the surface. It should be dry and pleasant to handle (but not dried up or dried out!).
8. Rounding
Before shaping, deflate the dough and round it to invigorate the yeast and prepare the smooth gluten film to form the top of the loaf. This step is frequently omitted, but we have