The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book_ A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking - Laurel Robertson [157]
Refrigerating Dough
Beyond all this, you can also retard your dough by putting it in the refrigerator during one of its rises. We have never had very good luck with bread when it has spent more than one rise in the cold but there are several possibilities that do work nicely for us.
In general, whenever you keep dough in the refrigerator, seal its container to prevent it from absorbing stray flavors. Since the dough needs to cool evenly, and later will have to come to room temperature before you use it, help keep the yeast action as even as possible by forming the dough into a flat disc rather than a ball before you put it in the refrigerator. Raisins and such have a tendency to become winey, by the way, and their limit in the refrigerator is about one day.
SOME OPTIONS
Knead up a normal recipe, using cold liquid (except for dissolving the yeast). Refrigerate for a day or two or three, deflating the dough from time to time if it rises. When you want to make a loaf or rolls, take out what you need and let the dough warm through. If it has risen once or more in the cold, and you have punched it down, the dough may be ripe by now, and ready to shape; or, it may require another rising period: gauge that by the feel of the dough. Shape, proof, and bake as usual.
A dough that has risen in the normal way one time can go into the refrigerator afterward, to have its second rise there. Deflate the dough, divide it in two for loaves, or into smaller parts if you will be making rolls. Press into discs not more than an inch thick. Place in a flat baking dish or some such container, and cover securely. When you are ready to resume, put the dough in a warm place, covered, until it has softened, warmed through, and fully risen. Round the dough, let it rest, and shape as usual. For the final proof, keep the loaf only just a little warmer than the dough. If the dough is still cool, and is proofed in a very warm place, there will be a dense core in the loaf when it is baked.
A normal warm dough can have its final rise in the refrigerator, surprisingly: it will take about three hours, depending on how warm the dough is, and how quickly your refrigerator can chill it. This is tricky, but the bread can be baked after about three hours, when it is fully risen, or as late as the next day if your refrigerator is cold enough to prevent the loaf from overproofing. The cold loaf, fully risen, can go directly into a hot oven. It will probably need a little more baking. Watch carefully and test for doneness. (See this page.)
These are mostly daredevil schemes, but you can make them work with a little experimentation. An even more radical suggestion we’ve heard is freezing dough, but after some research and experimentation, we don’t really recommend that for home bakers.
Sponge Doughs
Sponge doughs were probably invented by old-time professional bakers who were tired of never getting home from work, and wanted to have a chance at a night’s sleep before they had to get up to start the bread for the breakfast customers. Before leaving in the evening, the baker would mix up a portion of the dough for the first of the next morning’s bakings. It would ferment overnight, giving him a head start on the day. Such a prefermented portion of a larger dough is called a sponge.
The need to make bread quickly without sacrificing the good nutrition, flavor, and keeping quality of longer-rising dough is no doubt even nowadays the most frequent impetus to follow the sponge pattern. But there are other good reasons for making sponges, too.
A sponge is part of the dough that is mixed up and allowed to ferment ahead