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Proofing/Punching

post #1 of 6
7/29/09 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
I missed one step making a challah bread today. I punched the dough before showing the Chef (instructor) the proofing stage.

Question: After the punch, isnt there a way where you can tell that the dough has risen fully.

Finals: Proofing =15 points. I lose 15 points today:cry::cry::cry::cry:
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post #2 of 6
7/29/09 at 8:14pm
Forget the "punch" and simply do a French Fold which is explained at thefreshloaf.com.
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post #3 of 6
8/11/09 at 9:57am
I doubt it. There is no way to visibly tell that a dough has proofed if you have already degassed it. There may be a way to examine the gluten structure, but you'd have to be a lot smarter than me :)
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post #4 of 6
8/11/09 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Kyle. allow me to post what a professional chef wrote me awhile back on facebook (see below in perenthethis). I also sent him cheftalk link, for him to join this forum.

kind regards

"you can tell when a dough has risen just by lookin at it, practice ....

normally,if the fiber (tecture of the dough starts to expand,it's too late :)(and you can tell that by marks whom are related to womans belly birthmarks )
so , you have to learn and see when its ready and you do that by makin a lot of misstakes .
experiment, try other recipes..and most of all, try different ovens(really important)"
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post #5 of 6
8/11/09 at 8:14pm
It's taken this 'home baker' literally years, around 6 of 'em, to get it right! And talk about finally achieving nirvana... :bounce:
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post #6 of 6
8/13/09 at 12:43pm
Picking the absolute top of the first rise does not seem all that critical to me. The longer you let it go the better in terms of flavor and structure development. More work is done in these two areas during the first rise than during the second. As a guide, I'm a fan of the finger poke test. If you gently poke the dough and it springs right back it's not ready. If it stays slightly depressed you're good to go.
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