>Hello Bread Bakers,
>Does retarding the dough in a refrigerator over night really make that
>big a difference in the taste and crumb of sourdough breads?
>Thanks,
>BudR.
Absolutely! For me, there is no comparison. The cooler temperatures
and the longer fermentation give the lactobacilli a chance to reproduce
and generate more acetic and lactic acid. The cooler temps slow down
the yeast so it doesn't go berserk, but still the dough develops a much
more complex flavor. The end result for me is a chewier crumb (with the
nice shiny coating on the surface of the holes, characteristic of
sourdough), and a crust that gets darker and richer in flavor than with
a bread done in less time.
I've tried some experiments and not found I can replicate the quality of
bread with shorter fermentation times. 18-24 hours in a fridge at about
38 degrees seems to be the concensus.
If others have more ideas, I'd love to hear them as well.
By the way, there is absolutely amazing information about sourdough at
URL: http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughfaqs.html
. Also, newsgroup rec.food.sourdough has very serious discussions on
this subject.
Chuck Waterfield