Just speaking with Ben here: overnight rises are a _big_ plus. The
breadmaker I have (a local Breville Big Loaf) locks one into its cycles;
and unless I do more than two rises I don't really get a good height and
crumb, especially from wholemeals etc.
But if I make dough at 11pm, rise for 3 hours then knead, rise, knock down,
rise again and bake - at 7am, every day, we've a beautiful loaf...
I don't rise in the fridge, just on the timer in the warm breadmaker. But
Ben's right, you have to watch the amount of yeast used. For a 750g loaf
(that's a 1-1/2lb loaf for most of you guys) I'd use 2 tsp of sugar and
salt, 2 tsp of enhancer, but never more than a bit above a flat teaspoon of
dry yeast.
Occasionally for evening guests I'll make a loaf without a second long rise
- but it's never the equal of our daily morning bread...
Bill
[de-lurking from Oz...
>From: "Ben McGehee" <Ben_McGehee@asburyseminary.edu>
>Subject: Re: overnight rise
>Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 09:28:02 -0400
>
>
>Lobo writes:
> >
> >I didn't make the overnight one ... it seemed silly to me. Does anyone
> >know what the point is? Have you tested such a recipe, and is it any
> >better than a recipe you can complete in one morning or evening?
>
>Don't call something silly if you've never tried it. I much prefer longer
>rising times for my breads, buns, etc. The longer rising times brings out
>more flavors in the dough because the bacteria have a longer time to work.
[snip]
>with (a lot of) regular yeast. I would think that
>the yeast would rise and then deflate in that time. I have only let
>sourdough rise overnight, and even then I usually have to be careful. I
>typically let my buns rise for an hour or two and then put them in the
>fridge overnight to let the flavors develop