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How to tell if bread is proofed perfectly? How to tell if bread is underproofed or even overproofed? This leaves a lot of bakers confused and feeling that their bread is doomed to mediocrity. Not here, no way. You will be baking the perfect bread with that perfect crumb and you will not be relying on recipes.
You will get to know why and how it’s happening and that will enable you to decide at what stage of proofing your dough is in. Now, I know, you might still make mistakes, or have questions. Feel free to drop them in the comments below.
Also, please be patient with the process of bread making. Mistakes are a part of it, don’t worry, however, make sure you are learning from those and ideally not repeating it again.
What is proofing?
Proofing is the stage of fermentation that your bread goes through after being shaped and before being baked.
What happens in the dough during proofing?
The process of fermentation starts the moment yeast is activated and mixed with the dough. Yeast remains active from 28 degrees Centigrade/82.4 degrees Fahrenheit to 60 degrees Centigrade/140 degrees Fahrenheit. The yeast reacts with the sugar to create alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide gets trapped in the gluten network of the dough. Because the gas is unable to escape, it keeps getting accumulated over there. Quite similar to when you stuff too many tissues in your pocket and it creates a bulge. Yep, the same thing happens and the bread dough rises.
Factors that affect proofing
These are the most important five factors that affect the proofing of the bread.
Temperature:
Temperature is the most important factor to consider when proofing bread dough. If the temperature is warmer, your dough will prove faster. If it is cold where you are staying, make sure you place the bread dough in a warm place so that it continues to proof at a normal pace. Why does this happen? Simply because the yeast thrives and multiplies faster in warmer temperatures. The ideal temperature for bread proofing is 28 degrees Centigrade/82.4 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are maintaining something around this temperature, you should be fine. If it is too cold where you are staying, pre-heat your oven for about 5 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius/392 degrees Fahrenheit, and then place the dough bowl inside. Place a cup of water to create some humidity inside too.
Time:
How long are you proofing the dough also matters when you are proofing. The longer time, the more amount of proofing. Why? Because the yeast gets more time to feed on the sugars and create alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Type of bread dough:
A rich dough like brioche will take longer to proof compared to a hot dog bun because the fat interferes in the process of fermentation making it slower.
Yeast:
Instant yeast proofs your bread faster than active dry or fresh yeast.
Humidity:
Humidity is crucial to create that ideal environment for the yeast to thrive in. Ideally 65-70 percent humidity is fine for the yeast to thrive in.
How to tell if bread is underproofed?
Check for these signs to figure out if bread is underproofed:
Poke Test:
Poke the bread lightly using one finger. If the dent created comes back up pretty fast, the bread dough is underproofed.
Size:
The bread would not have increased much in size. Ideally, it should be double from what it was before proofing.
Color:
The color of the bread will be vibrant and beautiful golden brown because the yeast was unable to use up most of the sugar. This allows the available sugar to provide this rich color to the bread.
Crumb:
The underproofed bread will have a dense and tight crumb as there was lack of carbon dioxide formation , thereby not making the dough rise up enough.
Taste:
The underproofed bread will not taste absolutely bad but yes the texture will be different as we spoke about the crumb.
How to tell if bread is overproofed?
Check for these signs to figure out if bread is overproofed:
Poke Test:
Poke the bread lightly using one finger. If the dent created remains there and does not come back up, the bread dough is overproofed.
Size:
The bread would have increased more than double in size. Ideally, it should be double from what it was before proofing.
Color:
The color of the bread will be light brown because the yeast has used up most of the sugar. This leaves no sugar to provide color to the bread.
Crumb:
The overproofed bread will also have a dense and tight crumb. Why? Because the gluten network in the bread has been stretched too much and therefore loses it’s strength to hold the shape of the bread.
Taste:
The overproofed bread will taste very sour as there was excess amount of alcohol formation in the dough.
How to tell if bread is proofed perfectly?
Check for these signs to figure out if bread is proofed perfectly:
Poke Test:
Poke the bread lightly using one finger. If the dent created comes back up slowly and only till the middle, the bread dough is proofed perfectly.
Size:
The bread would be double in size from what it was before proofing.
Color:
The color of the bread will be a beautiful golden brown because the yeast used up just the right amount of sugar, sparing a little for flavor and enhance the color of the bread.
Crumb:
The perfectly proofed bread will have a light and airy crumb as there was good amount of carbon dioxide formation that was trapped in the gluten network and resulted the bread to rise perfectly.
Taste:
The perfectly proofed bread will taste the best eve as you have done everything right and we all love the smell and taste of freshly baked bread.
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