Conference turris::cooks

    I rarely bake "standard white bread"  but I do bake bread fairly
    frequenty, so I know this works.
    
    After 1st rising:
    
    Form your loaves and place them into the loaf pan, cover loosely with
    plastic wrap, place in refrigerator and allow to rise 2-24 hours.
    
    
    Annie J

When you take the loaves out of the refrigerator, do you immediately put them
in a preheated oven? How is baking time affected?

    I've heard of a method where, once the dough is mixed and kneaded,
    and separated in loaf-size portions, you put each into a huge-size
    floured zip lock bag (gallon size?) and refrigerate.  Then when
    ready to bake, take out, punch down, put into pans, let rise the
    second time and bake.  I guess this puts a limit on the growth of
    the yeast.  I don't know how long the dough would keep this way,
    but it might be something to try.

    I sometime buy fresh bread dough from Purity Supreme (I wish they
    would prepare whole wheat but they only do standard white). They
    put the kneaded bread dough in plastic bags and store them in
    the fridge. I don't know how long it will last but I guess that
    it will last a while as long as the dough isn't exposed to extreme
    heat or cold when the yeast would die. There are all those pop'n'fresh
    canned dough products that are sold in grocery stores, they have
    a shelf life of a couple of months.
    
    

    reply .2
    
      I allow the bread to sit on the counter while the oven preheats.
      The baking time is not affected.

From what I have read, the cool rising breads can be a bit tricky 
regarding suitable recipes.  The technique, trade-marked by the 
Robin Hood flour people, is discussed in several bread books such as:

	Fleischmann's Bake-it-easy Yeast Book, page 4

	D. Casella, "The New Book of Breads", page 2

A rather thorough treatment of the topic of manipulating the rise time 
can be found in 

	Robertson, Flinder's, & Godfrey, The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

The suggestion below [NOT yet tried by me] is derived from the 
discussion on 24-hour dough, page 396.

Recipe modifications:	1/2 tsp active dry yeast per 6 cups of flour

			increase the sweetener by 2 tsp per cup of flour
			(don't use raw honey)

			stiff dough; increase baking time by 15 to 20 minutes

Rising:		20 to 24 hours at 55 to 60 degrees

		punch down every 8 hours

		warm the dough a little towards the end

		shape and let rise in a warm place for about two hours

It would seem that you could make the bread after work or dinner, punch 
it down before bed and again in the morning, put it in a warm place 
after work, and finish it after dinner.  I would be tempted to shape it 
in the morning, finish the rise at 90 degrees after work, and eat the 
bread with that evening meal; this might have a price in the texture.

    I bake challah (Jewish egg bread) every other Thursday night (make
    a bunch and freeze it for the next week; this is the "no-bake" week).
    There are plenty of more-modern bread recipes which only have two
    rising periods (one in the bowl and one after the loaves are shaped),
    so there is plenty of time to bake them after work - although not
    if you want the bread with dinner that evening, of course.  When
    I make something like a raised coffeecake for a brunch, I always
    make the dough the night before, let it rise once, form the coffeecake,
    wrap it up loosely in plastic wrap, and let it rise overnight in
    the refrigerator to be baked right before the guests show up the
    next morning (take it out to warm up while the oven heats) - same
    as for croissants, except that you have to do most of the work the
    night before, and don't let the dough warm up before baking it.
                                                                    

    Casella (The New Book of Breads, ISBN 0-87250-032-2, page 85) has a
    recipe for a refrigerator dough that is a nice match for a breadmaker
    with a regular job.  The dough is made in advance, stored in the
    refrigerator, and used over a period of a week or so.  I have made this
    dough twice and used it for frosted cinnamon-raisin rolls, dinner
    rolls, and a tea ring.  The second baking of cinnamon-raisin rolls was
    Friday morning --- ten minutes of effort and an hour later the rolls
    were on the table --- slightly more effort than a Pillsbury twist pack
    and a lot better taste.  The recipe below is my adaptation of the book. 

      Casella's Refrigerator Sweet Rolls        (page 85)

  2     pks  yeast            !!  Medium dough; light kneading
  2     cups warm water       !!  Greased bowl or plastic bag
  2/3   cup  sugar            !!  (volume will exceed one gallon)
  2 1/2 tsp  salt             !!  Refrigerate without rising
 ~6     cups flour            !!  (will rise in the refrigerator)
  2          eggs, beaten     !!  Punch down daily as needed
  2     stks softened butter  !!  Remove portions as needed


 Brief kneading; rest 10; shape; rise 2X (~45 min.); 25 min. @375 

This dough easily keeps for a week; the flavor degrades the second week. 

    When I make bread on weekend mornings, I make the pizza dough described
    in note 72.26 just in case we might want a pizza anytime that weekend.
    If it isn't used by noon of the day it is made, I put it in the
    refrigerator until it is needed, punching it down whenever I think of
    it.  On two occasions it has gone six days without being used, and I
    have shaped the dough into a loaf and baked it as an [almost] ordinary
    bread.  The texture and flavor is good; not perfect, but good. 

    Because of the level of spice in the dough, this is not quite an
    ordinary bread.  In particular, the amount of black pepper that gives a
    pizza a nice zing is a bit much in a slice of unadorned bread.  Without
    the pepper this bread should be tried as a working person's quickie. 

    Here's a great bread recipe that I thought I'd add.  It's not very hard
    to make and doesn't take very long.
    
                   Garlic Bread
    
    4 garlic cloves - place in microwave unpeeled for 1 min - peel and 
    place in food processor
    l cup of milk - 4 tbsp. of butter - Heat to 125 degrees
    
    Place all of the following in the processor with the garlic
    
      1 pkg. of yeast
      1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
      1 tsp. salt
      2 tsp. ground cumin seed
      3 cups of bread flour
    
      Add the milk mixture and process to a soft dough - add additional
    flour if needed.  Knead by hand, machine, etc. until smooth and
    elastic.  Place in a oiled bowl, turning to cover all sides, cover and
    allow to double.  Punch down and shape.  Place on greased baking sheet,
    cut slits in the center in a spoke design.  Allow to rise again until
    doubled - instructions specify uncovered - I'm skeptical.  Brush
    with beaten egg with 1 tbsp water added and sprinkle with caraway seeds.  
    Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until hollow sounding when tapped.
    
    I've experimented and did 2 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of rye. Also
    used one cup of "Herman".  The results were good, but still need to be
    perfected.  Had absolutely no success with my Welbilt Bread Machine. 
    If anyone else succeeds, please post it.  I may try again and cut 
    down on the liquids
    
    Flo

    re: .10
    
    4 garlic cloves - place in microwave unpeeled for 1 min - peel and 
    place in food processor
    
    You mean:
    
    4 garlic cloves - cook at HI in microwave unpeeled for 1 min - peel and 
    place in food processor
    
    ??
    
    ed

    Sorry Ed.  I thought I said that but it looks like I left out the "Hi".
    
    Flo