Rod & BJ wrote:

"Samartha Deva"
Have you tried at this point to punch it down and maybe discovered that
the dough again becomes tight again?

Samartha

Often as not it would depending on number of rises already taken but here
its not particularly germane since the express purpose is additional loft or
maximum rise with a assumption that the dough has already been formed and is
oven ready.

AFAICS, this (number of rises done and loaf being oven ready) has not
been brought up in this thread - maybe in the URL's given. This would be
the last step before baking. I considered the original question to be
more general.

To my understanding multiple or extended rises would be for
flavor enhancement and/or timing issues rather than additional gluten
development...do you think otherwise?

My observation is that with a "punch down" i. e. press and stretch after
a certain time of fermenting several things besides taste issues are
accomplished. Two are improvement (tightening) of the dough and increase
of fermentation vigor.

I was not so much concerned about the "rise time" as you bring up rather
than the "punch down" - I don't know if the prof's would call this dough
development.

So, well tempered "stronger" dough in connection with appropriate
hydration and increased fermentation activity sure would contribute to
loft.

Do you suggest something other than the "dimpled finger depression" for the
optimum rise to bake timing?

I find this inconclusive and that's why I brought it up. If it works for
you - great. For me, the dough can rip open structurally due to fast
rise and when punching it down, it comes right back strong. All within
your 4-5 hour time frame. Would you dimple with the finger before the
punch down, it would be baking time. Would you do it after the punch
down, it would not be baking time. If you have a wet dough, you can't
dimple because the dough sticks to your finger - then what? Don't have a
method to determine baking time and can't bake?

Can I suggest something else? Well, the issue with Julie getting dense
loafs may not be solved with the finger dimple test. So, getting to know
your starter and dough by experimenting and changing things could lead
to more improvement than blindly doing the dimple test and hoping it
works.

It seems that people like Julie want an instant solution with sourdough
- give me the recipe or tell me how it works so I get the result I want.
Then, when one asks for more details what is happening, what caused the
issue, they drop the ball or do the yeast thing.

You did not answer the question if you get a denser dough with a
punchdown after the dimple test shows it's baking time.

Samartha


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