Why let bread rise twice

I decided to look into it and do some experimenting. According to most baking resources, in order to get the best texture and flavor that is typical of leavened bread, dough should be given a second rise before baking. A second rise allows yeast more time to work, which changes the actual fibers within the dough.

The second rise helps develop a lighter, chewier texture, and a more complex flavor. However, it is not essential that dough rise twice. Many varieties and recipes allow for a single rise while others even call for more than two. I HAD to know for myself just how much of a difference the second rise would make vs a single rise. I took a batch of basic yeasted dough, split it into multiple lumps and let some rise once, and some rise twice.

This question can be answered best by stepping back a stage or two and describing what takes place during the first rise. Dough rises because yeast goes to work feeding off of the energy in the basic mixture of ingredients. The yeast begins transforming protein strands, and one of the waste products is gas.

The gas fills the dough, causing the rise to happen. The rise itself can be counterproductive as it begins slowing down the work that the yeast can do.

This is due to the bubbles that form, which separates the yeast from its food supply. Much of the changes needed to technically have leavened bread take place during the knead and first rise.

However, the dough likely needs a bit more time to take on the full characteristics of leavened bread; the chewy crumb, light fluffy body, and semi-sweet flavor notes.

To maximize those characteristics, we need to find a way to let the yeast continue to work. The most common way to do this is to gently punch or knock the gas out of the way. This is where the second rise comes into play. After punching down, or removing the gas from the dough, everything is flat again. Which is perfectly fine for a flatbread. But if we want a loaf, we need to let it rise again. Thankfully, by knocking out the gas, the yeast has been reunited with the food supply that the air bubbles so rudely came between.

Even I have a baking pan directly underneath the bakeware. At one time, i over proofed the final rise and the dough got so big that i had to reshape it and proof it again, thinking i might have wasted this batch. But it turned out to be very successful one. I am so confused now.

I do not know what to look for. I now intentionally overproof the final rise because if it collapses it will usually be back to the level where i have proofed. It is better than underproof which won't even get an oven spring. The yeast runs out of food. Some doughs, depending on the flour used, can be knocked back and risen again more than once. Other times depending on the grain this won't be suitable. But whatever the case everything has to be completed before the food is used up.

Slightly under proofed is better than slightly over proofed. Getting the feel of when the time is just right comes with practice. Different types of dough need to be proofed to different levels. Thanks so much for your time. I have tried to under proof my dough. It turned out to be quite dense as the oven spring was so minimum.

Haha, so i over proof my dough. Even though when it collapse, i still have a very light crumb. I know this is not the best way. But i have no idea why the oven spring won't stay and the under proof is not going up much to make a light crumb. Sometimes, i do test the imprint on the dough. That don't work as much. I do not know what is really happening. I do preheat the oven with a stainless steel sheet.

I would put my dough in a pan which would be set on top of the heated stainless steel sheet. What you have said sounds like i need to do on a trial and error experiencement. Since bread flour company won't tell us how the flour react in baking in each situation. Please let me know if i have interprited your meaning wrong.

Any suggestion and information will be greatly valued. Different breads do call for different numbers of rises, as you note. What is really important, as Lechem has already mentioned, is the importance of baking the dough at the appropriate degree of fermentation. From your description, it sounds as though your doughs are consistently overproofed before they are baked.

That leads to the collapse that you have seen. Here's a method that may help you gauge the degree of proofing after the dough is shaped into loaves. As you start to shape a loaf or loaves , pinch off a small piece of dough. Place the small piece of dough in a small, clear container that will allow you to see the dough. Here's the key requirement: the container's sides should be straight and vertical, not curved like a teacup or bowl.

Press the dough down just enough that the top surface is level. Mark the starting level of the dough and mark the level that the dough will have to reach to be doubled.

Cover it with a damp towel or a bit of plastic so that the dough doesn't dry. Finish shaping the loaf or loaves. Place the loaf or loaves and the container with the small bit of dough in the same place for the final rise. When the bit of dough has doubled, your loaves will also have doubled. This is a very good application of the instruction to "watch the dough, not the clock". I suspect that you will see the loaves look much smaller than you think they should when they have doubled.

That's due to two reasons. First, we don't do well at remembering something's original size. Second, we tend to think that doubling means the loaf should grow twice as big in all directions.

I can't think of any dough that wouldn't collapse before reaching that expansion. As you grow more experienced, practice squeezing the shaped loaves gently as they rise. You will come to recognize a correlation to how the loaf feels and how much the small piece of dough has expanded. I baked a bread yesterday. The top crust separated from the crumb and continue to expand and rise in the oven, leaving a void area in between the top crust skin and the crumb. It did not break or bursted open.

However, it just stopped rising and then becoming browner and browner. Many people have experimented with allowing dough to rise once, twice, three times, or more, and allowing it to rise twice gives the most consistent best results.

As long as the dough still has the potential to rise again after a second rise, it will be just as good. Allowing your dough to rise twice improves its texture by allowing for further gluten development and also helps to even out the crumb.

Everyone makes mistakes during breadmaking occasionally. Fortunately, a third rise can be what saves your bread. There are two actions you can take at this point.