Baking cold dough

Baking Techniques
1

I frequently place my dough in the proofing basket and cover with plastic and place in the fridge for a long cold fermentation. How important is it to let it warm up to room temperature before baking?

2

I often store dough in the fridge and make pizza crust and pita breads and other things, but not shaped loaves, so I’ve personally never tried putting in dough still fully cold into a hot oven.

Something to keep in mind depending on what container or surface you’re using is any thermal shock, maybe…? or I could be overly cautious…

I once got from my library a sourdough recipe book in which the author describes baking almost all her breads straight from the fridge much as you described. However she did put loaves in while the oven was still cold and then turned the oven on so they warmed up and proofed a bit while the oven was coming up to temperature (without using any more energy or time, cleverly). But unfortunately I can’t remember the title or her name now…

3

That’s a great way to get your dough in shape for baking. As far as room temperature, it’s important to let it warm up a bit before you get it in the oven. Yeast likes to activate in warmer temperatures, so if you bake it straight out of the fridge you could end up with a dense, flat loaf. So, just give it a few minutes to take the chill off, and you should be good to go!

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4

I bake right out of the fridge from an overnight proof, no warming at all. It scores so easily and I get great oven spring.

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5

I always bake straight out of an overnight final proof in the fridge. No warmup. No problems.

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7

Straight out of the fridge, after an overnight retarded proof at 38-40°F has always been fine for my bakes as well.

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8

Can you leave your over night proof in the fridge for 24 hours or should it be no more than 12?

9

You can leave the proofing basket in the refrigerator for several days as long as the dough is not expanding too much. How much the dough ferments in the cold has to do with your refrigerator temperature, how far up the fermentation curve the dough was when you initially refrigerated it, and how warm the dough was when you initially refrigerated it.

Here’s a blog post you might find interesting: