How Important Is Dough Temperature for Cold Fermentation?

If you’ve watched any one of my videos, you’d now that I’m all about temperature control. It is one of the most important parts of the bread making process and I have published several videos about temperature control and the effect of temperature on fermentation. But all of the previous videos and writeups concern bread dough that is fermented at room temperature. What about cold fermentation? Does the final dough temperature really matter if the dough is going to be stone cold anyway?

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[ChainBaker]

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[perniciouspete]

What I found really helpful about this video is the inclusion of ways to correct the temperature of the dough for the best loaf, not just directives of what the temperature should be.

[JoeGotta]

This explains why I get no rise each time I attempted cold fermentation

[timmerrill]

Once again, you provide another fantastic comparison video that is on point, and that most of us don't have the time to, or desire to attempt. Anyone that is trying to wrap their head around the variables of baking, need to watch all of your videos.

[Tsnafu]

I've got to admit, I've never taken my dough's temperature, but I use a slightly different technique to Charlie - I let the roughly mixed dough sit for half an hour or so to hydrate at room temperature before it gets its first fold and popping it in the fridge. Also, unless it's mid summer, my kitchen is never 25C. My central heating is set at 19C, so for most of the year, that's as hot as it gets. Works for me, but I can see how controlling variables can be a good thing if you want consistent results - I don't care much, all homemade bread is good bread 😄

[kleineroteHex]

You are amazing with all your experiments 😊
I now have sourdough in the fridge, for days, just to make flatbreads when I want some. As i remove some dough i will add new flour to the remainder. So far works well😊

[MJ-enhi]

Cool experiment! Wasn't expecting such a dramatic difference, I'll definitely pay more attention to dough temperature going forward

[kevinu.k.]

Some great observations here.
Yes, with yeast doughs cold fermentation is the way to go for flavour. As you have said before, much better than a poolish.
Some ancillary thoughts?
Because the gluten deteriorates, slowly in the fridge, folk using all purpose flour and other weaker gluten flours may likely have poorer breads after 24 hours.
Those using natural leavens / Sourdough, may end up with quite sour loaves even at 16 hours in the fridge. Some folk like that sourness, some don't.

I would add that for flavour using a natural leaven gives better flavour without cold fermentation and once folk get used to them they are very easy and fiddle free if the fridge method is used (no discards) and handled in the right way they do not give a sour loaf. That's why I use your term, 'natural leaven' instead of the American term, 'sourdough'. I never thanked you for that one. ;)


Thanks - another superb tutorial.

[Jeepy-LoveToBake]

This subject appears to be simple, yet it has such a major impact on bread making. Cold fermentation has made such an impact on the flexibility of my sometimes "crazy" baking schedule. Again, thank you ever so much for sharing - in fact, I have a batch of your Silky Smooth Potato Buns 🥔🥔 dough in the fridge since last night for the cold bulk fermentation which I can either prep and bake today or tomorrow. As the dough temp was a bit high at 26.5C, I quickly placed in the fridge and gave it two folds in 15 min intervals before the long cold bulk ferment and it has risen beautifully overnight. 👍 (See, I really am learning from you!!!) 🤩

Charlie has 223K subscribers, great job everyone!! Please continue to share your bakes with family, friends and colleagues and share photos and your baking experiences with Charlie's recipes on your social media channels (including links to Charlie's YT) - don't forget to ask your followers to subscribe to his channel.

He has taught us "all things baking" with his fantastic videos: principles of baking, sweet bakes, breads, bread-making techniques and his delicious Baking World Tour playlist - let's keep spreading the word about his YT channel and get him to 250K subscribers by the end of the year. Go "Team ChainBaker" 📣

[kattykakes]

We miss seeing your face at the end of your videos! Must bring that back! Have a wonderful week! 💕💕

[Nordellak]

If I recall correctly, I asked you about this several months ago, because I didn't understand why final temperature mattered before putting the dough in the fridge. I'm glad you made this video, it was very insightful and cleared all my doubts :) It's great you provided hints on what to do if final temperature doesn't end up being quite right. Thank you for the video!

[stevehendry]

This explains why my Crumpet Bread went nuts expanding 4 time it volume. 3 X's the recipe starting cold formation in one bowl, do one set of folds then break it down in to two container. The batter was 80 F when it interred the reidfeg, As I write this is my third bake of your Crumpet Bread is in the oven. It collapses due to the over proof. Yet, everyone that tastes this has limited words. Wonderful, Wow, Amazing, Best Ever.

[sheilam]

Thx for filming this and sharing this with us.

[TheChefmike]

I love making bread, and your content inspires me to fire up the oven, even in the 95 degree Summer weather! So thanks for that. I subscribed a while ago.

[thunderbeatz]

Thank you for this video, I always thought I could just use cold water for cold fermentation, because it would ferment under cold temperature any way. I've made a cold fermented bread before and the same thing happen, no matter what you do the dought won't rise at all and I thought my yeast wasn't active! but its temperature control. I made a cold fermented bread from you in the past with adjusting dough temperature like you did and the results were always good!

[janegardener]

This was a great experiment. It really helped me understand what is happening with the fermentation. Thanks!

[craigsomerton]

I think I've watched almost all of your videos and have learnt more on this channel that just about anywhere else.

But I'm interested in understanding why specific oven temperatures are used for different breads.

I note some use very high temps, yet others are quite moderate. I understand higher temps deliver a crispier crust and evaporate the liquid faster, whereas lower temps seem to be used for much softer breads.

I would love if you could explain why different baking temperatures are used and what happens to the bread during the different phases of baking?

Maybe another of your experiments with the same mini loaves baked at different temperatures? If you have the time, of course. :)

[efportela]

Perfect explanation as usual! Thanks. Have u tried testing different cold bulk fermentation? Like ferment @ 5°C, 10°C, 15°C and 20°C?

[VinceKully]

nice! I've been letting my doughs sit out at room temp (~78F) for the first two folds, then popping them in the fridge for the next 2-3 folds to ensure *some* activity happens before the long cold ferment in the fridge, and I've had zero issues. science rules

[fuzzyBSc]

I have made the mistake of being too cold to cold ferment before and had to fix it by leaving the dough on the bench to get moving before putting it back in the cold.
My daily bread is a three loaf cold bulk ferment. I fold every night, bake out one loaf per day, then start all over again.
If i use the water from a cold soaker in my dough i know i need to compensate by taking the rest of the water from the hot tap. So long as it is not too cold I don't really worry about temperature and i never measure it. I adjust time on the bench before and after shaping to adjust to get a predictable loaf that i like rather than trying to adjust ingredient temperature in any exact way.