My boss told me to stop over-proofing my dough and I ignored him for months

I kept having flat loaves with no oven spring and thought it was my oven temp. Finally timed my bulk ferment instead of just going by look. Turns out going 45 minutes past the optimal point was killing my gluten structure every time. Anyone else have a bakery manager who was right about proofing times?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ben7d agoMost Upvoted

Three kids and a sourdough starter taught me the same lesson the hard way. I was so sure my oven was lying to me I even bought a separate thermometer. Nope, just me ignoring the clock for an extra hour like it was a rebellious teenager. Your boss was probably right about your gluten structure too but at least you can blame it on "artistic intuition" for now.

averywright7d ago

Two digital thermometers and a backup analog one later, I finally admitted it wasn't the oven. It was me thinking I could eyeball proofing times while scrolling through my phone. Your boss might be onto something, but hey, flat bread still makes great toast.