A 24-hour rise time will produce much more sour bread than a 4-hour rise time. If using a shorter rise period, 4-12 hours, a second rise is optional. If desired, punch dough down, reshape, and proof a second time.
The reason for doing a final proof is because you generally want to let the dough rise after shaping due to the inherent degassing and compression of the dough that occurs during the shaping process.
The second rise lasts one hour. Repeat the folding process and place the dough back in the bowl. The third rise is 90 minutes. By the end of this rise your dough should feel much lighter and airier.
Because the yeast has already exhausted some of the dough's food supply, it won't be as energetic and will create much smaller air bubbles. Those smaller bubbles will allow for a texture more suited to sandwich bread, however, and will result in hardier bread.
You can make good bread with a single or double rise. Single rising is quicker to make but requires more kneading. If you want to make a softer bread, it might be best to rise once. For more flavourful bread, a double rise is preferred.
The second rise is shorter than the primary fermentation after the bread loaf has been shaped and panned; usually taking only about half the time of the first rise at room temperature, or shorter for smaller loaves and rolls.
When to Punch Down Dough. Yeast bread recipes typically require two stages of proofing, also known as rising. After the first rise, it's important to punch down the dough to prevent it from over-proofing. Overproofed bread is dense and unable to retain the gas bubbles necessary for the structure of the bread loaf.
Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.
The maximum amount of time dough can sit out on the counter is four hours for yeast-made bread, six for sourdough. Temperature, the characteristics of the sugars in the flour, the amount of yeast and the humidity of the room alter the length of the rise.
Allowing the bread dough to rise for too long can ruin the texture and the taste of the bread. Both of these things are important when you want your bread to turn out right. The dough ferments as it continues to rise. If this process goes on for too long, you could wind up with bread that has a sour taste.
Here's the short answer: The most common reason why sourdough bread is not rising is an immature starter, but if your starter is fully active, then it's likely that you've not given it enough time to ferment. Give your sourdough bread at least 4 hours to bulk ferment, plus a further 3-4 hour second rise before baking.
The timing for proofing sourdough can be stretched from 4 hours to even a few days! The smaller the amount of sourdough starter in the dough, and the colder the temperature, the longer the dough is able to ferment for.
What bakers call the “poke test” is the best way to tell if dough is ready to bake after its second rise. Lightly flour your finger and poke the dough down about 1". If the indent stays, it's ready to bake. If it pops back out, give it a bit more time.
If your starter is not doubling or growing substantially in volume between feedings, it is not strong enough to leaven dough. You can certainly try baking, but you most likely will not achieve proper fermentation.
If your loaf is not rising in the oven, there could be a problem with the levain. It must be active if you want your bread to rise. The thing about levain is that it's classified as a living culture – which means it needs to be fed every 12 or so hours so it can double in size.
You can chill your dough during either the first or second rise. Your yeast won't give you much love if it's asked to do both rises in the fridge, so it's best to do one or the other at room temperature. One of Clara's favorite recipes to make with a cold ferment is Vermont Sourdough.
You can cold ferment or cold proof your sourdough overnight because the cold temperature of the fridge stops the dough from over fermenting. If you were to leave your shaped dough on the counter overnight, you'd wake up to a soupy mess (unless it was freezing in your home).
Generally a starter can stay at room temperature without feeding for a maximum of 3 days. After that you will need to give the starter few feedings before you can use it again. This is because it will become less strong and it will need time and food to become strong again.
In sourdough bread, if you do not give enough time for the wild yeast to multiply and reach a decent population where it can cause enough leavening, your bread is bound to be too dense. Another possible reason for a super dense bread could be the death of the yeast due to some reason.
Simply put, you have to control the temperature of the bread. Allowing ample time for your bread dough to rise and the yeast to form will create the holes in the bread that give it a lighter texture. Letting your dough get puffy and grow before it goes into the oven is critical.
Most commonly, the issue here has to do with temperature (which is very important). If your sourdough starter is kept at a low temp, even 70°F (21°C), it will slow fermentation activity and appear to be sluggish, taking longer to rise and progress through the typical signs of fermentation. The solution: keep it warm.
If the dough is not knocked back the fermentation rate slows down as time goes by. Of course, there are only so many times that you can knock it back and expect it to rise again. But in most cases, we don't have to worry about it as there is no good reason to degas the dough multiple times during bulk fermentation.