If dough is left to rise for too long, it will cause issues with the taste and appearance of the bread. Excess fermentation occurring in either the first or second rise can lead to a sour, unpleasant taste if the dough gets left for a long time. Over-proofed loaves have a gummy or dense texture.
If it rises for too long, it'll throw things off quite a bit. Dough that has risen for too long will taste really bad. It will often have a very sour taste and the texture of the bread won't be good either. You'll be left with a loaf of bread that's sort of gummy and crumbly.
If the dough doesn't spring back at all, you've likely over-proofed the dough. When the dough rises too much before it gets baked, it will collapse, rather than rise, in the oven's heat, and the crumb will be uneven and ragged.
If you put your bread dough in the fridge, you can leave it to rise overnight, yes. The cold temperatures will slow down the activity of the yeast, and prevent the dough from getting overfermented. Most dough can't be left at room temperature for 8 hours or more, so don't leave it out overnight.
Over-proofing happens when dough has proofed too long and the air bubbles have popped. You'll know your dough is over-proofed if, when poked, it never springs back. To rescue over-proofed dough, press down on the dough to remove the gas, then reshape and reproof. (This method won't work for sourdough bread.)
Over-proofed dough is very soft, when you pull at it, it falls apart easily, it's sticky, it smells sour/acidic and can have a crêpey look/feel. If you've shaped it, it will deflate when you poke at it.
If you want to let you dough proof for longer, try bulk-fermenting it in a cooler place, but don't allow it to go longer than three hours or structure and flavor may be compromised. For the workhorse loaf, a bulk proof of approximately two hours gives us the optimal balance of flavor and texture.
In lieu of a typical 1- to 3-hour rise at room temperature, you'd opt for a long (8- to 12-hour) rise in the refrigerator. This slow refrigerated rise is referred to as "cold fermentation" and has many benefits ranging from flexibility to flavor.
The standard time dough can be left out for is 4 hours. But this can change depending on the ingredients used and the baking methods used.
You'll end up with a loaf that doesn't expand or bake well, and that is also misshapen and very sour. While some people (including us) like that biting flavor, others may find it too sour. Mistakes are inevitable when it comes to proofing bread, but there's no need to throw out dough if it proofs too long.
The second proving has given the bread more elasticity, and made it harder to deflate the air. Second rises may add significantly to the total time it takes to complete a loaf of bread, but the step can be essential to achieving the taste and texture inherent to a number of popular breads.
If you let the dough rise for too long, the taste and texture of the finished bread suffers. Because the dough is fermenting during both rises, if the process goes on for too long, the finished loaf of bread can have a sour, unpleasant taste.
Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.
Bread recipes typically call for two rises: The first is the “bulk” rise when the dough rises in the bowl, while the second rise comes after the dough has been shaped, like when a sandwich dough proofs directly in the loaf pan.
After yeast dough has risen, you need to gently punch it down and knead it a few times to release the gases created by the yeast. Next, shape the dough into a ball and let it rest, covered in plastic wrap or an inverted bowl, for about 10-15 minutes before proceeding.
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.
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.
Generally, you should do it before rising, although you can knead the dough before and after it rises. Kneading is the process of mixing ingredients and developing strength in the finished product. After the first proof, you can perform this step to remove bubbles and spread gas on the dough.
For most loaves of bread, three hours is too long to proof. At this point, you run the risk of over-proofing your dough. That's why I recommend checking on your dough every 30 minutes. If you reach the three-hour mark with no success, there may be other issues at play.
If you let your dough over-proof, this will affect your bread's taste and texture once it has been baked. This is because, with most bread dough recipes, you leave the dough to proof twice, and during both the proofing processes, the dough starts to ferment.
The dough should generally be proofed for around 1 to 4 hours at a warm temperature or overnight (or more) at a cold refrigerator temperature. As the proofing temperature increases, the total fermentation time will decrease.