New Method: “Double Enzymatic Activation”

A busy life means less time for baking, and weekends are certainly out of the question. So I've been experimenting with ways to achieve near-try-hard results by taking advantage of enzymatic activity and parallelizing as much as possible. So I've come up with a new method I've dubbed “Double Enzymatic Activation”.

It involves pre-preparing levains on the weekends, and cold storing them until needed throughout the week. When needed, the cold levain is invigorated in a poolish of the dough ingredients before the final dough is mixed. The dough is refrigerated immediately until I return from work 8-9 hours later.

In cold conditions, enzymes continue breaking down starch and protein even while yeast is dormant. This slow, passive “enzymatic priming” creates sugars for fermentation and gently softens the gluten network. It means that by the time the yeast wakes up, the dough is extensible, sugar-rich. Super primed! This also means that less < 20% inoculation is viable. 10-15% works great because the dough is super-charged.

Upon return from work, dough is bulk fermented as usual, although it takes a bit less time because the fermentation is so powerful. This sped-up bulk stage means i can bake before i go to bed. If needed, the total amount of cold retard can be split to allow less before and some after shaping. Too much can degrade the gluten, so as long as the total is not too long.

So, what have i learned?

* It's perfectly viable to build levains and store them cold, reviving them in a rich environment like a poolish.
* Cold storing the dough to start with does wonders for the bulk phase.
* It's viable this way to use less inoculation (<20%) and still achieve great results

In the baguettes in the picture the ingredients are:- 500g KA Bread Flour

– 360g water
– 12% sour dough
– 10g salt