To do the poke test, flour your finger and press an indentation into the dough. If it springs back immediately, it is still underproofed and not yet ready for baking. If it slowly springs about halfway back, it is ready for baking.
The dough poke test is a technique performed during the proofing step of the bread-making process that helps you determine when your sourdough bread dough is ready to bake. Gently press your finger into the dough on the top. If the dough springs back quickly, it's underproofed.
Testing your sourdough
Poke the dough lightly with your finger and take note of how the surface of the dough bounces back. If the indent comes back quickly and disappears, the loaf is not proofed enough and needs an additional half-hour (or more) proofing time.
Overproofed is when the dough has rested too long and the yeast has continued making carbon dioxide while the strength of the dough (gluten bonds) have begun to wear out. The dough will look very puffy, but when you touch it or move it you may notice it deflate or sag.
The crumb structure of an under proofed loaf will be tight and gummy. Because it was not given enough time to develop and trap CO2 gasses, the crumb structure will be very dense, with uneven air bubbles.
The “poke test” is somewhat subjective and take some practice, but it is a fairly reliable test. Countertop proofing will generally produce the mildest tasting loaves. These loaves are usually not very sour and will generally have a softer crust and more tender crumb.
Overproofed sourdough dough loses all structure, so it's stretchy and slack when turned onto a work surface. The dough is also stickier than usual due to the lack of remaining gluten structure.
Ideally, you can proof sourdough in the fridge for up to 36 hours, or even longer if your dough will tolerate it. You don't want to have the gluten structure break down or for the dough to use up all of its energy before it hits the oven.
A provider gets a sample of your blood from a finger prick. They usually get the results from this test within minutes.
Steam will always find the weakest point in the dough in order to escape. In addition, if you score your dough too deeply, there ends up being too much dough for the steam to be able to lift. Think of the score like a shelf that you're creating, not just an incision that you're making.
After a cold bulk fermentation, allow your dough to regain some warmth on the counter for 40 to 60 minutes and become slightly puffy before shaping it.
After kneading, shape your loaf, cover it, and let it proof for 4-24 hours, depending on your specific sourdough starter and ambient temperature. You can manipulate the sourness of the bread with a longer rise time. A 24-hour rise time will produce much more sour bread than a 4-hour rise time.
While underworked dough can simply be fixed by a little more kneading, severely overworked dough cannot be fixed. Instead, the overworked dough will result in a hard loaf that will likely not be eaten. It's important not to overwork your dough and continually check for overworking throughout the kneading process.
Most recipes call for three or four rounds of stretch and folds, repeated every 20 minutes or so. What is this? By the last round, the dough should keep its shape, and not feel as sticky as it did at the start. It may also have small bubbles on the surface depending on the recipe.
You absolutely can leave your sourdough starter out overnight after feeding it, particularly if you are going to bake with it the next day. I highly recommend feeding it a higher ratio to prolong it's peak and ensure that it's ready for the you in the morning. What happens if you let sourdough sit too long?
Can I do a long bulk fermentation in the refrigerator? No. Bulk fermentation requires the dough to be at room temperature to activate the fermentation process.
The good news: We found an easy way to rescue overproofed dough. Simply punch it down gently, reshape it, and let it proof again for the recommended amount of time. In the test kitchen, these steps resulted in bread that tasters found acceptable in both texture and flavor.
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.
If your sourdough is not rising during bulk fermentation at all, you might need to strengthen your sourdough starter. If you notice the dough is under proofed during preshaping or shaping, simply give it a longer bench rest.