What Does It Mean to Punch Down Dough? Punching down dough refers to the motion used for deflating air pockets in bread dough. This step releases carbon dioxide, relaxes the gluten, and redistributes the yeast cells in bread dough.
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.
Once dough has risen to double its size, it must be pressed down or turned to prevent it from overproofing. If bread is allowed to rise to more than double its size, the gluten will stretch to the point of collapse and will no longer be able to hold the gas bubbles that provide necessary structure for the loaf.
If you don't punch down your dough, it will overproof and collapse, resulting in broken gluten which can't hold the air necessary for rising. Your baked goods won't rise in the oven and will end up dense and tough. Once you have punched down your dough, the relaxed gluten makes it easier to shape the bread into loaves.
If you don't score your loaf, it will still expand, but in a jagged pattern. Or it will find a less desirable weak point: This crack along the side of my loaf is common in breads baked in a bread pan BECAUSE the dough exploits a weak point along the side created by the shaping process.
Consider vitamin C. Vitamin C strengthens the gluten in flour, which can give a better rise, and help dough to rise more quickly. You probably won't need it if you're making white bread, but if you make wholemeal bread and it doesn't rise as well as you hoped, you could try a little vitamin C next time.
To “punch” the dough properly, simply firmly, but gently push your fist into the center of the dough. Then knead the dough a few times and reform the dough into a ball. Shape dough as desired and let rise again (proof) before baking.
Look: Your dough should be about double the size it was when it started. If it's in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, then use a marker to trace an outline of the dough on the plastic — the dough is done rising/proofing when it stretches beyond that mark by about double.
An easy way is to hold the dough with one hand and stretch it out over the work surface with the other, then bring it back to a ball and repeat with the other hand. Keep kneading until it has a smooth texture and can be stretched without tearing – this typically takes 10 minutes.
Remove the dough ball from the bowl.
Knead the bread a couple more times before shaping it into the desired shape. At this point, you can gently lift the dough from the floured surface and place it inside a greased loaf pan to rise one more time.
If your dough feels dense and tough to handle when you stop the mixer, it is a sign that it is becoming over-kneaded. Over-kneaded dough can become very hard to work with and produce a more flat and chewy bread.
“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.
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.
When we make yeasted breads such as Challah, we press the dough gently with our knuckle or finger to determine if it is properly proofed and ready for baking. If the dough springs back right away, it needs more proofing. But if it springs back slowly and leaves a small indent, it's ready to bake.
You can gently deflate the dough, reshape it, and set it to rise again. Watch it very carefully, as this third rise will go quite quickly and probably won't be as high.
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.
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.
What to look for in an over proofed loaf. Similar to the signs of over proofed dough, an over proofed loaf will be very flat, without much rise or retention of shaping. Over proofing destroys the structural integrity of the bread, so loaves that have gone over are unable to hold their shape in the oven.
The Dough Passes the Windowpane Test
To do this, tear off a chunk of dough and stretch it between your fingers. If the dough tears, you haven't developed enough gluten and it needs more kneading. If it stretches without breaking, making a windowpane of sorts, you're done and you can let the dough rest.
An excess of flour can create a stiff, dry dough. A perfectly kneaded dough springs back when poked with your finger and will feel soft and silky in texture.
Dense or heavy bread can be the result of not kneading the dough mix properly –out of many reasons out there. Some of the other potential reasons could be mixing the yeast & salt together or losing your patience while baking or even not creating enough tension in the finished loaf before baking the bread.
A general rule of thumb when bread baking is to keep your yeast, salt and sugar separate from each other when adding to your mixing bowl. The sugar and salt can both kill the yeast which will reduce the effectiveness of the yeast if they come into contact at the early stages of bread baking.
For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough. Now, you may be wondering “how long does it take for bread to rise?” The short answer is that it depends on the temperature of your kitchen. For bread to rise, yeast must be activated, and yeast is very sensitive to temperature.