Hello bakers & self proclaimed bakers!
View attachment 4726I am making cream buns this morning after preparing brioche dough last night and putting directly in the refrigerator for 16 hours. I took the dough out the morning, let the gas out, and rolled into tight balls. This is 1.5 hours into proofing. My finger print still springs back so I know they’re not ready yet but why does my dough ALWAYS spread out and not up??! I use a high gluten flour and my dough always looks beautiful once I finish mixing and form it into a beautiful smooth ball. What am I doing wrong? I’m going to bake these once they’re done proofing and will upload a picture of them.
Are you using instant yeast? If so, that’s the problem. Instant yeast is not the right yeast for long fermentation. It’s meant for dough that is going to be baked right away. Yeast feeds on sugar. Yeast will feed on sugars (starch) in flour. Instant yeast is a strain that reproduces at a high rate. When too much yeast develops, it plows through its food sources and dies off (gasses out).
Brioche is a high fat and sugar dough. So an osmotolerant yeast is best. Sugar is hygroscopic (attracts water). The high ratio of added sugar (10%+) pulls in a lot of water, leaving too little free water for instant and active dry yeasts. Osmotolerant yeast is able to thrive with less water.
Examples of different types of yeast
SAF Red: ascorbic acid*; not osmotolerant; short fermentation time; no rehydration required
SAF Blue: osmotolerant (sugar 10% - 30%); no oxidizing agent*; short fermentation time; no rehydration required
SAF Gold: osmotolerant (sugar 10 - 30%); long fermentation; no oxidizing agent; no rehydration required
SAF Premium: use 30% less yeast; short fermentation; not osmotolerant; no rehydration required; I don’t thing this one has an oxidizing agent...
SAF Active Dry: rehydrate; long fermentation; no oxidizing agent.