A Rising Mystery

[Breeze]

Chief Longwind, Thanks for weighing in. Your approach is interesting and I will likely try something like that if my next experiment fails. I'll be making dough tomorrow, which will be ready on Saturday. I'll put my bowl on a wood table and see if that solves the mystery.

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

I have this mystery and hope to get some help in solving it. (This is my first post, BTW.)

My wife and I live in the Chicago area and own a vacation home in Door County, Wisconsin (250 miles North). I make a loaf of bread twice a week; about every 5 days. But there is a mystery ...

The mystery:

When I make my bread at home, it always turns out approximately the same size (i.e. height) When I make the same recipe at our vacation home (250 miles north), it always turns out about 20% larger. And, after the second rise, it has many more and larger bubbles, compared to the results at home; and about 20% more volume.

The facts:

1. Identical recipe ingredients - Same Red Star Active Dry yeast, same Morton iodized salt, same King Arthurs AP flour. The exception is the water, but I have even brought water from Door County to our home, thinking "Maybe it's something about the water," as it's well water, rather than "city water" (from Lake Michigan). Nope ... same smaller loaf.
2. Recipe is prepared exactly in the same way (for several years). I weigh the flour on a digital scale; heat my water to 90 degrees F., go through exactly the same motions, and bake it at 500 deg. F for 35 minutes and then lower the heat to 465 deg. F for about 10-15 minutes.
3. The oven at home is an electric Kitchenaid. The oven at the vacation home is an electric Bosch.
4. I proof for 18 hours in an identical stainless steel bowl, covered with aluminum foil, at room temperature (72-74 F during the day and 66-68 F at night). Then I fold it and let it sit, covered, for another 2 hours. Then I fire up the oven (~20 min. before it reaches 500), place the dough into a dutch oven, cover it and put it in the oven.

The clues: I can't think of any, but one possibility: We are 3.1 miles from Lake Michigan at our home, but we're only about 100 feet feet from Lake Michigan in our Door County vacation home. It's sometimes more humid at the vacation home, but that doesn't appear to make any difference.

I simply can't fathom why the loaves don't turn out the same in both locations. Any insights are welcome and thanks for your help!

Just coincidence?

 

[Breeze]

mR.vINEGAR - MYSTERY SOLVED!

At home, I always placed my stainless steel bowl with the dough on the kitchen counter to proof for 18 hours. At the vacation home I put it on a wood table. And that is the problem! The cold quartz countertop, at home, dissipates the heat generated by the yeast, lowering the temperature, resulting in a smaller rise. I just pulled out a loaf after it proofed on a wooden cutting board, on the quartz counter, and viola! The size turned out just like at our vacation home.

 

[dragnlaw]

HEARTY CONGRATUALATIONS are in order for Breeze!

Mystery solved!

Lesson learned?
Look up, we did. Look around, we did, Look in, we did. But we forgot to look down!

Gold Star for Everyone!

ps, and discussion by everyone, we did - and I personally think that's solved it.

 

[blissful]

That IS great. Breeze I'm so glad your mystery is solved. One step at a time, one lab experiment after another, until, voila, the mystery is solved.

 

[Breeze]

Thanks!