Sourdough

[Sol Damiani]

Hey there Lou Lou!👋

Welcome to the Scoolinary Community! 😊Join our awesome group of food lovers and share your love of cooking. Everyone’s invited!

I’m Sol Damiani, the Community Builder and I’m from Buenos Aires.

I’ll bring @sussan_scoolinaryteam to this thread so she can help us with your question.

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[Sussan Estela Olaya]

Hi Lou.

Yes, you can do the bulk fermentation and then perform the final fermentation in the refrigerator. Here are the general steps:

Bulk Fermentation (First Fermentation): After mixing all the ingredients of the dough, let it rest at room temperature for 1 to 3 hours, depending on the recipe and ambient temperature, to ferment.

Refrigerator Fermentation (Retarded Fermentation): Once the dough has bulk fermented, you can divide it and shape it if needed. Then, place it in the refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours. This slow fermentation process helps improve the flavor and texture of the dough.

Baking: After the refrigerator fermentation, the dough will be ready to bake. Sometimes it’s allowed to rest a little more before baking, but that depends on the recipe.

If you’re following a specific course or recipe, I’d love to know more details to give you a more precise answer. Is it for a course, or just a recipe you’re trying out?

I hope this information is helpful!

Best regards,
Sussan, Scoolinary Team.

[tablanshieralou]

Hello! I am following a course from signature breads by xevi ramon. In the recipe, after the long bulk fermentation in the fridge, I have to perform final proofing for about 2 hours then bake. But if I want to skip, that means after long bulk ferment I can do final shape right away, put in banneton then back in the fridge for final proofing so that I can bake it fresh in the morning. Do i follow the same recipe for that baking schedule or something I need to adjust? Thank you so much for answering my questions😊

[tablanshieralou]

Is there a chance I might overproof in the fridge? Thanks again😊

[Sussan Estela Olaya]

Hi Lou,

About your question:

Yes, what you’re proposing is totally possible!
After a long cold bulk fermentation, you can shape the dough directly, place it in the banneton, and then return it to the fridge for the final proof. This is known as cold proofing, and it’s a great method when you want to bake fresh bread in the morning.

Do you need to adjust anything?

In general, you can keep the original recipe, but it’s important to be mindful of a few things:

Your dough can overproof in the fridge if:

• It’s already quite fermented after the bulk stage,

• Your fridge is warmer than 5°C (41°F),

• Or if you leave the dough in the fridge for too long (e.g., more than 18–24 hours).

A quick tip: when you take the dough out of the fridge before baking, gently press it with your finger. If it springs back slowly and leaves a slight indentation, it’s ready. If it collapses or deflates, it may be overproofed.

Could you let me know which specific recipe from the Signature Breads course you’re following?

Each of chef Xevi Ramon’s recipes has different fermentation times and hydration levels, so knowing that would help me give you a more tailored and accurate recommendation.

Happy to help anytime!
Best regards,
Sussan Scoolinary Team

[tablanshieralou]

Hello Susan! I am following chef xevi Ramon’s flama dough base recipe. Also I want to ask if I need to let the dough come to room temperature after taking it out from the fridge. In the written recipe it says to devide then let stand for 30 minutes. But in the video chef explained to let it stand for 1 hr then devide and wait another hour? Sorry I’m a bit confused. Thank you so much for answering me.

[Sussan Estela Olaya]

Hi Luo!

Thank you for your message and for paying such close attention to the details it’s completely normal to have questions during a process like this.

Regarding your question: yes, it’s recommended to let the dough come to room temperature before working with it, especially after the cold fermentation (18 hours in the fridge). While the written recipe says to divide and rest for 30 minutes, Chef Xevi Ramón mentions a longer process in the video and it makes perfect sense.

What to do after taking the dough out of the fridge:

Here’s a clear and practical version that combines the best of both instructions:

1. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour (this helps it lose the chill and become easier to handle).

2. Then, divide it into 350 g pieces and shape into balls.

3. Let the shaped pieces rest for another hour before forming them into baguettes.

This extra resting time improves the dough’s elasticity, makes shaping easier, and results in a better final texture in the bread.

In summary:

Fridge → 1h rest → divide and shape → 1h rest → final shaping → bake.

Good luck with your pan de flama—I’m sure it’ll turn out amazing! And if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out. I’m happy to help.

Warmly,
Susan
Scoolinary Team