Pretty much all recipes that I have seen for bread (of all sorts) calls for a bulk rise and a proofing rise. In my case that's a major inconvenience as I like to bulk rise over night and then bake first thing in the morning for freshly baked bread for breakfast.
Most explanations that I have seen for the second rise are "non answers", i.e. "it improves texture", "builds flavor" without an actual explanation what happens chemically or physically and how the two rises are actually different.
As far as I understand: during the rise the bacteria in the dough (mostly yeast and Lactobacillus) eat starch and turn it into CO2 which inflates the dough. But that's the same mechanism for both rises.
Let's compare 2 methods:
- Bulk rise 12 hours; form loaf; 2nd rise for 2 hours; bake
- Bulk rise 14 hours; form loaf; bake
So in either case the "bacteria eating" time is the same, so the only difference is when "forming the loaf" happens. Now I can understand that this makes a difference if you do something drastic during the forming, i.e. pounding down the dough etc. But that's not the case for a sourdough bread: you try to be as gentle as possible.
I recently I had to skip the 2nd rise (out of time) and to my surprise the result was better than what I normally get, specifically I got a better crust (crispier and less bitter).
What am I missing?
Recipe: I bake with 20% sourdough starter, 90% freshly milled whole wheat flour, 10% standard bread flour, 2% salt, 65%-70% water (using bakers percentages).
