Why do you rest dough in the fridge?
Most pie dough/pastry benefits from a rest in the refrigerator as it allows the glutens in the flour to relax - this should help to give a more tender pie crust with less shrinkage. It can also give time for the liquids in the dough to be absorbed, giving slightly less dry spots in the pastry.
When handling dough in bread making, it is a distinct advantage to allow the dough to rest during the process. This allows the gluten/gliadin to relax and easily reform itself into the long protein chains which are the superstructure of the finished loaf.
This rest allows the starches and the gluten to expand and fully absorb the water, which makes the dough easier to handle and can shorten the time needed to fully knead the dough. This is especially helpful in dough that is very sticky, like ciabatta.
Turns out, chilling dough before rolling does two things: The most important is that it gives the gluten strands in the dough time to relax, which makes the pastry easier to roll out and limits shrinkage during baking. The other reason is that giving dough a good rest encourages the moisture to disperse more evenly.
8. Retarding refers to chilling dough to slow down yeast activity. Professional bakers sometimes use a specialized refrigerator called a dough retarder, generally kept around 50°F. Home bakers can use a regular refrigerator to accomplish the same thing.
What happens if you don't let dough rise long enough? If you don't let dough rise long enough then the bread will be dense, rubbery and less flavorful. As the yeast ferments, it fills the dough with gas and gives the bread its airy texture. The flavors also come as byproducts of fermentation.
If you quicken or skip the resting period, your yeast won't have enough time to produce carbon dioxide, leaving you with a flat and unpleasant loaf. At the same time, the gluten strands will relax and reform into long protein chains that will ensure a picture-perfect structure.
In cooking, proofing (also called proving) is a step in the preparation of yeast bread and other baked goods in which the dough is allowed to rest and rise a final time before baking. During this rest period, yeast ferments the dough and produces gases, thereby leavening the dough.
After yeast dough has risen, you need to gently punch it down and knead it a few times to release the gases created by the yeast. Next, shape the dough into a ball and let it rest, covered in plastic wrap or an inverted bowl, for about 10-15 minutes before proceeding.
The best place to let dough rise is a very warm place. On a warm day, your counter will probably do just fine. But if your kitchen is cold, your oven is actually a great place. Preheat oven to 200 degrees for 1-2 minutes to get it nice and toasty, then turn it off.
Why do you let the dough rest in the fridge before rolling what would happen if you skipped this step?
Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.
The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor will develop. The flour will also absorb more of the moisture so the thicker and chewier the final texture will be.
It's best to chill your dough in the refrigerator for the entire recommended time.
You have several storage options for keeping your pizza dough in the fridge. You can put the dough in a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap, wrap the entirety of the dough in plastic wrap, or simply place it in a sealed plastic bag or airtight container.
Yes, you can let your bread rise overnight in the fridge. Keep in mind, though, you'll want the dough to come back up to room temperature before baking.
Before final shaping: bench rest
When you give your dough time to rest, in what's called the "bench rest," you give it time to relax and spread. This returns extensibility to the uniform pieces, allowing us to manipulate them into their final shape. Generally, a bench rest can range from 10 to 45 minutes.
Pizza dough that has been left to rise for too long, or has been over-proofed, can potentially collapse. The gluten becomes overly relaxed, and the end product will be gummy or crumbly instead of crisp and fluffy.
In lieu of a typical 1- to 3-hour rise at room temperature, you'd opt for a long (8- to 12-hour) rise in the refrigerator. This slow refrigerated rise is referred to as "cold fermentation" and has many benefits ranging from flexibility to flavor.
Keep the bread dough covered to protect the dough from drying out and keep off dust. Place your rising dough in a warm, draft-free place in the kitchen while it's rising. Too much heat will speed up the yeast activity, and too much cold air will slow it down.
Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate, which (in addition to chilling the butter) helps to make the cookie dough firmer, says baker and food stylist Jason Schreiber, who recently published Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker ($21.85, amazon.com).
How long should dough rest out of fridge?
Once you bring the dough out of the cooler, keep it covered to prevent drying and let it temper at room temperature for upwards of 2½ hours or until the dough ball temperature reaches 50°F. Then you can take it to the make table for baking, and its propensity to bubble will be greatly reduced or even eliminated.
Dough that's left to rise at room temperature typically takes between two and four hours to double in size. If left overnight, dough can rise so high it will likely collapse on the weight of itself, making the dough deflate. For best results always keep dough in the refrigerator when leaving it to rise overnight.