How to Make Bread: Punching Down, Shaping, and the Final Rise (2024)

FAQs

How do you punch down dough after rising? ›

Keep your dough in the bowl it was resting in. Gently punch down your dough. Either make a fist with your hand or use your knuckles to press down gently into the centre of the dough to deflate the air pockets. Fold the edges of the dough in towards the centre, to turn the dough into a ball.

And after shaping the dough, it is allowed to rise one final time, known as the final rise or proofing. During this stage, the dough is placed in a warm, draft-free place to allow the yeast to continue fermenting and produce more gas, causing the dough to rise further.

The secret of successful rising

Most recipes call for the bread to double in size – this can take one to three hours, depending on the temperature, moisture in the dough, the development of the gluten, and the ingredients used. Generally speaking, a warm, humid environment is best for rising bread.

Some recipes have you “punch down” the dough one or two times. Some recipes do not have this step at all. If your recipe asks to do it, do it! From my experience making regular yeast breads, I punch down once after first rise and then once again before forming into loaves.

The second proving has given the bread more elasticity, and made it harder to deflate the air. Second rises may add significantly to the total time it takes to complete a loaf of bread, but the step can be essential to achieving the taste and texture inherent to a number of popular breads.

In broad strokes, if a recipe calls for you to stir or knead the dough then let it rise undisturbed, go ahead and stir or knead but only to the point where ingredients are hom*ogeneous and you have a “shaggy mass.” At that point you can step away, returning to fold three to four times in the first hour of fermentation.

Overproofed is when the dough has rested too long and the yeast has continued making carbon dioxide while the strength of the dough (gluten bonds) have begun to wear out. The dough will look very puffy, but when you touch it or move it you may notice it deflate or sag.

A Bowl of Steaming Water is the Key to Quickly Proofing Bread. In the winter, when your house and kitchen are at a crisp temperature and you need a warm spot for your dough to rise, create a makeshift “proof box” by placing a bowl of steaming water inside your oven alongside your bowl of dough.

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.

Dough is overproofed when shaping (i.e.,very loose and not holding shape): Preheat the oven while shaping and bake the loaf immediately after shaping.

Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

- Uncovered container with dough you need to limit to max 4 hours in room temperature. It is possible to leave bread dough to rise overnight. This needs to be done in the refrigerator to prevent over-fermentation and doughs with an overnight rise will often have a stronger more yeasty flavour which some people prefer.

Yeast bread recipes typically require two stages of proofing, also known as rising. After the first rise, it's important to punch down the dough to prevent it from over-proofing. Overproofed bread is dense and unable to retain the gas bubbles necessary for the structure of the bread loaf.

Once dough has risen to double its size, it must be pressed down or turned to prevent it from overproofing. If bread is allowed to rise to more than double its size, the gluten will stretch to the point of collapse and will no longer be able to hold the gas bubbles that provide necessary structure for the loaf.

The deflating process is this: Once the dough has doubled its original size, uncover the bowl and, after giving it several swift swats with the back of your hand, knead it gently and briefly in the bowl (turning it over is good).