How can I warm bread making ingredients to room temperature?
My room temperature is 65°F (18°C). The recipe calls for the ingredients (milk, egg, butter, etc.) to be at room temperature, 75-90°F (24-32°C).
How should I warm them? Can I use the microwave, or put them in a water bath?
My bread right now tastes good, but is very dense.
Best Answer
To answer the question as stated: please don't use a microwave. You risk overdoing it. You don't want to cook your eggs or melt the butter. A water bath should work well. You can also set your oven to the lowest setting (should be around 50°C/120°F) and put them in it (no preheating), but then you must really check on them very frequently. Out of the two, I prefer the water bath. @Elendil's suggestion for a thermometer is also great.
A side warning: I doubt that the dense bread is due to such small changes in ingredient temperature. You can easily start with cold ingredients, you just have to give the bread more time to rise. And kneading will easily raise the temperature of your dough from 65 to 85 °F. It is OK to warm the ingredients if you want to, but I suspect the problem is somewhere else, probably either in an incorrect raising/proofing process, or in a bad flour ratio (which could be due to a bad recipe or to measuring by volume instead of by weight).
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Quick Answer about "How can I warm bread making ingredients to room temperature? "
A water bath should work well. You can also set your oven to the lowest setting (should be around 50°C/120°F) and put them in it (no preheating), but then you must really check on them very frequently. Out of the two, I prefer the water bath. @Elendil's suggestion for a thermometer is also great.How do you bring baking ingredients to room temperature?
Microwave (on high) a cup of milk, etc, for 30 seconds, or a 1/2 cup for 20 seconds. Stir gently to even the temperature. You just want to take the chill off. Tip: use room temperature dairy products asap, do not let them sit for prolonged periods or bacteria can flourish.How do you bring dough to room temperature?
Bring your dough to room temperature. If it's in plastic from the grocery store (or freezer, you champ!) take it out of the plastic and move it to an oiled mixing bowl. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place for at least 30 minutes.How long does it take to bring ingredients to room temperature?
The good, old-fashioned way to bring your ingredients to room temperature is to let them sit out on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour (or several hours, in the case of cream cheese) before you begin baking.What is the fastest way to bring food to room temperature?
Buttermilk, cream, and milk are easy to bring to room temperature quickly: Simply pour the amount needed for the recipe into a microwave-safe container and heat at 20% power in 10-second intervals until the liquid has warmed to room temperature.Bringing Ingredients to Room Temperature
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Answer 2
I've had a lot success in the past with a water bath. Make sure the water is not boiling or you risk cooking the edge of the dough, and make sure you only keep the bowl in the water for as long as it takes the dough to come up to temperature, as you want it to have a nice slow rise. A probe thermometer is the only sure way to know when the dough is ready to come out.
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