The Volume Test So, how do we know when it's time to bake? With a few simple tests and a bunch of practice, we can start to
Volume matters.
conf idently determine this moment.
I always start by looking at my loaves. From the time we set our loaves for their f inal proof they should have
increased in volume by at least half.
If
your loaves have doubled or more, this might mean we're approaching
overproofing.
Since judging the
volume
of our loaves can be tricky, I
recommend using the same proof ing baskets each time you bake until you begin to get a feel for this process. This will allow you to better gauge what changes in volume may signify in terms of dough progression. I almost always bake 900-gram loaves of the workhorse recipe, and I proof them in the same bannetons each day. This means that I can see day in, day out, that when my dough begins to rise above the lip of my baskets, we're nearing baking time.
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