Bulk fermentation

Bulk fermentation is a term often used in commercial baking to refer to the initial period during which dough is left to rise after it has been prepared. After bulk fermentation has taken place, the dough may be knocked back, and will be shaped and then left for a second period of rising, usually known as the prove.

Bulk fermentation may also be referred to as the rise, first prove or simply prove (with no distinction being made between the first and second periods of fermentation). Not all doughs are given two rises - pizza dough, for example, is often baked immediately after it has been shaped.

Want to find out more? Look at the chapter on rising, proving and fermentation in the book flour and water.

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