Flat bread, and other baking mistakes – hot summers may be the main culprit

Summer is the season of dough that rises before you can even prepare your dough. If you know this, you are not alone. Homemade bread and sourdough in the hot summer are a challenge even for experienced bakers. In today's article, we will go through a few tricks that will help you bake the homemade bread of your dreams even in 30 °C.

1. Keep flour for homemade bread refrigerated

For example, whole wheat flour goes rancid faster in the summer and retains moisture from the environment. If you bake homemade bread often, store the flour in a cooler pantry or even in the refrigerator. Coldflour will naturally lower the temperature of the dough when you mix it – similar to using cold water. And believe it or not, even a few degrees can mean the difference between a dough that is ready to bake and one that is better off being put in a mold due to insufficient dough development. This is where flatbread often comes out.

2. Use cold water for homemade bread

Tap water in the summer can be as warm as 24 to 26°C, which is not ideal for dough. When kneading dough, use water straight from the fridge or chilled in the freezer. When adding cold flour, the dough will have an initial temperature of perhaps only 20°C – and that is exactly what we need for great homemade bread.

3. Slow down the start of the dough, perhaps with ice autolysis

For better quality homemade bread, do ice autolysis – i.e. flour mixed with water and stored in the refrigerator for a few hours. Only then add the yeast and salt. The dough will start to rise slowly, the dough structure will have time to develop and fermentation will not start too quickly.

4. Pause before folding the dough

After adding the sourdough and salt, let your homemade bread dough sit for 10 to 15 minutes—or even in the refrigerator. This gives it time to settle, cool, and stabilize. In the summer, yeast dough heats up faster when you mix it (by hand or in a food processor) and folding tends to be less precise. This little pause is a subtle trick that will give you back control over your dough.

5. Reduce the amount of sourdough

High temperatures mean fast fermentation. In contrast to winter, when the dough needs 50 g of sourdough, in summer the dough only needs 10 g less. So don't be afraid to reduce the amount of homemade sourdough. Slower fermentation or leavening gives better taste, a finer crumb and an easier time for proofing . And most importantly: the dough won't chase you around the kitchen.

Don't bake by the clock, but by the dough. – Mari

6. Shorten fermentation times and monitor the dough

Don't bake by the clock, but by the dough. If you're used to 4 to 5 hours of rising dough on the line, in the summer the dough often reaches its maximum in just 2 to 3. If you wait longer, it will rise and sit down. Learn to read the dough - its elasticity, volume and bubbles will tell more than a clock.

The biggest summer gadget?

Learn to watch the dough, not the time . Your alarm clock will tell you that the dough is ready at 3:40 p.m., but the dough itself can tell you otherwise, usually by touch and texture. If you gently press the dough with your finger and it springs back slowly , it has the right amount of lift. If it sinks or stays flat, it has already risen.

7. Use a sourdough jar or sealable container

In the summer, dough dries out much faster – and a dry crust is the beginning of problems. If you’re proving in a bowl, cover it really tightly and use a lid, plastic cap or cling film. A good alternative is to let the dough prove in a box .

8. Dough conditioning: refrigerator

Summer baking without refrigeration is like baking without an oven. Cold overnight fermentation is the ideal brand. After the first rise phase (bulk), put the dough in the refrigerator after pre-shaping, or in the loaf pan. Then take the dough out in the morning and put it straight in the oven. Bake when it's not too hot outside yet.

9. Keep your homemade bread sourdough stable

In the heat of summer, the sourdough ripens too quickly and then collapses. It becomes thin, sour, and tired. Try:

– store the sourdough in a cooler place , ideally in the refrigerator or basement pantry
– adjust the feeding ratio to 1:3:3 or even 1:4:6 – even that may not be enough in the heat
– use flour with a lower bran content, for example plain bread flour T650, which does not speed up fermentation as much
– feed the sourdough fresh before baking if it has been in the refrigerator for a long time

Read more in the e-book about fermentation here .

10. Keep utensils cool

A damp and warm towel, a hot knife, razor blade or spatula – all of these can lead to sticky or over-stretched dough in the summer.

11. Bake homemade bread in the morning or evening

If possible, bake in the morning or evening. Prepare the dough the day before and bake straight from the fridge. You'll be helping not only the bread, but also yourself. Baking has a different rhythm in the summer – and it doesn't hurt to embrace it.