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Panettone basic questions
Hey everybody! I am new to scoolinary. I’ve been here a couple of days and found this section. I am watching the panettone course by Lluis Costa right now. Hope someone can help. I really appreciate your time!
1. During the refreshments, why do we rely on time? (3-4 hours suggested between the refreshments). We have different environments and flours. For example, my stiff starter for bread-making (with whole wheat flour, which takes even faster to ferment) reaches its peak in 8+ hours. Why do we only wait 3-4 hours every time? We don’t need to make the dough when it’s past its peak, similar to bread? I thought Panettone is harder for yeast to lift and we are supposed to cultivate as much yeast as possible? Or does this work of “past-peaking” belong to the first kneading? If the answer is no, how do I know when to make another refreshment based on the starter, not the time?
2. Why do we add the ingredients at so high a temperature (soft butter, room temperature ingredients, starter that is at 26-27, water at 31C)? From my yet poor experience, I do know that because of the mixer’s friction the dough will likely exceed the temperature of gluten safety and will break the gluten. Some people would even place the mixer with the paddle into the freezer for a short period of time, some even add ice in the process of mixing!
3. The starter should be fed only with white processed high-protein flour. Won’t the starter run out of the nutrients without any whole flours in it? It happened to me once.
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2 Replies
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Hi Yurii.
Welcome to the Scoolinary community, and thank you for your questions.
Here is a detailed explanation for each of your inquiries:
Time-based refreshments: Refreshments are based on time because they help regulate the fermentation process, ensuring the yeast remains active without over-fermenting. The reason for suggesting a 3-4 hour interval between refreshments is to ensure the starter is active enough without having reached its peak. As you mentioned, different flours and environments affect the fermentation rate, and your whole wheat starter may ferment faster, meaning you might need fewer hours of rest. Panettone, due to its high sugar and butter content, can be more challenging for the yeast, so it’s cultivated gradually. The goal is to avoid over-fermentation. You don’t need to wait until the starter has passed its peak, but make sure it’s active enough before incorporating it. You can check the activity of your starter by observing if it has doubled in size within the recommended time or if it shows active bubbles. If unsure, you can use the “float test” to see if it’s ready.
High temperatures in the mixture: High temperatures are used to speed up the action of the yeast, allowing the dough to have a lighter, airier structure. In the case of panettone, high temperatures also help incorporate the butter properly. However, if you’re in a warmer environment or concerned about the dough overheating, you can let the mixture rest briefly between mixing sessions or even pause to cool the mixer. One technique often used when working with large batches and in warmer environments is to add ice to the mixing bowl to control the temperature of the mixture.
Starter fed only with processed white high-protein flour: The reason high-protein white flour is used is that it has a more predictable gluten content, providing consistency to the starter and allowing for more controlled fermentation. However, the starter can also be fed with whole grain flour, although the process may be less predictable due to the higher nutrient content in whole grain flours. If you don’t feed your starter with whole grains occasionally, some nutrients may not be available over the long term. That said, feeding it exclusively with white flour shouldn’t deplete its nutrients immediately. In fact, feeding it only white flour might make the yeast stronger and more efficient, but you’d likely need a larger quantity of starter to achieve the same results as when using whole grain flour.
I hope these answers are helpful.
Best regards.
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Hey there Yuri!👋
Welcome to the Scoolinary Community! 😊Join our awesome group of food lovers and share your love of cooking. Everyone’s invited!
I’m Sol Damiani, the Community Builder and I’m from Buenos Aires.
I hope Sussan’s answer helped you. Please let us know if it did. We are so glad you are enjoying our Panettone Course.
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