Temperature × recipe
Hokkaido Milk Bread (Sourdough) at 83–87°F
Adjusted timing: 1.4h bulk + 1.7h proof (multiplier 0.56×).
- Baseline bulk (76°F)
- 2.5h
- Adjusted bulk
- 1.4h
- Baseline proof
- 3h
- Adjusted proof
- 1.7h
- Multiplier
- 0.56×
- Activity
- hyperactive
- Target hydration
- 72%
- Bake temp
- 350°F
Why the timing shifts
Hot kitchen — summer without AC, near-window light. Ferment nearly 2× faster than baseline. Not ideal — fermentation outpaces gluten development, leading to over-acidic flavor and collapsed structure. If unavoidable, use very low levain (10-12%), minimal bulk (2h max), and get dough into cold retard ASAP. Consider reducing bulk temperature by moving dough to cooler location (basement, refrigerator brief intervals).
Technique for Hokkaido Milk Bread (Sourdough)
Make tangzhong: 25g bread flour + 125g water, heat in pan stirring to 65°C until thick paste. Cool. Combine tangzhong with other dough ingredients + levain. Knead 10 min. 2.5h bulk. Divide into 3 pieces, roll each into rectangle, fold thirds, roll into coil. Place coils side-by-side in oiled loaf pan. Proof 3h until risen 1 inch above pan. Bake 350°F for 30-35 min until golden and internal 190°F.
Calculator pre-set to these values
- Multiplier at 85°F
- 0.56×
- Adjusted bulk ferment
- 1.4 h
- Adjusted final proof
- 1.7 h
How the math works
Multipliers are piecewise-linear interpolations between reference points measured by Myhrvold et al. in Modernist Bread vol 3. 76°F is the baseline (1.0×); every 10°F drop roughly doubles fermentation time, and every 10°F rise roughly halves it.