Proofing Bread Dough on top of my Sous Vide setup?

Anova Precision® Cooker
1

I’d like to start baking bread that needs to proof for 18 to 24 hours before baking.

I keep my upstairs apartment cold during the winter with my thermostat set at 68F during the day if I’m home. My downstairs neighbor contributes to the ambient temperature during the evening as heat rises, making the living room/kitchen temp in the mid to high 70’s. Overnight the temp drops to 64-62F. Therefore the overall temps are not suitable to proof bread for a long stretch.

I’ve seen DIY bread proofing plans that I could use but it occurred to me that I could use my plastic 12qt sous vide container (with plastic lid) to generate consistent heat for hours on end. I think I could just put a large bowl with the bread dough on top of the Sous Vide box, maybe inverting a larger plastic or cardboard box over the bowl to capture the heat from the water below and keep the whole bowl warm. – Maybe not the most energy efficient method but I’m wonder if this might work.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

2

Hey Tim!

i’m not exactly positive this, but you might want to look into the effect the moisture would have on the dough, especially if you are trying to capture the heat, because an overly moist environment not be the best environment for bread proofing.

I will look more into this, definitely a super interesting idea!

1 Like
3

Thanks, Hunter.

My sous vide container setup has a full plastic lid with only a circle cut out for the Anova device. No/little moisture escapes.

I’d only put the bread bowl, with plastic wrap over it, on TOP of the container only using heat escaping from the lid to provide heat. But you’re right, extra moisture would not be good.

T