We had a large amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano so we decided to incorporate about 5 lbs of rather large cubes into the 24 lb batch of dough. It took about 1-1/2 hours extra to get though the first proof. I suspect the salt content of the cheese had something to do with the slow down.
The unanswered questions - will the salt in the cheese slow the 2nd proofing down too much? Will the cheese draw moisture from the dough? What type of interior melting will occur with a cheese this dense?..... Well, I don't know, those very questions is what makes you try it. It is always better to try something new and risk failure than to keep doing the same thing just because you are comfortable with the predictable outcome.
Sourdough - Day 2
Any of our concerns about this experiment were dissolved about 10 minutes into the baking process. At this point you could tell the bread was producing a good initial jump in the oven.
Because of the high ration of cheese in the dough we let it sit out for 1 hour before putting in in the cooler last night, just to give it a chance to develop. This morning the dough was really firm when it came out of the cooler and needed 2 hours of floor time before it was baked.
As you can see the bread had great blistering and the cheese randomly ruptured through the bread wherever it was close to the crust.
