# DIY Proofer--Sort Of



## mneeley490 (Jul 25, 2021)

Wasn't sure if this should go here, or under the "Equipment" column. Anyhoo...
Ok, this is actually a sausage fermenting chamber that I MacGyver'd  a few years ago. It's been sitting idle, since I haven't made any sausage or salami for a while.  (Hmmm. Should probably get around to making that summer sausage one of these days.)
I've put this on here before; it is a non-working wine cooler that I inserted a small electric, reptile warming pad, wired to an analog Johnson Controls unit. Sort of a low-tech PID. It brings the temp up to about the mid 70's inside.  I was making a poolish for some (hopefully) rustic bread tomorrow, and thinking about where best to place it. Then the 15w. lightbulb went on over my head, and I decided to give the fermenter a try. We'll see how it turns out. The green bowl at the top is full of rice, to control the humidity, and the reptile pad is on the bottom, covered by foil. That was so any sweating salami wouldn't get moisture on it.







Bowl of poolish.






The big number is the humidity; the smaller one below is the temperature of the chamber. Since it's in my basement, it was 63° when I first put it in. So I think this should work, in theory.


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## mneeley490 (Jul 25, 2021)

The proof this morning. Guess it worked, it tripled in size.


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## BGKYSmoker (Jul 25, 2021)

Could be just the way the pic was taken but does your poolish have a skin on it?

You really dont need the humidity, just use a solid cover on your poolish as it 100% hydration. Temp looks good if thats the lowest you can get.


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## mneeley490 (Jul 26, 2021)

No, there was no skin on it. It's just the pic. That little drab on top was what I scraped off the towel. It had risen high enough to touch it.
I had a banneton delivered via Amazon early Sunday morning. Then found out it needed seasoning (like a smoker), so I didn't get a chance to use it. Next time!


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## mneeley490 (Jul 26, 2021)

Came out pretty good. I used a slightly larger cast iron dutch oven, so it was a little flatter than ones I've made in the past. The young poolish gives it more of a yeasty flavor, I think, as opposed to a sourdough.


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## BGKYSmoker (Jul 28, 2021)

Nice bread


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