Cooking utensils: Bread dough at the right temperature

Bread dough at the right temperature

For the dough to rise properly, it needs to be at a temperature of around 25°C, sheltered from draughts. To achieve this, bakers have what they call a "rising chamber", a small closed room at the right temperature. At home, it's hard to afford this luxury, but you can cobble together something similar.

I use my kitchen oven, in which I temporarily install a small 15/20 watt bulb that provides enough heat to bring the oven to around 27°.

All I need is :

• an E14 socket
• a 15-watt "oven bulb
• a flat piece of 2-conductor electrical wire (to be pinched in the oven door)
• a plug
• magnet (optional)

Connect the socket, wire and plug. Screw bulb into socket.

You can refine the system a little by gluing the socket to a magnet with araldite (epoxy glue), which will then allow you to roughly fix the bulb to one of the oven walls, preventing it from moving around each time you open the oven.

If you intend to buy:

You can also use a more powerful light bulb (e.g. 25 watts) which will give you a higher temperature.