Will an airtight container negatively affect yeast growth / dough expansion?
I've had a lot of success making bread and pizza dough using the Jim Lahey "No knead" method, leaving the covered dough to ferment up to 18 hours.
I normally cover the mix tightly with plastic wrap, and it will bulge slightly, maybe up to 1cm at the centre with ~ 500g proved dough at the end of the time.
In the interests of saving waste, I have invested in a set of stainless steel bowls, which have relatively rigid lids with a double airtight seal. They are a push fit rather than clip over variety, so in theory if the CO2 production is excessive, they would pop off.
Will using these bowls have a detrimental effect on the quality of the dough if the lid stays on for the full duration? Or have I wasted my money here and could have just replaced the cling film with a large plate?
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This should not impact your rise at all, unless the container is too small to allow for dough expansion. In which case, you might have a mess on your hands. Many people (me included) use sealable containers, though I more frequently just use a clean kitchen towel (a plate would work too), the idea is just to keep the dough from drying.
I agree with @moscafj .
However, one consideration might be anaerobic respiration rather than aerobic - resulting in some alcohol being produced.
Over normal rising times I don't think this will reach any level that might either kill the yeast (around 10-12% usually) or produce intoxication of the consumer, but it might well produce a moderate amount of lactic acid, which could result in a slightly sour taste to the bread.
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