Da Bull Man wrote:
You should know...I saw yesterday on the weather that it was -2F in Regina...you live there why?
Ask that question again in July.
As for microwaving dough, or placing in an oven with a pilot light, that might be OK to speed up normal yeast dough for pizza, or something like that, but for sourdough it can get too sour, esp. when you have no idea what the actual temperature is. Commercial sourdough bakeries usually rise the loaves in a 50º room; most books say to rise in a fridge for longer, but I have never had luck with this. Sourdough would usually come out barely sour - not bad, but until I could get those slightly above room temperatures, and keep them constant for a few hours, I could not get a consistent sourdough flavor, except with sour rye, in which a considerably sour flavor really isn't bad.
I haven't done it yet, but another use for the proofer is tempering chocolate. I'll have to stir it myself, however, unlike those professional tempering machines.
