This bread box helps dough rise in a cool house

Sunset, Feb, 1988

Making dough rise in a cool house is a challenge to many home bakers. Warm ovens and tops of refrigerators can achieve the right temperature, but the heat is often uneven. What's best is a draft-free space with a steady temperature between 70| and 80|.

To solve the problem, Gerald Pollard designed the white box pictured above, a chamber ideal for rising dough or developing sourdough culture. Measuring 19 1/2 inches wide, 17 inches tall, and 16 inches deep, the box contains two 40-watt light bulbs wired to a dimmer. By modulating the brightness of the lights, Mr. Pollard also controls their heat output. A thermometer on the back wall of the cabinet gives the exact temperature. Most of the box's shell is 3/4-inch particle board, but the side with the 13 3/4- by 17 3/4-inch door is faced with a frame of 1-by-2s (along the top and both sides) and a 1-by-4 whose top edge is flush with the bottom of the compartment. The dimmer was mounted through the 1-by-4 and into an electric box in the hollow space below the chamber.

To keep an eye on progress and temperature inside, Mr. Pollard centered a 5- by 5-inch window of 3/6-inch glass in the door. Lengths of 3/8-inch-square wood sandwich the glass in the hole. Weatherstripping around the door's back side forms a tight seal and slows heat loss.

Photo: Light bulbs--their porcelain sockets mounted to the top-- heat the compartment. Conduit runs behind the face frame to a dimmer switch below

Photo: Bevel-edged door swings on cabinet hinges; magnetic catch holds it closed. Furniture glides underneath leave finger room to lift and store