When conditions are very cold, and experience tells you that by using water at normal warm temperatures you will not be able to finish the dough at a desired temperature (between 22C and 27C). However, it is reckless and foolish to use very warm (i.e. hot!) water because this will damage the yeast, and the gluten in wheat flour also suffers when it meets hot water.
Yeast is stressed and calling for mercy at 40C, damaged at 50C, dead at 60C.
What to do?
The tip is to get the over-hot water into your machine bowl, or mixing bowl, then wait for it to fall inside the bowl to a sensible temperature like 30-35C before proceeding to add flour and yeast/leaven/salt. In this way you have thoroughly warmed the bowl or vessel, enabling the dough to finish at a reasonable temperature like 22C or even higher.
Notes: *All this is less of a problem for sourdough bakers who form the body of the dough first before adding the leaven, because the leaven’s wild yeast will not have to be thrown into water that is too hot for comfort.
*If you are a fresh yeast user it can be dispersed in a tiny amount of hottish water and its fridge coldness will promptly drop the temperature to a safe level.
