Several people have asked my Why Is My Bread Not Rising? There could be several different answers to this question.
Fall has arrived and winter is around the corner. There is nothing like the aroma of fresh bread hitting you square in the face as you enter the house. I love the whole process of making bread. Combining the yeast and water, adding flour and seeing it form a dough brings me happiness.
What about those times when nothing seems to go correctly, even if you have made the same bread recipe for the last 34 years. Here are some reasons why your bread dough doesn’t rise.
Old Dead Yeast: Inactive dry yeast can live for years. If your yeast is where the temperature fluctuates this can cause your yeast to die. So if you find some yeast hiding in the back of the refrigerator just assume it is dead and buy some new yeast.
Yeast is too hot: Most bread recipes call for the yeast to be added to some type of liquid that has been heated. If the liquid is too hot, it will kill yeast cells. When in doubt use a kitchen thermometer to see how hot your liquid is before adding your yeast.
Room is cold or there is a draft: The room your dough is rising in should be between 75 and 90 degrees. If your dough sits too long in a cold room or in a draft the yeast will go dormant and die.
Rise Time: If your dough is taking forever to rise, it could be a cold room or your yeast has died. Another reason is using whole grain flour which takes longer to rise. Be patient and let your dough rise.
Pan Size: Are you using the correct pan size? Might be your pan is too big for the amount of dough.
8 1/2 x 4 1/2 will hold 3 cups of flour.
9 x 5 pan will hold 4 cups of flour a
10 x 5 pan will hold 4 1/2 cups of flour.
So your dough didn’t rise. DON’T throw that dough out.
Roll it out and make flat breads.
Roll out, cut into strips and wrap it around a cooking stick over the campfire and cook.
In your cast iron pan roll out your dough. Melt butter and spread on top of the dough. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of the butter. Cook until done.
Roll out as thin as possible and make some crackers. Add some herbs before baking.
Now go enjoy making some bread. ENJOY!