Bread dough not rising

**jas** · 03-17-2009, 11:43 AM

I am very new at bread making. I just made a loaf of bread dough and it has risen very little. I know I am at sea level so it may take a tad longer than at high altitudes.

What I have just discovered is the yeast I just used is Breadmachine yeast. On the jar it says avoid direct contact with liquids and salt. I had no idea this yeast was any different than the packages. My recipe said to use luke warm water and let the yeast do its thing for a few min. Right off the bat I messed up.

I am using my kitchenaid mixer not a bread machine.

Will this dough ever rise? Should I ditch it?

TIA

Jean

**jas** · 03-17-2009, 11:48 AM

I had no idea there were so many kinds of yeast!! In addition to this bread machine yeast I had bought at Sams instant dry yeast that has different directions on it!!

Bing new to bread making can I still use these???

**DJ1972** · 03-17-2009, 01:12 PM

I have never used a bread machine. So, not sure about the yeast thing. Did the yeast foam up in the liquid? I always let my yeast sit in the liquid for a few minutes to make sure it's good, it should foam a tad and make timy little air bubbles.

I would just give it a while and see what it does. It may just take longer to rise.

**Spirit Deer** · 03-17-2009, 01:27 PM

Do you have the bread in a warm place, about 80-90 degrees? If you have a gas stove with a pilot light (rare these days, I know) then the oven will be warm enough to raise the bread. Don't turn the oven on though, and remove the risen bread when you are pre-heating the oven to bake it.

If you do not have a stove with a pilot light, you can put a pan of hot water in the oven with the bread. Change it as it gets cold. Don't open the oven door and let the heat out any more than you have to.

If you're making a small batch and your toaster oven has a light, the light will provide enough heat. Or if your toaster oven has a dehydrate setting, that may be a low enough temp to work.

I often use my microwave to raise bread. I just set the bread inside and put a tiny corner of a thin potholder in the door as I latch it closed. The potholder holds the door open just enough so the light stays on without the microwave being turned on yet allows the door to close to hold the heat in, and the light provides enough warmth to raise the bread. Because it's so much smaller inside than my stove oven, it's easier for the small light bulb to heat up the space than if I used the larger stove oven with the light on.

**Grainlady** · 03-17-2009, 01:44 PM

There are several types of yeast and Breadmachine Yeast is an instant type, and depending on the recipe, it may work as a substitute, with some modifications. Without benefit of the recipe and more information, it may just be taking longer to rise in a cold kitchen, or the yeast died somewhere in the process.

I tend to respect the type of yeast called for in the recipe, and suggest that when I teach bread classes. If I do alter the yeast type, I would also alter the amount suggested for substitutions.
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The most common dry yeast is Active Dry Yeast. There are many name brands of this type of yeast and they all work essentially the same.

This is the yeast that was developed during WWII to replace Cake (fresh or compressed) Yeast (Cake Yeast had to be refrigerated). Generally speaking, active dry yeast is proofed in warm water with a small amount of sweetener to activate it, but not always. In some recipes you may find it added directly to the dry ingredients.

The newer types of dry yeast are Instant & Fast-Rising Yeast. These yeast go by different names, but all work about the same. SAF-Instant, Red Star Quick-Rise, Fleishmann's Rapid-Rise and Bread Machine.

SAF-Instant Yeast was a product of genetic engineering and are the "super" yeast and are air-dried instead of oven-dried. The other fast- rising yeasts are a reformulation of the active dry yeast into a smaller particle so it will mix in dry ingredients.

Instant and fast-rising yeast is designed to speed-up bread making. You can eliminate proofing the yeast in water/sweetener (although it CAN be proofed). You can eliminate the first bulk rise and allow the dough to rest 10-minutes (covered) instead of a full "double" bulk rise, before forming and panning. You allow it to double in the pan before baking.

When this type of yeast is added to the dry ingredients, you need to use water that is 125°-130°F. This is much warmer than the 100°-110°F water used to proof yeast. The reason for the warmer temperature is the bulk amount of the flour mixture will quickly cool the temperature of the water. If you used the cooler temperature (common for proofing yeast in water/sweetener) to add to the bulk flour mixture, it may be too cool.

When water that is too cool is added to the bulk ingredients, or when proofing yeast in water/sweetener, you will find a substance called Glutathione will leak out of the yeast cells and that will cause the dough strength to be weakened. Use an instant read thermometer to determine the correct temperature of water.

Bread Machine Yeast can be used for the other fast-rising yeast products. It (or another fast-rising yeast) MUST be used in a bread machine when using the QUICK (or 1-hour) cycle.

You need to reduce the amount of a fast-rising yeast by 25% when using it in a recipe that calls for Active Dry Yeast.

Salt and Yeast: Salt regulates yeast. If you forget to add salt, the dough can rise very quickly and collapse. General rule-of-thumb, when you reduce the amount of salt in a bread recipe, you should also reduce the yeast by the same percentage - if you use 50% less salt, then use 50% less yeast.

The right amount of salt and yeast will lead to stronger gluten development and a slow rise. Salt, in direct and concentrated contact with yeast, will kill the yeast. There is a whole science about adding salt, but when you are using the direct dough method, common with most bread recipes today, it's generally added early in the mixing process. I personally add it late in the kneading process, after the gluten has developed. Gluten will develop faster without salt, so you don't have to knead dough as long. Once salt is added, the gluten strands really tighten up and you can feel the difference in the dough. But that's a piece of bread science, as well as many other things, that's not written in most recipes.

The other two types of yeast not already mentioned are natural leaveners (aka sourdough or wild yeast) and Osmotolerant Instant Active Dry Yeast. Natural leaveners rely on so-called "wild" yeast (they are quite common and not wild at all, they cover everything and are everywhere) to foster in a flour/water mixture along with good bacteria (other ingredients can also be added to the starter).

Osmotolerant Yeast is recommended for use in dough characterized as sweet, salty or low absorption. This type of yeast is beneficial because osmotic tolerance is called for because the amount of available water in these doughs is limited.

**jas** · 03-17-2009, 02:12 PM

Thanks everyone!! Grainlady you know your stuff!!!

The recipe did call for active dry yeast.

All is not lost, I finally after no real rising action made some rolls out of it just to see what would happen. They turned out pretty nice. With what was left of the dough I made a small loaf of bread. It too came out okay. They taste good.

Thanks for all your help with the yeast problem. Next time which won't be too long I am going to use the correct yeast for this recipe.

You can be sure grainlady that I will be refering to this post time and again to see how to use up the other yeast I have.

2 one pound boxes of the instant dry yeast and the jar of breadmachine yeast.

Do you have any recipies that call for either of these two specifically. I want to learn more than one bread recipe.

TIA
Jean

**Grainlady** · 03-17-2009, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by jas

Thanks everyone!! Grainlady you know your stuff!!!

The recipe did call for active dry yeast.

All is not lost, I finally after no real rising action made some rolls out of it just to see what would happen. They turned out pretty nice. With what was left of the dough I made a small loaf of bread. It too came out okay. They taste good.

Thanks for all your help with the yeast problem. Next time which won't be too long I am going to use the correct yeast for this recipe.

You can be sure grainlady that I will be refering to this post time and again to see how to use up the other yeast I have.

2 one pound boxes of the instant dry yeast and the jar of breadmachine yeast.

Do you have any recipies that call for either of these two specifically. I want to learn more than one bread recipe.

TIA
Jean

WHEW!!! Glad you got something for your trouble! Bread is the most humbling food to make I know of.

For starters, check the web sites for the brand of yeast products you are using for some recipes. That should get you started. Do you have a bread machine?

**jas** · 03-17-2009, 04:09 PM

No, I don't have a bread machine at the moment.

**Spirit Deer** · 03-17-2009, 04:22 PM

If you have a dog, you could use up some of the yeast in dog biscuit recipes. Some recipes call for baker's yeast and I doubt it would matter what type. The yeast is not used to make anything rise. If you froze it, it would keep indefinitely for a use like that.

Here's one recipe our doggies love using yeast. There are tons of others.

Doggie Biscuits

3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 cup rye flour
1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups bulgur
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup cornmeal
1 egg, slightly beaten with 1 teaspoon milk

Heat oven to 300 degrees F.

Mix flours, bulgur, cornmeal, and dry milk powder with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast thoroughly in warm water at 110 to 115 degrees F in a glass measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients. Add chicken broth to the flour mixture. Stir until dough forms.

Roll out dough until it is 1/4-inch thick. Using a cardboard pattern or dog biscuit cutters, cut out bone shapes from dough. Place biscuits on a greased cookie sheet. Brush dough with the egg glaze. Bake bones for 45 minutes.

Turn oven off. Biscuits should remain in oven overnight to harden.

**Grainlady** · 03-17-2009, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by jas

No, I don't have a bread machine at the moment.

You can use the Bread Machine Yeast just like you use the Instant Yeast, since you don't have a bread machine - and keep them in the freezer for a long shelf-life. If you use either of these in a recipe that calls for Active Dry Yeast, then use approx. 25% less or you chance the dough rising too fast.

Make sure you check the rise NOT by a clock, but when it actually gets to "double", especially using a fast-rising yeast. Dough rises according to the humidity, ambient temperature, and the strength of the yeast, NOT to a clock. So if the recipe says to allow it to rise for 1-hour, be sure to start checking it after 25-30-minutes. It rises slower in cool conditions than optimal temperatures (80-90°F), but there's nothing wrong with a long slow rise. You get more flavor to the bread when you use a cool rise.

If you don't use your yeast very often, it might pay to test it periodically to see if it's still got the necessary "umph" to raise a loaf of bread.

To test yeast:

Use a 1-cup glass measuring cup. Fill it to the 1/4-c. line with warm water and add 1 t. sugar. Add 1-1/2 t. yeast and wait 10 minutes. It should be up to the 1/2 c. line if the yeast is active.

Yeast tend to die when they are bashed around, so take it easy on them. Add the yeast to the water for proofing, don't dump the water over the yeast. The dumping water is enough pressure to kill yeast. Don't be too vigorous when you mix the proofing water. In fact, you can just leave the yeast drift on the top of the water and it will mix after you've let it sit 5-10 minutes. If the proofing water doesn't show any activity after this period of time, then it's not going to raise a loaf of bread. The proofing water may have been too hot or too cold - in which case, check water temperature with an instant read thermometer for accuracy.

Once opened, remove the amount of yeast you need and then close the jar/package back up quickly. High humidity in a hot kitchen can cause the yeast, in an open container, to begin to activate if it's left open. So the next time you use from the yeast, the yeast from the top of the container won't have as much activity.

Happy baking....

**jas** · 03-17-2009, 04:46 PM

Thanks alot for the advise!!! I also may have had the water too hot!! This is what I need though advise from an expert!! I would feel defeated and stop wanting to learn how to make good bread If I could not ask these questions and have someone who knows these things give me great answers!!!

**rainbowgc** · 03-21-2009, 01:27 PM

Funny, I am working on breads myself right now. I learned if you let the warm water and yeast sit for a few minutes, then add some of your flour (1 cup) and some of the liquid to the bowl. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes, then add the rest of your ingredients. This is called the sponge method.

**Grainlady** · 03-21-2009, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by rainbowgc

Funny, I am working on breads myself right now. I learned if you let the warm water and yeast sit for a few minutes, then add some of your flour (1 cup) and some of the liquid to the bowl. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes, then add the rest of your ingredients. This is called the sponge method.

There are three basic methods of breadmaking:

-Straight (or direct-mix) method - which is a fast method commonly used these days. All the ingredients are mixed together.

-Sponge method - the yeast and all of the liquid and part of the flour are beaten together. The wet mixture is allowed to sit and ferment, then the rest of the ingredients are added. This method improves the taste and texture over straight method.

Researchers suggest that the "ideal" standing period is 2-1/2 hours, but you can use as little as 30-minutes and get better flavor in the bread. I use a sponge method for my 100% whole wheat bread and will use an overnight (12-hour) sponge. This helps get a lighter loaf of whole wheat bread than the more common "bricks" people get using all whole wheat flour.

-Sourdough or starter method - the bread is made with natural levening, rather than bakers' yeast, and usually requires long, slow rises to develop the taste.

**thehughughes** · 03-21-2009, 07:58 PM

I have to say I'm glad this came up I thought it was just me. I have not made a lot of bread and I've made hockey puck ilo of rolls. LOL
My dough was not rising although I have got some bread out of it, it usually is more of a french bread than sandwich. When my bread wouldn't rise today I put it in the oven on warm I think it was way to hot but it rose.
Grain lady thank you for all of the info, I was wishing you were around when I was baking earlier.