The Bakers Mark - All Rise! Evidence for Correct Yeast & Dough Handling - (2024)

FAQs

How do you know if dough is proved enough? ›

Gently press your finger into the dough on the top. If the dough springs back quickly, it's underproofed. If it springs back very slowly, it's properly proofed and ready to bake. Finally, if it never springs back, the dough is overproofed.

During fermentation, carbon dioxide is produced and trapped as tiny pockets of air within the dough. This causes it to rise. During baking the carbon dioxide expands and causes the bread to rise further.

It's when bread dough is left to ferment — the yeast (commercial yeast or sourdough culture) consumes the sugars and starches in the dough and expels carbon dioxide — which causes the dough to expand as it traps the carbon dioxide within its strong and stretchy gluten network.

Adding yeast to the bread-making process consumes carbon molecules and converts them to alcohol and carbon dioxide. Yeast reproduces quickly and emits carbon dioxide when it breathes. Gas bubbles flood the dough, increasing its volume.

What bakers call the “poke test” is the best way to tell if dough is ready to bake after its second rise. Lightly flour your finger and poke the dough down about 1". If the indent stays, it's ready to bake. If it pops back out, give it a bit more time.

The yeast feed on the sugars and produce gas, carbon dioxide, that rises your dough.

By adding an acid to baking soda (such as lemon juice or cream of tartar) a chemical reaction occurs that produces carbon dioxide and fills your bread with air — much like yeast does. You can substitute yeast with equal parts lemon juice and baking soda.

The proofing time for bread dough varies based on the dough's makeup (amount of preferment, flour choices, and hydration) and the temperature at which it's proofed. The dough should generally be proofed for around 1 to 4 hours at a warm temperature or overnight (or more) at a cold refrigerator temperature.

If you like, you can assemble the cinnamon rolls, put them in the baking dish you're using and cover tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to rise overnight. They might NOT rise very much in the fridge; that's ok!

The gluten in the dough traps the carbon dioxide gas, preventing it from escaping. The only place for it to go is up, and so the bread rises. Carbon dioxide actually also helps gluten develop in bread. Unless you're gluten-intolerant, gluten is a great thing, folks.

Why won t yeast dough rise? ›

Yeast is not fresh Yeast has an expiration date, and, after that date, will not be as effective. Yeast should be stored in a cool, dry place. Yeast is too hot Yeast may have been dissolved in water that was too hot, or the liquid ingredients in the recipe may be too hot, causing the yeast to die.

The second rise takes place after the shaping of the dough into whatever type of loaf you are making. For each rise, you are looking for the dough to approximately double in volume. When you give your dough two rises, you get a better gluten structure, better flavor and better texture in your bread.

As proofing temperatures get too high, I find the dough becomes unstable and can quickly overproof (especially for high-hydration sourdough bread).

Most recipes call for the bread to double in size – this can take one to three hours, depending on the temperature, moisture in the dough, the development of the gluten, and the ingredients used. Generally speaking, a warm, humid environment is best for rising bread.

The crumb structure of an under proofed loaf will be tight and gummy. Because it was not given enough time to develop and trap CO2 gasses, the crumb structure will be very dense, with uneven air bubbles.