AboutElyse Grau Expertise I can answer any questions about baking. The only thing I'm not too good at is baking pies, nor do I know much about high altitude baking.
Experience I have been baking for over 30 years. One of my hobbies is creating recipes, most of those for baked goods. I made my own wedding cake. Currently I prefer to bake healthier things. I use a lot of whole wheat and other whole grain flours, and prefer to use less sugar or sugar substitutes in my baking. I do a lot with fruit.
Question QUESTION: I have started baking bread for the family and am grinding some of my own flour. I am using 1/3 fresh ground hard white wheat and 2/3 unbleached flour and use honey instead of sugar and melted butter in place of shortening. I keep the room warm, 75 to 80 degrees. I use honey to get the yeast going. The dough seems to never get far raising because the outside seems to get tough even though I cover it well. The loaves never get but an inch above the top of the side of the loaf pan. I used to use red wheat instead of white wheat but got roughly the same results. That's why I switched to hard White Wheat. For a 6 loaf batch it calls for 2 packets of yeast. I am thinking of trying to use three packets. Is this ok? I don't need the bread to rise high like when I am using plain white flour, but I want it higher than it is getting.I have a great tasting recipe that includes 1 Cup of Honey, but the bread never gets high enough. What suggestions do you have?
Please e-mail the answer as I may not be able to find this site again
Thanks
chris
ANSWER: Chris:
I hope you found this site again,because your email address is not included in the question.
Also, you could check your yeast. If it is old or has been stored at too high a temperature it is possible that it is no longer viable. dissolve a teaspoon in 1/4 c of warm water with 1/4 tsp of sugar and wait 5-10 minutes. If it does not appear to be creamy and have some bubbles around the edge it is probably no good.
Elyse
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QUESTION: I use dry yeast and it is kept in a cabinet at room temp. The exp date is 2010. It seems to work fine when disolved and put near the wood stove to ferment (A few feet away, but still where the room is warm). (1 Cup warm water, 2 TBSP honey and the yeast will produce 2 cups of good fermentation totaal.) What is happening here is that the bread seems to only rise part of the way. (I let it raise in the pans 5 hours last time to see if I was not letting it have enough time and the crown of the load only got 1 inch above the top of the pan side). It seems to run out of gas too soon and only partialy raise the bread and then stop. That's why I asked about adding a third packet of yeast. Or will that effect the taste too much?
The recipe is awesome except the loaves won't rise enough is all. I don't know what else it might be other than the yeast. The flour is a little coarser, but that shouldn't make any difference should it?
I found the site through an automatic reply, so I can fine it again now
Thanks
Chris
Answer Chris:
Do you rise this bread only once, in the pan? If so, you might try giving the dough a chance to rise before you shape it. This sounds like a really huge recipe, you might need to divide the dough between two bowls to give it enough room to rise. It usually takes between 11/2 to 2 hours. Give it the finger test.
I'm wondering about your yeast mixture. Do you let the yeast work in the water and honey first? Is that what the recipe says to do? I do have some recipes like that, and don't think I have had a problem with them, but it seems like the yeast is using up all its food before it gets into the bread. Most recipes call for simply dissolving the yeast in part of the water and then adding it to the rest of the liquid along with any sugar, oil, eggs, etc.
5 hours is way too long for a finished bread to rise. By that time the yeast is exhausted and it may have risen and then fell again. For six loaves of bread 3 packets of yeast does not seem to be too much. You might also try adding some baking powder to assist the rising, maybe a tablespoon or so.
Also, if the crust is drying out too much(though I don't think that is effecting the rising), try covering with a damp towel, or dusting the top of the loaf with flour.
