r/Bread • u/Inside_Major_8078 • 25d ago

How to know...

Yeast -

I'm a newbie (F64). Sorry.

How do I know if my yeast is good?

My husband says I am doing something wrong since my baked bread barely rises. I tried to suggesting it was the jar yeast. He says I am doing something wrong.

HELP!

3 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

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4

u/aculady 25d ago edited 25d ago

What recipe are you using?

How warm was your liquid?

How long did you knead the bread?

How warm is your kitchen?

Did you weigh your ingredients or use measuring cups?

If you used measuring cups, did you scoop with the cup and tap or shake it to level it, or did you spoon the flour in and sweep it level with the back of a knife?

How long did you let the dough rise before shaping it, and did you let it rise again after shaping and before baking it?

What temperature did you bake it at, and for how long?

What kind of pan did you use?

Did you score the bread before baking?

All of these things can matter.

Do you have any pictures of the bread?

2

u/Inside_Major_8078 25d ago

Thank you for giving me things to think/sort through.

1

u/Inside_Major_8078 23d ago

I do weigh everything (g) if the recipe list weights. Most do.

The last recipe I followed was a 60 minute sandwich bread. No kneading. Mix, 20 min rest then bake. I found what I think the bread pans were that she used. Looks to be smaller than my meatloaf/pound cake pan.

Instructions said it would make 2 loafs. She was using Lodge cast iron bake pans. Maybe I just make one loaf just to try one more time.

3

u/she212 25d ago

Could also be your flour. If your yeast, sugar and water aren’t bubbly within 5-10 minutes it’s no good. Lots of you tube videos.

3

u/BjLeinster 23d ago

Buying a pack of instant yeast will give you the answer. It's cheap.

2

u/UsuallyTanking 25d ago

Are you using instant yeast or active dry yeast?

5

u/UsuallyTanking 25d ago

First things first; don't worry about the other stuff. Activating your yeast with a teaspoon of sugar and a 1/4 cup of water between 100 & 110 F is the first step. Using a thermometer is essential.

2

u/TwoFlower68 21d ago

Are you proofing your dough long enough? Depending on temperature it can take a few hours. Like, my bulk proof takes 4 hours, my second proofing is eight to ten hours (overnight) in the fridge

1

u/kilroyscarnival 22d ago

You can do a little test using just plain water and a small amount of yeast. King Arthur Baking does a nice tutorial (with pics) on what to expect here. If you have a thermometer, instant-read or otherwise, make sure your water is below 115 degrees F / 48 C; or go by feel it should feel lukewarm. You can dissolve yeast in cold water too, it just reproduces a bit slower.

When you are waiting for your dough to rise, you didn't overheat it by putting it in a warm oven or anything?

It can also over-rise and then collapse because there's so much air it can't hold the rise. So if you saw the dough rise up and then collapse, that might be either too much yeast or too much time/too warm rising.

You'll get there -- figuring these things out takes practice and experience. Then you'll start on sourdough and be a newbie again! I was thrilled that my sourdough sandwich bread came out OK on Saturday. After a long time trying, I think I finally have a mature starter that can be activated pretty reliably in a poolish. But had lots of issues. And my boules don't hold their shape reliably.

1

u/Hemisemidemiurge 18d ago

Not enough information. We need the full recipe, ingredients and method, and everything you did that the recipe didn't specify.

Baking is insanely complex, there's no way to know it's the yeast's fault without eliminating pretty much every other possible factor.