Can you explain this section? These numbers don't make sense, so I suspect one of them is a typo. It would be nice to know which one. The article text suggests maybe it should actually be 120 to 140? Regardless, it doesn't make sense that 68 to 81 is the best growing temperature while also hindering growth.
Water at 68° to 104°F means that your yeast’s ability to grow will be hindered, and its growth rate will be reduced.
Water at 68° to 81°F are probably the most favorable range for the yeast to grow and multiply in.
60°-68°F is fine for yeast. I slow rise my bread dough for baking bread. In the winter that means my dough is rising and then proofing between 63°-°68F. Takes 10-14 hours rising and another 8-10 hours proofing using 1/4 tsp of yeast. Some people even let their dough rise in the refrigerator.. That does take longer.. I have seen pretzel & pizza recipes that say to let the dough rise a day or two in the refrigerator.
Right now I am making fastnachts.. Dough rising at about 65°F using. 1.77g of active dry yeast (1/4 pkt.). The recipe calls for 1/4 packet. I don't use the packets, so, I just weighed the yeast. Recipe also calls for "barely warm" water for proofing the yeast. No sure what barely warm is but lukewarm, I think is about 100°F, so, for barely warm, I'll do 95°-100°.
I tried to use Bob's ADY recently but the recipe called for proofing it in cold water - my dough didn't rise in the fridge during an attempted cold ferment - I'm going to try to activate the yeast (and retry the cold ferment again) by taking the dough out to warm up at room temp for a few hours or more -
i see your article says ... "With dry yeast, if your water is too cold, the yeast will not activate. Or, if they do wake up, they might release a substance that hinders the formation of gluten."
Can you elaborate on the the substance that might hinder gluten formation when using cold water, where the yeast wake up later?
I'm wondering if my potential dough-at-room-temperature wake up solution risks what you mention?
Hi, I'm a student from Clackamas Community College doing a lab report on fermenting yeast, I was wondering who was the author or publisher of this post. I have to cite my sources but I can't seem to find a specific author for this article.
Hi Alec - this blog post was not written by a single person, rather by a team at Bob's Red Mill. If you have more questions, please email us at CustomerService@bobsredmill.com
Help! Making ciabata bread, and I forgot to warm the milk when pouring into my flour/yeast mixture. Will it work? What can I do to fix this? :(
Hi Christine - as long as your yeast is fresh it's likely fine! Instant Yeast can be mixed directly into dough while Active Dry Yeast needs to be dissolved or "activated."
Hi,
I cold proof my pizza dough in a fridge at 37 degrees Fahrenheit for 3-5 days. Does this mean I should still activate the yeast at its optimal temperature at the start of the recipe? Or should I be mixing the yeast with cold water at the start of the recipe, to slow down the fermentation process?
Thanks!
Hi Peter - if you're using Active Dry Yeast, you will likely still want to proof it in warm water so the yeast granules completely dissolve.
I have an bread cook book from 1973 an in all the recipe call for the water temperature to be 120 to 130. Recipes today say that this will kill the yeast. Is the dry yeast different now?
4 years late, but I hope it helps. If you mix the yeast with the dry ingredients first, rather than dissolving in the liquid you can use a hotter temperature. Some recipes call for that method. I have done this many times without issue. Yeast packets usually have instructions for each method.
Hi Carla - It's possible that the yeast-making process has changed, but I'm not sure. I would suggest going with the temperatures suggested in our post. Happy baking!
Really good article but some seemingly contradictory info at the end, maybe I'm just not understanding. Could you clarify the temperatures listed:
Water at -4°F means your yeast will be unable to ferment.
Water at 68° to 104°F means that your yeast’s ability to grow will be hindered, and its growth rate will be reduced.
Water at 68° to 81°F are probably the most favorable range for the yeast to grow and multiply in.
Water at 79°F are considered the optimum temperature for achieving yeast multiplication.
Water at 81° to 100°F is the optimum temperature range for the fermentation process.
Water at 95°F is the fermentation temperature that yields the best result.
water at -4 F is solid ice, 36 degrees below the freezing point. I can't figure out what these bullet point sentences mean either!
I am very confused. If using instant dry yeast, must I use liquid at 120-130, or can it be cool or cold water ?
Hi Sara, Instant Yeast is the very similar to Active Dry Yeast except that it is milled into finer particles, thus making it dissolve faster. This is why it can be mixed directly into dry ingredients and doesn't <em>require </em>proofing. Warm water is still needed to dissolve the yeast particles so they can become active. The higher water temperature is suggested for Instant Yeast to offset the ambient temperature of the dry ingredients. By the time all the ingredients are mixed together, the temperature will have dropped to the appropriate temp to activate the yeast. I hope this information is helpful! :)
Hello, I am very new to making homemade bread from scratch. To proof my dry yeast, what amount of sugar and water is needed please?
Hi Christina, it all depends on the recipe you're using. If you're trying your hand at bread baking for the first time, I highly recommend this No-Knead Artisan Bread Recipe! If you don't have Artisan Bread Flour on hand, you can also use Unbleached White All Purpose Flour instead.
After reading your thorough explanation of temperatures required for the different types of yeast, I wonder if 140F is the correct temp to be used when baking bread using Paul Hollywood's method of adding the yeast directly to the flour. Should the 140 deg water temp be used?
Or is the yeast he is using in the UK different from what we have here in the US?
Hi Cheryl - without seeing his recipe it's hard to give recommendations. 140F water certainly seems too hot to have in direct contact with dry yeast. Our Customer Service team is happy to chat more and give specific recipe advice. You can reached them at 1-800-349-2173 or customerservice@bobsredmill.com
Do you have any coupons that you can mail me, for all the different flours that you have. Thank you very much!
Hi Bernadine! I have forwarded your request to our Customer Service team. They'll send you some coupons in the mail.
I've also edited your comment to remove your address. Thanks for being a loyal customer!
Baked a very thick dough pizza for 20minat 450F. Crusty on outside but moist (but not sticky/gluteny)on inside. Safe to assume all the yeast was killed? I'm guessing Yes since you say 140F already kills them.
I suppose if they were not killed off, then by next morning the leftover pieces would have grown a lot in size?
Very nice summary. I, too, have found that 95F is ideal, IF a rapid rise is wanted (as in yeast pancakes, for example). Otherwise, I keep things cool. The gluten develops better is we don't rush things. I really like about 60F, which allows for hours of slow rise. Results in fabulous flavor!
I am an avid home baker trying to perfect breadmaking using your products, with Instant yeast and sourdough. I am extremely interested in using a percentage of Khamut flour with your bread flour for that slightly nutty taste but am finding this a tricky process.
Anything you can send me to advance my breadmaking would be greatly appreciated.