Can't get bread to rise

[Desmond]

Hi I am trying to make bread but it will not rise. Any suggestions on this recipe please. I am using SR flour.


Honey White Bread

73g Warm water
76g Warm milk
5g Honey
6g Salt
14g Butter
282g Self raising flour
Pour flour into a bowl
Pour the remaining ingredients into a cup and warm in microwave to dissolve the honey and melt butter. Mixing occasionally
Mix into the flour.
Need on a board adding flour occasionally until a dough
Leave to settle for 1 hour
Re knead the dough
Place in a bread tin and cook for 40 minutes at 180c

 

[FrankZ]

I wouldn't use self rising flour. I would suggest you use yeast.

 

[Andy M.]

You're following yeast dough instructions for chemically leavened dough. As Frank said, use bread dough and yeast.

 

[jennyema]

You're following yeast dough instructions for chemically leavened dough. As Frank said, use bread dough and yeast.

Exactly.

You've got a bad recipe on your hands.

Self-rising flour is for making biscuits and quick breads which are dense and really don't rise much at all. And do not require resting and kneading.

 

[Selkie]

Use yeast.

 

[CharlieD]

Definitely do not use self rising flour. Unless you are using a very specific manufacturer recipe you have no idea what is in that flour and what it needs to start rising.

 

[Desmond]

Ok thanks. I thought that using SR flour was the same as plain flour and yeast. I make Peshwari naan bread using
170g self raising flour
8g Sugar
8g Flaked almonds
55ml milk
Using a very hot frying pan and a little oil it works fine. But it doesn't need to rise much.


I do have Backing powder and Dried active yeast. Don't know what I would do to prepare the latter if needed.
There is also fast acting yeast.

 

[taxlady]

With self-rising flour, it probably needs the heat of the oven to rise properly. It will actually start working a little bit once liquid is added. Leaving it to rise will allow the small amount of CO2 produced by mixing with liquid to off gas and then it won't rise as much in the oven.

 

[Andy M.]

With active dry yeast, you have to bloom it in warm water with a tablespoon of sugar. Mix these ingredients together and let them sit for 10-15 minutes. A beige-colored foam should appear on the surface. That's your indication the yeast is beginning to work. Them you add in the flour and any other ingredients and mix it until it's a homogeneous mass. Knead that mass of dough for 10 minutes then place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap on the surface of the dough and let it sit until it doubles in size. You know it's ready when you stick your finger into the dough and the hole remains. Punch down the dough to deflate it.

Then shape the bread into a loaf or place it into a loaf pan and set it aside to rise again. Then bake and eat.

 

[Addie]

When using the dry yeast, you place it in warm water 105-110ºF. Then the yeast needs to be fed. Give it some flour or a tsp. of sugar. You can even give it both. It will start to ferment and when it is all bubbles, then you add it to the rest of your recipe. I do not care for the fast acting yeast. It can be finicky at times.

Make sure your liquid that you place the yeast in, is not to hot. Too high a heat will kill it. Until you are used to using it, I would suggest you use a thermometer to check the temperature of the liquid. If it is too hot, allow it to cool down some. Then check the temperature again.

In a pinch, you could use All Purpose flour if that is all you have on hand. And make sure you knead it until it no longer sticks to your hands.

 

[RPCookin]

With active dry yeast, you have to bloom it in warm water with a tablespoon of sugar. Mix these ingredients together and let them sit for 10-15 minutes. A beige-colored foam should appear on the surface. That's your indication the yeast is beginning to work. Them you add in the flour and any other ingredients and mix it until it's a homogeneous mass. Knead that mass of dough for 10 minutes then place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap on the surface of the dough and let it sit until it doubles in size. You know it's ready when you stick your finger into the dough and the hole remains. Punch down the dough to deflate it.

Then shape the bread into a loaf or place it into a loaf pan and set it aside to rise again. Then bake and eat.

Actually it doesn't even need a tablespoon of sugar. With good active yeast you can get a good proof without any sugar at all. For a recipe that doesn't call for sugar, I will often still use about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon to help kick start the yeast (it doesn't change the taste of the bread). Water at about 110° F (43.5° C). (Also, I store my jar of yeast in the freezer - that seems to do the best job of keeping it active for the longest time. I've used yeast that was well over a year old with good results.)

Different breads call for different processes, but the most basic is mix the ingredients, knead for about 8-10 minutes, let rise for about 1 hour (until volume has doubled), deflate, shape the loaf or put in whatever prepared pan or pans are required, another rise to double volume (30 minutes to one hour), then bake as directed.

It's good that your recipe calls for measuring by weight. For making bread it's a lot easier to be consistent if you at least weigh the main ingredients - that's the flour and the wet ingredients. Hydration percentage or ratio is important for obtaining the proper texture of the finished bread.

 

[taxlady]

I have used recipes that called for dry yeast to be added to the flour before any liquid was added. You have to trust that your yeast is still active to use this method, but I was always successful. BTW, I read that that doesn't work with Canadian yeast, but it did.

 

[Addie]

I have used recipes that called for dry yeast to be added to the flour before any liquid was added. You have to trust that your yeast is still active to use this method, but I was always successful. BTW, I read that that doesn't work with Canadian yeast, but it did.

And I don't like the fast acting yeast. I find that it is an iffy product. The first time I used it, a failure. The date was still good, but who knows what happened. So the next time I certainly checked the date of freshness, and it worked find. I have had a couple of more failures with it and more successes. I now use the regular yeast. And if I can find it, I will use the fresh yeast.

 

[Mad Cook]

Ok thanks. I thought that using SR flour was the same as plain flour and yeast. I make Peshwari naan bread using
170g self raising flour
8g Sugar
8g Flaked almonds
55ml milk
Using a very hot frying pan and a little oil it works fine. But it doesn't need to rise much.


I do have Backing powder and Dried active yeast. Don't know what I would do to prepare the latter if needed.
There is also fast acting yeast.

I'm an English and have been making bread for around 50 years. Due to differences in flours and nomenclature, my advice may be slightly different to that of our friends in the USA

In the UK Dried active yeast requires you to re-activate the yeast granules with a little sugar and warm (not hot) water ie blood heat - when you put your finger in the water it should feel neither warm nor cold. You then leave it for 10 minutes to froth up. You use both the froth and the liquid and follow Andy's instructions.

Fast acting yeast is dried yeast that is put straight into the flour without re-activating it

Both these types of yeast have instructions for use printed on the package. So long as they are within date and have been stored properly I find little or no difference in the two types. As RPcooking recommends, I keep my dried yeast in the 'fridge.

Again in the UK, you would use strong bread flour for most yeast recipes unless the recipe said otherwise in which case it would be plain flour not self-raising flour.

You can make soda bread with baking powder (a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar) or with self-raising flour (the former is better). Na'an bread are, in culinary terms, a form of soda bread.


I hope this helps and better luck next time.

 

[salt and pepper]

Add the two blue pills!

 

[Mad Cook]

Add the two blue pills!

Umm....Two blue pills?

 

[CraigC]

Add the two blue pills!

Especially when dealing with males over a certain age.

 

[Dawgluver]

Add the two blue pills!

And if it lasts for more than 4 hours, call your baker...

 

[Addie]

You folks are something special. My kind of folk.

 

[Cheryl J]

And if it lasts for more than 4 hours, call your baker...