I just found out my bread dough was too cold to rise right

For months, my sourdough loaves were coming out flat and dense, no matter what I did. I was keeping my starter on the kitchen counter, but my kitchen is in a basement apartment and stays around 65 degrees. I thought that was fine. Then I watched a video from a baker in Minneapolis who said her dough needs to be at 78 degrees for a good rise. I got a cheap oven thermometer and put my dough bowl in there with just the light on. It held at 78. The next loaf I made was double the size before baking and had an open crumb I'd only dreamed of. I was basically chilling my yeast to sleep the whole time. Has anyone else had to really fight their kitchen's temperature to get things to work?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahhall23d ago

Temperature is the secret ingredient nobody talks about.

perez.mason23d ago

Oh man, @noahhall, you're right. I read how coffee shops obsess over water temp for pour-overs, a few degrees changes the whole flavor. Same with baking bread, a cold kitchen versus a warm one makes the dough act totally different. It's wild how such a small number on a thermometer can mess up or perfect something.