Baking Bread question

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lilmissy

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I always bake bread a day or two before the holidays for my stuffing. This year, I made 5 loaves and some buns. they did not raise. We heat with wood and I had the bread raising on top of the warmer Of the wood stove. Baked it anyways and it was burnt on top, not completely done inside. Tossed it. Made new the following day and used different yeast. Same exact thing happened. What happened?
 
I always bake bread a day or two before the holidays for my stuffing. This year, I made 5 loaves and some buns. they did not raise. We heat with wood and I had the bread raising on top of the warmer Of the wood stove. Baked it anyways and it was burnt on top, not completely done inside. Tossed it. Made new the following day and used different yeast. Same exact thing happened. What happened?
Was there a draft?
Old yeast?
Do you store your yeast upside down?
Question?
You placed your bread on the top of the stove top or higher?
From personal experience if my bread doesn't rise as well if in draft(and you might not feel it).
Or while using old yeast.
That's all I know.
Only other thing I can think is flour.
What do you think Amish Heart?
 
I keep my yeast in the freezer in a mason jar. Then for my second batch I actually opened up new yeast. There wasnt a draft at first, well the first 7 hrs. Then it got so dang hot in the house I opened a window in another room. But this was way after I tried to get a rise
 
Just spit'balling wild question here. What happens if you used both sourdough starter and yeast........in some ratio...?? My inexperienced guess is an abundance of bubbles in the finished product, that would at least be eatable. What if you reduced the prescribed amount of yeast by 50% but added sourdough starter, would that balance out.....?? I don't know.
 
I'm spoiled, I use sourdough and it requires five things to be successful.
1. flour
2. water
3. leavening (starter)
4. salt (regulates the work of the yeast and makes it taste like bread)
5. patience.... more patience

Cold temps slow it down but high temperatures will kill it. 75 to 85 is good and lower temps are great if you want a tangier sourdough. Warm it back up and let it rise. If you wait too long it will flatten in the oven. start baking it before it is done rising and it will form a nice round top. Let it cool after removing it from the oven to finish cooking the middle of the loaf.

It has been a long time since I have used yeast in anything.
 
If the yeast proofed properly, the dough probably got too warm. It may have risen quickly when you weren't looking and then collapsed. That or an ingredient was added that was too warm and that killed the yeast.

If your house is that warm, keep the dough away from the stove. Heat rises. If proofing above the stove is a must, try wrapping the whole bowl in a thick towel with emphasis on the bottom and lower sides.

Frozen yeast lasts practically forever, but all yeast should be proofed. If it is weak, you can get away with adding more. You will know if you judged the weakness wrongly, as the bread will turn out yeasty if you did. Expertise comes from making a lot of mistakes.

My bugaboo is that every time I move, the flour changes moisture content and I am back to making bricks until I figure out how to compensate. I guess that would fit in the starting over thread; you have to re learn cooking every move where climate change also occurs and the ingredient names sound the same, but are not

Sour dough bread makes excellent stuffing.
 
When proofing yeast, i add it to my warm water. Let it foam up, so to say a bit and then put in with flour. How foamed up should it be?
what does everyone do with their extra starter of sourdough if you dont make bread all the time ?
 
Sourdough starter is kept fed or stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.
If you want to store it longer than that spread it real thin on a sheet of waxed paper and let it dry out. Peal the paper of and break it into chips. Store the chips in a paper envelope in the pantry. When you want to use it just mix it with a half cup of warm water and a half cup of flour. When it starts bubbling stir it down and add more flour and water. Use it before it stops rising or refrigerate it overnight before you bring it back to room temperature.
I have several years worth of dried starter just in case I need it. It will keep a very long time.
 
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