I always take it easy (or underestimate) when dealing with yeast. I've made some food with yeast back in Indonesia and there's no problem at all. But in a couple of fine moments in Sydney, I failed big time when making my pizza crust! The batter did not rise at all - bantet. It didn't happen only once. It happened twice! I can't accept that, given that I had no problem at all back in Indonesia. So, I had to find out what's causing it. Is it the yeast? Or the water?
First rule that you must know: if you mix sugar, yeast, and warm water, the mixture MUST form foam. If it doesn't form any foam, then there's something wrong with either your yeast or your water.
After Google-ing, I found out in a website that some of the cause of dough not rising is that the yeast is old or the water is too hot. My yeast can't be too old, I just bought it for a couple of days. What might be wrong is the temperature of the water. I wanted to check whether it is true. So, I came up with this experiment:
Each cup contains 1/2 tsp of yeast and 2 tbsp of water in different temperature. In scientific term, the water temperature is the variable here (man, I feel like going back to school).
Each cup contains 1/2 tsp of yeast and 2 tbsp of water in different temperature. In scientific term, the water temperature is the variable here (man, I feel like going back to school).
- Top cup: hot water (almost boiling)
- Bottom cup: warm-to-hot water, your finger can stand the temperature for 15-30 seconds until you have to pull it out
- Left cup: room temperature water
- Right cup: just slightly above the temperature of the left cup
From all the cups, only the top cup with hot water didn't form foam. The foam appeared about after 30 secs to 1 minute, but I think it took longer for colder water. The top cup was the mixture that I got when I first made my pizza crust! Ok, so now I realized that the water was too hot for the yeast. And now you too know that foaming the yeast require the right temperature.
Conclusion: even though the yeast will still foam with water around room temperature, it's still very recommended to use warm water.
For other troubleshooting tips for bread yeasting: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/yeast-breads-10-troubleshooting-tips.html.
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