Heat Wave Baking
As you may know, I live near Seattle, Washington. This week brought historically high temperatures. My plan was to bake bread in the “cool” of the morning. The only problem was that it wasn’t really cool in the morning. It wasn’t cool for days on end. The yeast loved the high temperatures. My sandwich bread rose and rose. And then it fell.
If, heaven forbid, we have another heat wave like this, I’m going to add another quarter of a teaspoon of salt to the dough to deal with the over enthusiastic yeast.
I am wondering if my bread machine is faulty. it is about 15 years old and I consistantly get bread bricks for the last 6 months. i have tried several different bread mixes (within the expiration date on the box), as well as from scratch breads using yeast that is not expired and foams when you add water. The yeast is alive, yet same result as the bread mix. Has anyone experienced this?
Anita, What type of machine do you have and how often is it used? I use my Zo about 4 times a week and the last one went about six years. If you’re using your machine a lot and it’s lasted 15 years, then let us know. I, for one, would be VERY interested in buying a machine like that. 🙂
That’s so funny! I just baked a loaf of bread today and it looks exactly like that! It wasn’t hot here today in Arkansas, but it was a little humid. Is that fallen top from too much yeast? I added honey instead of sugar. Would that have given the yeast too much good food?
Great question! In fact, you just inspired a blog post. (Thanks SO much for this inspiration. I just moved, and it’s been hard to start blogging again.) See Bread Troubleshooting – Bread that rises and then falls for some tips.