If too much water is added to the dough, it will not be able to rise. The dough can be affected in two ways. Either the dough is weighed down with water and can not rise, or the raising agent was diluted and rendered ineffective. The best way to rectify this is to add more flour.
Have you ever heard the saying “wetter is better” when it comes to bread dough? There's no question that wetter, stickier dough can lead to a lighter, airier loaf, full of wonderful large and small holes (a.k.a. an "open crumb").
Strong, wet doughs spring well in the oven, forming nice “ears” and, if given time in cold fermentation, a blistered crust. But for many, the most coveted feature of high-hydration loaves is their dramatically open crumb or alveolar structure. In other words, it's all about the holes.
There are two conditions you need in order to make yeast flourish in your dough: moisture and warmth. Moisture and humidity in the air can vary greatly from day to day and season to season. If your house is humid, your dough will rise faster.
Wet or high-hydration doughs “promote better extensibility, better fermentation, moister crumb, and better keeping quality.” But he also noted that with wetter doughs come challenges. They take “more skill to handle and shape, require longer bakes, and often have thicker crusts.”
The wetter a dough is, the longer the gluten strands can get, and that's exactly what you want in bread because it results in a softer crumb.
Carbon dioxide is responsible for all the bubbles that make holes in bread, making it lighter and fluffier. Because gas is created as a result of yeast growth, the more the yeast grows, the more gas in the dough and the more light and airy your bread loaf will be.
Consider vitamin C. Vitamin C strengthens the gluten in flour, which can give a better rise, and help dough to rise more quickly. You probably won't need it if you're making white bread, but if you make wholemeal bread and it doesn't rise as well as you hoped, you could try a little vitamin C next time.
The Poke Test – Give that ball of dough a firm poke with your finger. If the indentation fills back quickly, you're good to go. If it stays looking like a deep dimple, continue kneading.
Even if your dough is super wet, even wetter than we intended, within reason, it can still be successfully shaped and bake into a gorgeous loaf.
The second proving has given the bread more elasticity, and made it harder to deflate the air. Second rises may add significantly to the total time it takes to complete a loaf of bread, but the step can be essential to achieving the taste and texture inherent to a number of popular breads.
If the bread is rising in a warm room and you're worried about the dough drying, spray the top of the dough with water and/or use a damp cloth which will prevent the air from getting through. I use this method all the time for rising and proving and I don't have any issues with dough drying out.
Kneading bread dough allows the protein molecules in the flour to form, creating healthy gluten strands. Gluten is what helps the mixture create gas, which helps it rise and build texture. When the dough has been adequately kneaded and the gluten has formed properly, it will take on several different characteristics.
There's something magical about the bread you get at your local bakeries - they're always sooo soft and fluffy. Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.
These gases get trapped inside the dough buy the mesh the gluten makes. This is what causes your bread to be airy and fluffy. This mesh is formed by kneading the dough. If you do not knead a dough enough you do not give your bread a chance as the gluten did not have enough time to build that mesh.
Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.
Generally speaking, yes, you need to cover the dough while it's rising. Covering the dough will create a warm moist atmosphere for the dough to rise nicely in. If it's cold or dry the dough won't rise as well as it should. So covering the dough while it rises keeps the moisture IN and the drying air out.
How long can dough sit out on the counter? The maximum amount of time dough can sit out on the counter is four hours for yeast-made bread, six for sourdough. Temperature, the characteristics of the sugars in the flour, the amount of yeast and the humidity of the room alter the length of the rise.
The fat and lactose in milk help with tenderizing the crumb of the bread making it softer and sweeter. The crust of the bread also gets more caramelization. Be aware that bread made with milk should not be baked at too high of a temperature to prevent it from browning too much too soon.
Leavened breads contain some substance that produces bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These gas bubbles inflate the dough, causing it to rise and become light and porous. Most kinds of basic breads are leavened with yeast. Other common leavening agents are baking powder and baking soda.