Why Didn’t My Bread Rise? Tips for Bread Makers

Stop struggle with botched bread and instead use this guide to help correct common mistakes in home bread making.

Reader Contribution by Renee Pottle
article image
by AdobeStock/Radianti Umasangaji

Why didn’t my bread rise? What temperature kills yeast? Correct common bread-baking mistakes like liquid temperature, proof time, and pan size.

Recently, several people have told me, “I can’t make bread. It won’t rise.” Despite our best efforts, sometimes flour + water + yeast doesn’t equal a tantalizing loaf of bread, but is just a large lump of dough. It’s kind of like Cinderella, only you don’t even get to the ball. You catch a glimpse of what the coach could be, but you are just left with a pumpkin.

Needless to say this can be frustrating. Making a loaf of bread is a commitment. We carve time out of our day to plan and mix in anticipation of something that can’t be recreated at the grocery store, a freshly baked loaf of bread, its aroma wafting through the house. Baking bread isn’t just putting food on the table, it’s an experience, an event. Having that experience crash and burn may dissuade us from ever trying again. And that would be too bad, because chances are one of these reasons deflated your dough:

Why Didn’t My Bread Dough Rise?

Old Dead Yeast

  • Updated on Jan 4, 2023
  • Originally Published on Mar 16, 2015
Tagged with: baking, bread, Reader Contributions, Renee Pottle, rise, Washington, yeast
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