5 Tips for Baking Bread in Summer
Whether you’re working with yeast or with sourdough starter, your breads will naturally rise or fall depending on the temperature in your home.
Ideally, your bread will rise best when your home consistently stays between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit (20 and 22 degrees Celsius).
However, during the summer months, your home might go above those ideal temperatures, easily reaching 75 degrees and above. And the higher the temperature, the faster your bread will proof.
If your bread rises too quickly, it may taste bland and will struggle to hold its shape. So what can you do to slow that rise this summer?
1. Use Cool Water in Your Recipe
Many recipes recommend using warm water to proof yeast. Dry active yeast proofs best between 105 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit (40 and 46 degrees Celsius). If the water is too cold, the yeast will remain dormant and won’t give your bread lift.
However, during the summer, that warm water will contribute to a fast-rising loaf. If you want to slow your bread’s rise, you’ll have to be more strategic with your liquid ingredients.
Set aside some warm water to activate your yeast, but use cold water to autolyse your dough. Although your dough will reach room temperature eventually, the cold water will slow things down.
2. Add a Little More Salt
Yeast feeds on the sugars and starches in your flour. Although yeast does not need water to feed, yeast does need water to properly absorb oxygen and nutrients.
Salt, in contrast, is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts water and other moisture. When present in your bread dough, salt pulls water from the yeast, which then slows its fermentation process.
During the summer, you may want to consider adding an extra gram or two of salt to slow your yeast’s activity and counter the high temperatures in your kitchen. However, you should note that excessive amounts of salt can strain or even kill your yeast, and too much salt will impact the overall flavor of your bread.
Not sure how much to add?
If you understand baker’s percentages, you can use up to 2% salt in your recipe without having any negative impact on your bread’s fermentation process. Above 2% salt, the bread’s fermentation will slow noticeably. At 8% salt, the yeast will become dormant.
So if you try to counter excessive kitchen temperatures with salt, keep the salt well below the 8% mark. And don’t forget to take notes on your recipe changes to see what works best for you.
3. Decrease Your Fermentation Time
Scientifically speaking, the rate of metabolism and carbon dioxide production doubles for every 18 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) increase in temperature. Bread dough at 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) will rise twice as fast as dough at 68 degrees (20 degrees Celsius).
By the time your home temperature reaches 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius), the yeast becomes so active that it will push gluten strands beyond their ability to hold together. Even if you knead your bread for extended times and use extra vital wheat gluten, your dough may devolve into a sticky, gloopy mess if you let your bread rise too long in warm temperatures.
To avoid over proofing your dough, you may need to cut your total rise time to compensate summer baking. So if a recipe calls for a 4 hour rise time at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), your dough may be done in as little as 2 hours if your kitchen hovers at 86 degrees (30 degrees Celsius).
Keep in mind that long rise times are important for maximizing flavors in your bread. Short rise times in summer may result in blander bread, so consider alternative methods for slowing your yeast activity. Or make sure that your bread has additional ingredients such as milk, eggs, or butter to lend your bread flavor and structure.
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Stop by BreadbytheHour.com and see my article: 5 Tips for Baking Bread in Summer. Don’t forget to check out my other helpful baking tips or see my latest bread recipes.
