The Long Rise

Written by Studio AM.

When I started baking bread, I wanted the dough to rise as quickly as possible. Later, I tried a recipe with an overnight rise in the refrigerator. It changed the flavour and made it easier to fit baking around my day.

Yeast uses sugars and produces carbon dioxide, which helps the dough rise. Enzymes in the flour break starch into simpler sugars. In cooler dough, yeast works more slowly. A long fermentation can develop flavour while the dough rises at a slower pace.

That does not mean longer is always better. The recipe, temperature and amount of yeast matter. Dough left too long can rise too far and lose strength. I follow the recipe and check the dough instead of assuming that any extra wait will improve it.

I think about this when another piece of work feels stalled. Sometimes a process is still happening even when I cannot see much change. Before trying to speed it up, I ask whether it needs time or whether something needs fixing.

Questions

Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.

  1. Question 1 of 4

    What does the writer learn from the slower bread recipe?

  2. Question 2 of 4

    What do enzymes in the flour help do?

  3. Question 3 of 4

    Which action best follows the writer's approach to a slow task?

  4. Question 4 of 4

    When a piece of work feels "stalled", it is

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