

"Why didn't my bread rise?"
Here at King Arthur Flour, we field hundreds of questions each week from people all over the world. A steady stream of puzzled, challenged, and sometimes frustrated bakers call our telephone baker's hotline, access our online chat, email us (customercare@kingarthurflour.com), and connect with us via social media and our blog – all with problems that need solving.
One of the most common area of concern is yeast baking. And the most frequently asked question is this: "Why didn't my bread rise?"
There are so many reasons for bread rising poorly, it's impossible to address every one of them here. But let's just look at a few of the more common causes.
See these two pans? The one on the left is a 9" x 5" loaf pan, most commonly used for "quick" breads: batter breads that rely on baking powder or baking soda for leavening. Think banana bread, zucchini, pumpkin... you get the picture.
The loaf pan on the right measures 8 1/2" x 4 1/2". It's most commonly used for yeast breads. Think sandwich loaves.
So, what's a mere 1/2" difference among friends, right?
Believe it or not, that 9" x 5" pan has a 30% greater capacity than the 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" pan.
So what happens when your sandwich bread recipe calls for an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" pan, and you decide, "Ah, the 9" x 5" is close enough"?
Same recipe; same rise; same oven; same everything – except the pan.
That's a 9" x 5" loaf on the left; an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf on the right. Both rose just fine; it's simply that the loaf on the left rose sideways, rather than up.
Lesson learned: when the recipe calls for an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" pan, use it.
And what if your recipe simply calls for a "loaf pan," without specifying size?
The basic rule is, if the recipe uses 3 cups of flour, choose the smaller pan. If it uses 4 cups of flour, choose the larger pan. For any amount in between 3 and 4 cups, use either pan – understanding that you'll get a taller (though possibly mushroom-shaped) loaf in the smaller pan.
My fellow blogger MaryJane recently posted a great guide on determining when your rising loaf has reached its optimal level (which is NOT "as high as possible"), and is ready to go into the oven. Read The Bread Also Rises for some nifty tips.
See that dough on the left? Here in the King Arthur Flour test kitchen, we'd call that dough "gnarly." It's fairly soft, and doesn't feel particularly dry, but during kneading it doesn't come together in a ball. Instead, it twists and turns itself into a bunch of separate pieces that keep slapping against one another; it's gnarly.
See that dough on the right? It's soft, but not overly sticky; e.g., it doesn't cling to your hands when you pick it up. Instead, it just barely "kisses" the side of the bowl, if you're kneading in a stand mixer. If you're kneading by hand, it will stick to your kneading surface in a "tacky" way, rather than viscously, like glue.
This degree of stickiness shows that the dough's flour/liquid balance is right on.
So does it really matter that much?
Sure does. A loaf made with too much flour (or not enough liquid – same thing) will be dry, dense, and heavy. Yeast is happiest in a moist environment, feeding happily when it's got enough to drink. Likewise, gluten (the network of protein strands that allows your loaf to expand and hold its shape) stretches more readily when there's more liquid present.
Think of trying to blow bubbles out of thick, viscous soap. Now think of the ultra-thin soap/water you dip your wand in to make those backyard bubbles. Get the picture?
Two loaves. Same recipe, same pan, same rise time, same oven, same bake time.
The loaf on the left was made with 2 tablespoons less water than the loaf on the right. That translates to a 12% difference.
Not a lot, right? But look not only at the rise, but the shape. You can see that the loaf on the left struggled to rise, crowning only at the top, while the sides sluggishly resisted. The loaf on the right rose more evenly, side to side.
Takeaway: yes, measuring your ingredients carefully is important (which is why I always use a scale).
Also, if you're kneading dough by hand, resist the urge to add more flour as you knead; if the dough is perfectly balanced (flour/liquid) to begin with, every extra tablespoon of flour you throw down on your kneading surface and pick up with your dough is upsetting that balance.
Hint: Knead on a lightly greased surface, rather than one that's floured. A silicone kneading mat is very handy.
Loaves, left to right: 100% all-purpose flour; 50% all purpose/50% whole wheat; 100% whole wheat flour.
Look at the difference between the white flour loaf on the left, and the whole wheat loaf on the right. Pretty significant, eh?
Don't get me wrong; it's possible to make a lovely, high-rising 100% whole wheat loaf. But you need to follow a recipe written for especially for whole wheat flour.
Many of you love to take a favorite yeast bread recipe and make it more nutritious by adding whole wheat (or rye, or oats, or bran, or...) That's fine; but those flours and grains don't provide the stretchy network of gluten all-purpose flour does, and thus these whole grain loaves won't rise as well.
Still, adding whole wheat to a favorite white bread recipe is a laudable goal, health-wise. Want to learn more about converting your favorite yeast recipes from white flour to whole wheat? Read Yeast Bread: From White to Wheat, a Baker's Guide.
A little thing like that can make a difference? You bet.
Maestro, the metaphor, please!
Think about blowing up a balloon. Usually it's pretty easy, right?
But what would happen if you painted that balloon with a thick layer of hard-drying paint, and then tried to blow it up?
You'd huff, and you'd puff, and... well, you wouldn't blow the balloon up very easily, would you? You'd have to crack that layer of paint first.
Same with yeast bread. If its top surface has dried out and hardened while rising, it'll struggle in the oven.
Covering your rising loaf with a dish towel protects it from dust and flying insects, it's true; but it doesn't keep it moist. Plastic wrap keeps it moist – but it can stick, too, even when it's greased. How many of you have tried to remove sticky plastic from your risen loaf, only to see it tear and deflate? I sure have.
The solution? An inexpensive shower cap (pictured above).
Use a clear plastic cap, if you can; you get a better view of what's going on inside. The elastic keeps the cap firmly anchored to the pan, while the plastic on top "poofs" nicely, sheltering your rising loaf without actually touching it.
Where do you find these clear shower caps? Well, every time one of my co-workers goes on a trip, I ask him or her to bring me back a souvenir: a shower cap from the motel room.
Don't have any traveling pals? The dollar store usually stocks packs of these inexpensive caps.
OK, I know I've covered the promised five reasons for low-rising bread, but here's a bonus I can't resist, one of the most common reasons for poorly risen bread –
Any loaf where the weight of the sugar is 10% or more of the flour weight* is going to rise sloooowly. Add too much sugar, and your bread will stop rising entirely.
*Example: Make a loaf with 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) flour and 1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar, and the weight of the sugar will be 14% (1 3/4 divided by 12 3/4) of the weight of the flour.
Why the problem? It's that liquid balance again. Sugar is hygroscopic; it absorbs as much liquid as it can. The result? Thirsty yeast is left high and dry, and simply goes dormant.
The solution? "Osmotolerant" yeast, a type developed especially for high-sugar doughs, e.g., SAF Gold. This yeast is like a camel; it simply doesn't need as much water as normal yeast, and thus performs better under dry (read: high-sugar) conditions.
Well, class, have you learned something today? I hope so. Our goal here at King Arthur Flour is to teach the world to bake – and share. We're happy to do both regularly, here in our blog.
Happy baking!
For additional bread tips and troubleshooting, check out even more of our yeast bread blog posts.
August 13, 2020 at 12:48pm
In reply to Oooh, that's why it didn't… by Phoenix (not verified)
Hey there, Phoenix! You might be able to find a loaf pan designed for this exact scenario by searching for "mini loaf pan" or "half loaf pan" on Google. Another thing you might consider is using a hotel pan which is commonly used in a steam table at a buffet or for keeping food warm during dinner service at a restaurant — I think a "ninth pan" might work well for what you're looking to do here. We hope this helps and happy baking!
August 24, 2020 at 11:40pm
In reply to Hey there, Phoenix! You… by mmoss
Thanks for the hotel pan tip, I'm going to search it out. Over the years, the half and mini loaf pan google searches only led me to tons of pans that are too small, and one pan that was too large (it was 5x3x3, and nothing rose, which is exactly why I found this post, haha!) but I've never heard of a hotel pan or a ninth pan so I will try those next. Thanks so much! :D
August 11, 2020 at 3:44pm
Thanks for this information! I've twice made the Back of the Bag Oatmeal bread and that pan calls for a 9x5. Should I be using the smaller 8.5x4.5 in order to get a better rise? Also, I was told that KAF 100% WW Flour was interchangeable on these recipes (via chat last week). I subbed 120g in the BOTB recipe with 241g of the KAF Bread Flour. The rise was still eh. Could you point out some recipes that are truly 100% WW vs. White Whole Wheat?
Thanks!
August 12, 2020 at 10:19am
In reply to Thanks for this information!… by Kim (not verified)
Hey there, Kim! We're glad to hear that you've been enjoying our Back-of-the-Bag Oatmeal Bread recipe! You're welcome to try baking it in an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan if you'd like, but you'll likely get a bit of a mushroom top effect on your loaf. While you certainly can use some white whole wheat flour in place of the bread flour called for in the recipe, for each cup you swap out you'll want to increase the milk by 2 teaspoons as whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid. We recommend replacing no more than 50% of the bread or all-purpose flour called for in a recipe with whole wheat flour, as whole wheat baked goods will rise a bit less and have a more closed crumb structure. White whole wheat and traditional whole wheat flour can be used interchangeably without any adjustments though. If you're looking for a whole wheat sandwich bread recipe, we'd recommend checking out our Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread recipe. We hope this helps and happy baking!
July 11, 2020 at 11:30am
Could you say something about using liquid milk vs. dry milk? I’ve been using dry milk and having pretty good success with my rise, but I suspect that dry milk might be difficult for me to digest (I won’t go into details!). For that reason, the second time I made the Classic 100% Whole Wheat Loaf I used 2% liquid milk instead of the nonfat dry milk powder I used previously. (I had also forgotten the sweetener in my first loaf, which I suppose could have also made it loftier?) The initial bulk rise was impressive, but the rise after shaping was decidedly not and I saw no additional rise in the oven.
I would love more information (maybe another article?) particularly around milk and the reasons why one would use dry vs. liquid in a recipe. I’m not looking to go dairy-free, but I am interested in using ingredients that are less pre-processed in my cooking. Thanks!
July 12, 2020 at 2:20pm
In reply to Could you say something… by Abby (not verified)
That's a good question, Abby! Generally speaking, you won't see too much of a difference between them, but it can depend on a lot of factors: how much water in the recipe you're replacing with milk, the temperature of your milk, etc. If you reach out to our Baker's Hotline, we'd love to chat with you in more detail!
June 5, 2020 at 7:57pm
Great info and thanks for the pictures, especially the one showing the right tackiness when using a stand mixer! I can see now that I have been making mine too dry (i.e. adding too much flour) and I can't wait to "get it right" the next time.
April 13, 2020 at 11:20am
Hi, I tried whole wheat, it didn't rise in oven, that's one part, but ita soo dense inside! Please, if you could point out my mistakes..
May 12, 2020 at 1:34pm
In reply to Hi, I tried whole wheat, it… by Krishna Paul (not verified)
Hi Krishna, if a loaf never rises, it can be due to a few things. It could be that the yeast was dead, either from shelf life or it was added to water that was too hot. The dough may have had too much flour in it so it couldn't properly hydrate, which is why we recommend measuring by weight whenever possible. Or the dough may have been under-proofed or even over-proofed if it had risen outside of the oven and then collapsed.
April 12, 2020 at 12:18am
I think you have (again) solved my problem. My bread was rising so nicely I thought I would like a little bigger loaf - therefore I used the larger pan and it turned out runty. I could NOT believe that the small difference in dimensions could made the difference, but now I am a believer. I also read over all the other tips and am doing things correctly. Never hurts to refresh. Thanks SO much for always having helpful tips for us. A beautiful loaf of bread just makes me so happy.
Pagination