Hi Jan, how are you measuring your flour? As mentioned in this blog post, it's easy to add too much flour to your recipe when you measure flour by cups, which can definitely contribute to a denser bread that doesn't rise as well. For best results, we recommend either weighing your flour, or using this method to measure your flour by cups. Dough temperature can also have a big impact on how your bread rises. Aiming for a dough temperature in the 75-78°F will do much to provide a good, consistent rise. Since this recipe starts out with boiling water it can be a bit tricky to calculate the correct dough temperature, and waiting until the mixture cools to 100-110°F still seems a bit too warm to me. I would try to wait to proceed with the recipe until the initial mixture has cooled to about 85-90 degrees, which may result in a more steady rise. 

• Reply