Challa won't rise | Imamother

SavtaHelen

Mon, Dec 14 2015, 4:56 am

HELP!! I thought that I had found the foolproof recipe for the perfect whole wheat challa. I kneaded it for 10 minutes in my new Bosch mixer, and for the period of time between sukkot and chanuka it was PERFECT!!! Light, fluffy, delicious!!
Now all of a sudden it is dense, heavy and leaden. I bought new yeast, I switched from dry yeast to fresh yeast, I added 3 T of yeast to two kilo of flour instead of my usual 2 T....nothing seems to help. I am so discouraged, I keep trying, for the past three weeks, to get back to the challa that we loved. The dough is perfect, it rises beautifully, it is easy to work with...but the challa is a dead weight! HELP!!!

Sanguine

Mon, Dec 14 2015, 5:31 am

I also thought I had a crazy problem but now I solved it. Even if you're comfortable your house isn't as warm as it was. I now turn on my oven to heat it up. I then shut the oven and put the Challahs inside the warm oven and they rise beautifully again.

nywife

Mon, Dec 14 2015, 5:55 am

I'm assuming you proofed the yeast first?
Wrap the bowl in a clean garbage bag to protect it from drafts. Put it on the stovetop with the oven at a low temp.

Mrs Bissli

Mon, Dec 14 2015, 6:32 am

I thought you should be using twice the amount of dry/instant yeast for fresh/bakers yeast. So if you were getting right dough with 2T dry yeast, the correct corresponding amount would be 4T fresh yeast. Also did it bubble when you activated? Fresh yeast can lose potency quicker.

Sanguine

Mon, Dec 14 2015, 7:25 am

If you're in Israel trust me (what I said before). American houses are overheated (so nice and cozy - perfect for rising dough). Israeli houses are great for letting dough rise in the summer but in the winter we wear more clothes indoors than outdoors (houses are drafty). Try my suggestion of rising your dough in a warm oven. Why else would your Challah suddenly stop working?

I bet I win and my suggestion works for you Very Happy

etky

Tue, Dec 15 2015, 8:53 am

Sanguine wrote:

This is what I do in the winter too. I have a setting in the oven for this. I let the dough rise on 35 or 40 degrees (celsius). My challah just doesn't rise otherwise in the winter, even if I let it stand for hours at room temperature. In the summer I don't need to use the oven.

Sanguine

Tue, Dec 15 2015, 9:31 am

etky wrote:

LOL - You taught me how to make Challah. I was going to ask you if you have any idea why my Challahs aren't working out anymore and then I came up with the oven idea. I guess if I would have asked that's what you would have told me Very Happy

Smile1234

Tue, Dec 15 2015, 9:49 am

Its probably too cold in your kitchen, as others said. Another idea would be to turn on your oven and leave the bowl with the dough right near the oven - like on the stovetop.

Also - my mother once had this (not in Israel, don't remember what season) and she bought a thermometer for the water temperature and when she used it it solved her problem.

Tue, Dec 15 2015, 10:01 am

Not ON the stovetop!

I did that once... the dough baked inside my bowl, so I had a bowl shaped pita sort of thing with raw challah dough rising in the middle.

Turn on the oven, put the dough on the oven door. Or in the oven on a low temperature (whatver 175F is in C)

Smile1234

Tue, Dec 15 2015, 10:08 am

kb wrote:

Oh, oops. Ok so the counter next to the oven.

Sanguine

Tue, Dec 15 2015, 2:24 pm

Smile1234 wrote:

Oh, oops. Ok so the counter next to the oven.

On top of the oven or next to it won't work. Israeli houses are cool and drafty. We walk around in 2 sweaters - that's normal here. Trust me - you have to put the Challah in the warm oven. Sitting on a warm oven or next to one isn't enough cause the air in the room won't be warm enough. Just make sure that your oven isn't too hot cause your Challah will then start to bake before it rises.