Why your bread dough didn’t rise in cold weather and how to fix it

If your kitchen is feeling chilly lately, or you live somewhere where the winter cold is arriving, then you may find your bread dough is a little more sluggish too. It’s a common challenge of baking bread in the winter, but what can you do if your bread dough didn’t rise in cold weather? 

Read on, or watch the video below, to find out more about why dough rising slows down at cooler temperatures. Plus three tips for how you can tackle this to make sure your final loaf turns out light and fluffy as you expected. 

Yeast works more slowly in cold weather

Yes, that yeast is a living thing that thrives in warmer climes and when food (the starches in your dough) is plentiful – I think I can relate! Cooler temperatures slow down your yeast activity, resulting in slow rising dough and the possibility that your final loaf doesn’t turn out as you expected. Don’t despair – with preparation, you can continue baking delicious fresh bread all through the winter months. Read on for three things you can do to keep your home bread baking on track during cooler weather. 

1. Warm up your ingredients

As you may be realising, temperature plays a key role in how quickly, or slowly, your dough rises. Adding ice cold water to ingredients just taken from a cold cupboard will lead to a colder dough temperature, slowing down your yeast.

The simplest way to warm your dough is to use warmer water (or other liquid such as milk as per your recipe) during cold weather.

Your water should be no hotter than your hand temperature for the dough. Yeast work well in temperatures up to around 37C/98F but hotter temperatures will eventually stop all yeast activity and your dough won’t rise.

Keeping your dough temperature around 20C/68F helps it rise at a steady pace, filling out with gas and creating a final loaf that’s light and airy.

2. Find a cosy proofing spot

When baking bread with yeast, your dough needs to proof, or rise, at least once before you bake it. If your yeast are sluggish in cooler weather, your dough is going to struggle to rise well.

Alongside using warmer water, find a cosy, warmer spot for your dough to rise in. Some suggestions include:

• Inside the microwave or oven when these are OFF. Set a bowl of hot water in with your bowl of dough to gently warm the small space.
• On the hob or stovetop (again, whilst off!) and keep the lights above the hob (if you have them) on. These lights will generate a little warmth for your dough.
• In a space away from draughts – you could even nestle the bowl wrapped in teatowels or a blanket!

As before, don’t place your bowl of dough anywhere TOO warm, for example on a radiator or near a boiler. You will dry out your dough and, if the yeast work too quickly or their activity is stopped, your dough will collapse instead of filling out with gas.

3. Give your dough more time

Even warming your dough and keeping it cosy may not make all the difference. Your dough may just need more time to rise in cold weather. Keep an eye on your dough, not the clock. 

You may need to add another half an hour or so onto the suggested rising time from your recipe. So plan in advance and leave enough time for your dough to rise. When your dough is puffy and you can poke large holes into it easily, you’re ready to move onto shaping it. 

The key to dough rising in cold weather

Cold weather can certainly slow down your dough but it doesn’t have to ruin your overall bread bake. Remember: 

1. Use slightly warmer water (or milk etc) in your dough 

2. Find a cosy proofing spot for your dough 

3. Take time for your dough to rise enough 

If your dough didn’t rise in cold weather, try out these three tips and see if you end up with a light, fluffy loaf no matter the weather.