When working with yeast doughs, especially those made with a lot of liquid, it is common for the dough to expand as it rises.
This is normal and should not be feared. What you want to watch out for is your dough shrinking when you roll it out.
Dough that shrinks when you roll it out will leave small holes in your rolled-out dough and end up very uneven once baked.
If this happens, read on… The reasons why your yeast dough might expand or shrink are many but all can be solved by careful preparations and measurements. There are a few tricks you can use to prevent the dough from shrinking when rolling it out.
First off: make sure that you handle the dough as little as possible before rolling it out so that the natural expansion won’t cause any problems once the dough has been stretched and stretched again during rolling.
You don’t want to add extra stress to the delicate starter while making bread by handling it too much before baking!
Secondly: measure liquids and other dry ingredients fairly accurately so that there are no surprises later on when measuring them (remember: you don’t want to over measure here either!).
Thirdly: plan ahead by dividing your starter into smaller batches at once so that they can rise at their own pace without competing with each other.
What Happens to Shrinking Dough?
There are a few reasons why your yeast dough might expand or shrink during rising. One is that the yeast itself is expanding or contracting, and so is the amount of water it has access to.
The other reason is that the yeast starter has become more active and is therefore producing more gases as a by-product of this activity.
The latter is more likely to happen when you’ve added too much yeast to your dough compared to the amount called for, or when your yeast isn’t as healthy as you think it is.
When the yeast is healthy and active, it forms a “natural barrier” that prevents the gases produced by the yeast cells from escaping. When the yeast isn’t producing enough natural barrier, the gases produced by the yeast can escape and cause the dough to expand or shrink.
Make Sure You’re Measuring Correctly and Equally for All Components
This is especially important if you’re trying to prevent your yeast dough from shrinking when rolling it out. First, make sure that you’re measuring all ingredients accurately.
For example, if you add 1 teaspoon of yeast and then 1 teaspoon of flour, the yeast will expand and the flour will shrink, causing the dough to shrink.
Similarly, if you’ve weighed the yeast in grams but mixed it in with a certain volume of water, then the yeast will also expand when mixed with more water, causing the dough to expand.
This means that the yeast that you actually weighed could be a few grams more active than you think, causing it to produce more gas in the container than you have measured.
Plan Ahead by Dividing Your Starter Into Smaller Batches
Secondly, you might want to plan ahead by dividing your starter into smaller batches at once so that they can rise at their own pace without competing with each other.
Each time you feed your starter, add only as much yeast as it can handle at once. This way, your starter will keep at around the same levels of activity and yeast health without having to expand or contract too much.
You can divide your starter into smaller batches by using a coffee or other non-yeast dough measure.
When you’ve fed a smaller amount of your starter with a coffee measure, it will be less active, so the gas produced by the yeast will be less likely to escape and cause your dough to expand.
Don’t overhandle your dough before baking
Thirdly, try to keep your hands off the dough as much as possible while it is rising. This will prevent the natural expansion from causing any problems when the dough is being stretched or rolled out.
Once your dough has risen, it should be handled only very gently (e.g. with a silicone spatula) while it is being stretched and folded.
If you handle it more roughly, you’ll cause the air bubbles in the dough to disappear, decreasing the friction between the dough and the counter.
This will result in a smaller final loaf. So, don’t be afraid to take your time when handling your dough and don’t try to rush things because you’ve got some bread to bake in a few hours!
Keep your starter well fed and healthy at all times
Finally, remember that you want your starter to be as healthy as possible at all times so that it can continue to perform at its best for you. When you feed your starter, add only as much yeast as it can handle at once.
This way, your starter will keep at around the same levels of activity and yeast health without having to expand or contract too much.
You can divide your starter into smaller batches by using a coffee or other non-yeast dough measure. When you’ve fed a smaller amount of your starter with a coffee measure, it will be less active, so the gas produced by the yeast will be less likely to escape and cause your dough to expand.
Conclusion
Bread is a beautiful, complex and delicious creation that can be made at home with very little effort. If you want to learn how to make bread from scratch, there are many different types of recipes you can try.
Start by reading how to make sourdough bread, then explore how to make different types of bread, like sweet bread, bread with seeds or how to make French baguettes.
