How Long Does It Take for Bread to Rise? (2024)

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How Long Does It Take for Bread to Rise? (1)

ByChristina Herbst

Taste of Home's Editorial Process

Updated: Feb. 14, 2023

    If you've ever asked yourself how long it takes for bread to rise, you've come to the right place! Here's everything you knead to know, along with some more bread proofing tips and tricks.

    It’s time for a little bread baking 101! Baking homemade yeast bread recipes is a joy, but plenty of questions can pop up after you’ve combined your flour, water, yeast and salt.

    The question that looms largest in the minds of both amateur bakers and seasoned pros is, “how long does it take for dough to rise?” Don’t worry: We’ll break it down for you here, along with other bread proofing questions.

    Hey, baker! Come on over to Bakeable, our online baking community,
    where you’ll find our best tips and top-rated recipes. Then, share your bakes in our Bakeable Facebook group. We’d love to see ’em.

    How long does it take for bread dough to rise?

    The short answer is that it depends. Factors like the temperature of your kitchen and the freshness of your yeast, along with humidity and water temperature, can all affect the proofing time of your bread dough.

    In a toasty kitchen, your dough may proof in as little as an hour (or less!). When the temperatures dip, it can take much longer—upwards of two or even three hours. You’ll know it’s done when it has a full, puffed appearance, like in the image below.

    How Long Does It Take for Bread to Rise? (2)taste of home

    How do I get dough to rise faster?

    Try letting the dough proof next to a heat source, or in your oven with just the light on. Since heat rises, on top of the fridge is a good spot, too! Have a flat loaf that just isn’t budging? Here’s why your bread isn’t rising.

    Test Kitchen tip: Sweet bread doughs and whole-grain loaves both take longer to rise, so plan accordingly.

    Can I leave my bread to rise overnight?

    Yes, you can let your bread rise overnight in the fridge. Keep in mind, though, you’ll want the dough to come back up to room temperature before baking. If you want your dough to develop a slightly sour flavor, you can leave the dough at room temperature to rise, but you’ll need to punch it down, reshape and allow it to rise again before baking.

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    Originally Published: November 11, 2020

    Author

    Christina Herbst

    Christina is a Social Media Editor for Taste of Home. She enjoys trying out local restaurants and coffeehouses and adding copious amounts of garlic and cheese to any recipe she can get her hands on. In her free time, you can find her hunting down one-of-a-kind furniture pieces at thrift and vintage stores and DIYing trendy home decor crafts.

    Read More

    How Long Does It Take for Bread to Rise? (27)

    How Long Does It Take for Bread to Rise? (2024)

    FAQs

    How Long Does It Take for Bread to Rise? ›

    Most recipes call for the bread to double in size – this can take one to three hours, depending on the temperature, moisture in the dough, the development of the gluten, and the ingredients used. Generally speaking, a warm, humid environment is best for rising bread.

    Is 2 hours long enough for bread to rise? ›

    As a guide, for a kitchen where the temperature is 20C and you added yeast at 1% of the flour weight (eg 5g dried yeast in 500g flour), you should still leave your dough to rise for around an hour and a half to two hours after kneading it.

    How long should bread take to rise? ›

    If your kitchen and/or counter where you knead the dough is cool, the dough will cool down also (even if you used warm water to make it). If your dough is kept at around 80°F, it should take between 1 and 1½ hours to rise double in volume.

    Can bread rise in 30 minutes? ›

    Let the dough rise for around 30 to 45 minutes.

    Check on the dough after 30 minutes to see if it's finished. You'll know it's finished rising once it's doubled in size. If it's not done rising, leave the dough in the microwave for another 15 minutes.

    Why is my bread not rising? ›

    Yeast is too hot Yeast may have been dissolved in water that was too hot, or the liquid ingredients in the recipe may be too hot, causing the yeast to die. Yeast needs to be warm - not too hot, not too cold. Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die.

    What is the longest you can let dough rise? ›

    Can I leave my bread to rise overnight? Yes, you can let your bread rise overnight in the fridge. Keep in mind, though, you'll want the dough to come back up to room temperature before baking.

    Can you let homemade bread rise too long? ›

    If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.

    Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

    Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

    How long should homemade bread rise? ›

    Most recipes call for the bread to double in size – this can take one to three hours, depending on the temperature, moisture in the dough, the development of the gluten, and the ingredients used. Generally speaking, a warm, humid environment is best for rising bread.

    Can I let dough rise overnight on the counter? ›

    - Uncovered container with dough you need to limit to max 4 hours in room temperature. It is possible to leave bread dough to rise overnight. This needs to be done in the refrigerator to prevent over-fermentation and doughs with an overnight rise will often have a stronger more yeasty flavour which some people prefer.

    How can I speed up rising bread? ›

    A Bowl of Steaming Water is the Key to Quickly Proofing Bread. In the winter, when your house and kitchen are at a crisp temperature and you need a warm spot for your dough to rise, create a makeshift “proof box” by placing a bowl of steaming water inside your oven alongside your bowl of dough.

    What does overproofed bread look like? ›

    It may be flat or if it is proofed and baked in a tin, then the sides of it will start spilling over. It will not rise as it is baking either.

    Do you knead dough after it rises? ›

    yes The purpose of kneading is to develop gluten in the dough. ... Therefore, you need to knead before rising. If you knead the dough again after its first rise, you'll destroy many of the bubbles and your dough will become flat and dense.

    Can I still bake bread that didn't rise? ›

    Fortunately, this is a problem that's relatively easy to diagnose and solve. If your bread dough doesn't rise, you can still use it and fix it by changing up the temperature or mixing in more yeast.

    How do I know if my bread has risen enough? ›

    Look: Your dough should be about double the size it was when it started. If it's in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, then use a marker to trace an outline of the dough on the plastic — the dough is done rising/proofing when it stretches beyond that mark by about double.

    What temperature kills yeast? ›

    Too Hot to Survive

    Regardless of the type of yeast you use, if your water reaches temperatures of 120°F or more, the yeast will begin to die off. Once water temps reach 140°F or higher, that is the point where the yeast will be completely killed off.

    Can you let dough rise for 2 hours? ›

    The dough should generally be proofed for around 1 to 4 hours at a warm temperature or overnight (or more) at a cold refrigerator temperature. As the proofing temperature increases, the total fermentation time will decrease.

    Does bread have to rise for an hour? ›

    Now that we've talked about how you can get bread dough to rise faster, it's time to tackle the question at hand, "how long does it take bread to rise." Though this answer may vary, if you're cooking in a warm kitchen with a moist dough, your bread will likely rise in 45 minutes or less.

    How do you speed up the rise of bread? ›

    You can also put hot water in a heat-safe dish and place it on the floor of a cold oven (or on a lower shelf). The steam and heat from the water will help the temperature rise just enough that the yeast is active. The steam will also assist in keeping the surface of the dough moist so it will stretch as it rises.

    Why is my dough taking so long to rise? ›

    Check the environment. The ideal temperature for bread baking is approx 75°F (24°C) with high humidity for a slow, steady, and flavorful rise. Move too far below that range, and your yeast will not be happy. We'll show you how to create a proof box to fix the temp and humidity in the next section.

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