What makes bread rise?

Have you ever thought about what makes bread so soft and fluffy? I have and decided to find out. As we all know it is the yeast doing all of this. Yeast is a single cell organism that can multiply very fast. When added to warm water the dry yeast comes to life and starts to multiply. Then when sugar is added it starts to consume the sugar as food and multiply even faster.

When baking we add the flour, sugar, yeast and water. After combining all these ingredients the dough is allowed to sit for a while before going into the oven. At this point the yeast are multiplying super-fast and as they eat they release gas. It is this gas that makes the bread rise. Since the yeast can only survive in warm temperatures the dough is not refrigerated or put into the oven right away. When it does go into the oven, it continues to release as until it dies from the high temperature. That’s why, if you’ve ever watched anything bake in the oven, you’ll notice that the bread rises at first but then it deflates slightly and stays the same.

This process also seems to work for frozen bread dough. When you leave it out at room temperature for a few hours it will grow to double or triple its size. This is when the yeast comes to life and start to release their gases. This might seem disgusting but the end result, the baked goodies, are hard to resist.