I love to bake homemade bread and pizza dough and don't really care for bread machine results. When I make breads by hand, I need a nice warm, clean, out of the way place for the dough to rise. I have been putting the dough in my microwave (turned off, of course) and letting it rise there with the best results.
It frees up my counter space and is clean and warm. So make use of that idle microwave when in need of a place for dough to rise. I've even got some pizza dough rising in mine right now for entertaining friends later.
By jill from Blue Bell, PA
I am a bread baker also...I have a warmer drawer on my stove, I put my bread dough in the bowl in the warmer drawer with the temperature set on Low; my dough rises in half the time it does sitting in a warm place on my counter. I also place my bread pans with the bread dough in them in the warmer drawer; I am able to bake the bread quicker than the conventional method of bread rising on the counter. It works for my bread baking methods.
I have a friend that puts her bread dough in her oven with the oven light on and the bread rises quicker using that method.
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When I am trying to get a yeast dough to rise, I place a heating pad on low underneath the pan of dough. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray and place a kitchen towel on top to keep the warmth inside.
Before putting in the dough, either set the pan in the sun, place it on range with oven on "warm" underneath, or run hot water over the pan until it is warm to the touch, then dry the pan.
A perfect place for dough to rise is in the oven. Its draft-free and a perfect temperature. Of course, the oven needs to be off!
While using your clothes dryer and making bread, pizza dough, etc., put the loaf pan on top of your dryer to help the bread rise!
So you have not updated to one of those slick, slim TVs yet, and you want to bake some bread? Believe it or not, if your TV is on, it make a nice warm spot for you dough to rise.
I needed a quick way to get my dough to rise and I thought why not use a heating pad? I plugged it in, turned it on and checked to make sure it was not too hot.
You can put dough on top of the TV to help it rise. If the TV has been on for a while it is an effective heat source.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Where do you put frozen bread at to rise? Last time, I cracked the oven door and sat the rising bread on the stove top with a big towel over it and it did its rising very well. The bad thing is when I moved it from the stove top to inside the oven, all of the bread fell, and cooked hard as a rock. So I was wondering where ya'll put your bread at to rise.
I turn on the light in my oven and put the covered bread inside, door closed, to rise for @ 1 hour.
When it has risen to just above the pan take it out of the oven, then turn the oven on to 350 and bake for 40 min. On really hot days, it can sit on your countertop to rise.
I raise mine on top of my sattelite receiver. tv itself works too.
I fill up my washing machine with hot water, put a bath towel on top of the closed cover and set my bread or buns on top of this. Then of course wash clothes with the saved water.
Usually when I am baking bread, I'm also doing laundry or cleaning house. I put mine on top of the dryer. Work great.
For quick rising, I heat the oven to 200 and boil a teakettle full of water. Once the water boils, I pour it into a cookie sheet placed on the second rack in the oven. Place your frozen bread in the pan you intend to cook it in and then turn the oven off.
I turn on the oven to warm (180 or so - electric) then shut it off while I prep it: oil pan, put dough in (barely thawed), oil plastic wrap on top THEN damp towel. I put it in the warm (off) oven, to save counter space. It holds the heat in for a long time, and the towel keeps it from drying out.
I have a gas range with a pilot light in the oven.
I put the bread in the oven and close the door ( no need to preheat) it will rise very well with the heat provided by the pilot light. I raise my homemade bread's first rise in the oven too. Before I had a gas range, the top of the refrigerator was used for rising bread.
I put mine on the top of the fridge and cover with a tea towel. It's so nice and warm up there and it always works
I put mine in my car and park in the sun! It always works.
If you are baking bread on a warm sunny day, use that heat to rise your dough. This is a page about how to let dough rise in warm sun.
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I've always wanted to make bread, but what is the best way to let the bread rise in a warm place? Do I pre-warm the oven or what?
