Newbie ? Part II - now i'm REALLY confused
I tried to go at it again tonight using the temperature info y'all gave me last night. I was making some Challa bread, and it didn't even rise at all! It's like there was no yeast in there at all!! This is the second night in a row like this.....
I was so frustrated, so I proofed the Instant Yeast and a packet of Active Dry Yeast that was in the cabinet to see how it would compare. I proofed them in warm water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of yeast. Suprisingly, they both rose just fine!!
That means the instant yeast was working just fine, so how the hell did it not work in the CHalla bread I was making?
Ingredients used for the Challa:
Water - 3/4 cup + a little added until the consistancy was right
Yeast - 3/4 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 Tablespoon
Eggs - 2 large
Flour - 4 1/4 cups
Steps used:
1. Combined all ingredients except eggs and flour.
2. Stir together
3. Add eggs and whisk
4. Slowly add flour
5. Knead
6. Put dough ball in greased bowl and cover. Let rise until puffy (almost doubled).
7. Punch down, cover, and let rise for 1/2 hour.
8. Cut into thirds, braid, egg wash, and let rise for 30 minutes.
9. Bake 375 for 30-40 minutes.
Obviously, I never got past Step 6 because the dang thing never rose! I used the Rule of 240 as taught last night for the water and dough temperatures.
I am so confused. How could this possibly be so unpredictable and difficult?
I don't want to quit this early in the game, but I have no way to narrow down any of the variables because I don't know which ones are correct and which are incorrect.
Any help would be appreciated........sigh.