When it comes to baking bread from scratch; using healthy, active yeast is a must. Without it, your bread will not rise. But how do we tell if our yeast is healthy and ready for baking? Well, I am going to teach you.

But what is blooming yeast?

Well when you use yeast in a recipe, oftentimes you first need to activate it. This means adding it to warm water or milk (whichever your recipe calls for) to activate the yeast and make your bread rise. If you do not bloom it, it will not produce good bread and you will end up throwing your loaf away. Don’t waste the flour and always start with happy, healthy yeast!

Here are a few steps for successfully activating your yeast.

Warm Water/Milk

One of the important steps to baking bread is starting with warm water. Yeast loves a warm, wet environment to grow and flourish. You do not want to start with cold water or even a cold bowl. On the contrary, hot water will kill your culture. I have found testing it on the wrist like a baby’s bottle is the perfect temperature. This is usually around 110°F.

Sweetener

To give your yeast a little extra boost, add your sugar or honey when you are blooming your yeast. This gives it some food to get things active quicker.

Bubbles

One way to tell if things are active and working is foamy bubbles. If your water does not show signs of bubbles, dump it out and start over. If you continue, you are only going to waste your flour and time because your bread won’t rise. It will be very dense. Try the yeast again and if it still does not active correctly, I would buy new yeast.

Some important housekeeping to remember, store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. I buy my yeast in bulk and keep it in the freezer with a small jar in the fridge. You add it straight from the fridge into your water to activate it, no need to let it come to room temperature.