Don’t you just hate it when you prepare bread dough or pizza and it just doesn’t rise? It’s such a waste of perfectly good ingredients when all that was at fault was old yeast. That’s why I like to test my yeast before I add it to the rest of the dough.
Blooming is the process of proofing active dry yeast before it can be used in a recipe. It’s a great way to check if your yeast is still alive and kickin’! You don’t need to do this with instant or fresh yeast.
So how do I do this and how long does it take? Short answer: 3 easy steps that take 5–10 minutes tops. Sound good, eh?!
Step 1: Heat up some water
Heat water to roughly 105–110ºF (40–43ºC). I use a digital kitchen thermometer to get this right (I know, I faaaancy!), but if you don’t have one you can do it by touch. Make sure the water is lukewarm but not by any means scorching, steaming or boiling. I would err on the side of a slightly cooler liquid than hot. If your water is cooler than 105F it might just take longer to activate the yeast. But if it’s too hot, the yeast will die and not bloom.
Step 2: Add the yeast and sugar
To 300 ml of the warm water, add 1½ tsp of active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar (this is optional). Stir to dissolve and leave to rest.
Step 3: Check-in
In about 5 minutes or so, your yeast will start to “bloom”. What does that mean? Froth will start to form on the surface of the water.
If the mixture does not foam (even after 10 minutes), the yeast is likely dead and should be discarded.
And that’s it! Easy peasy!
