How warm must dough be in order to rise?

Question

While making some focaccia this afternoon, my wife said, "sure the house is 'warm'; it'll be fine." One hour later, no rising. It may be worth noting that our house is 66F. So we stuck it in a warm oven and it rose just fine. It turned out fine, I'm just glad we weren't trying to get it done for a meal.

So the question is, how warm does dough need to be to rise properly?

Answer

Optimal yeast growth happens at around 37 degrees Celsius, but dough will rise at any room temperature. As the temp rises, the yeast becomes more active, which is why you'll sometimes see recipes call over overnight rests in the fridge, where activity slows or stops. Yeast dies at anything above 50 C.

The important thing is to know the temperature and, if you're really particular, the humidity in the air around your proof. But, this information is used for the sake of timing consistency more than anything else.

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