Maybe you could just let it rise even longer? Does it say how much it should rise? Double? I would try starting it earlier in the day, let it rise during the day and all night, then let it keep raising the next day until it is sufficiently risen. I don't know if a crock would work, it could over heat the dough. I also don't like to leave one on all night unattended. This type of slow rise was so much easier when stoves had pilot lights.

Even at warm most slow cookers are too hot and it would probably result in either an over rise or dead yeast.

Your best bet is to set the bowl (glass or heavy ceramic) on a heating pad on low.

In the oven with the light on might work, too.

Thanks everyone. I tried it with the light on in the oven but I don't know if that helped or not. It did not do as well as it did last summer. I will try the heating pad method. I also was afraid it might cook the dough even on warm in the slow cooker.
Clare

I've read that a cooler chest can work quite well also. Set some support structure in the bottom of the cooler to raise your bowl of dough up from the bottom. Pour a cup of hot water in the chest, then set the dough in place and close the lid.

I sometimes use a heating pad, but I've been suprised to find that I need to turn mine to medium. I wouldn't start on medium, for sure!

I have made both pizza dough and Ukranian Easter Bread dough at night, and let them rise in a large, plastic-wrap and towel covered bowl in the fridge overnight.

I'd read somewhere years ago (in one of the Silver Palate cookbooks?), that a "slow, leisurely rise" makes for good flavor/texture. For the Easter bread, I just take the dough out of the fridge as soon as I get up, punch it down, divide it, and let it come to room temp (doesn't take too long). Then, I shape it and decorate it in the pans in which it will bake, and let the shaped dough rise again at room temp.

Another suggestion, is preheat your oven to a very low temp. Turn off the oven, and then put your covered bowl of dough in the turned-off oven, and close the oven door. The oven should retain enough warmth initially, and since it's insulated, might at least remain warmer than the kitchen itself overnight.

Hi, Clare. I think that the slow cooker would be too hot and kill your yeast. But I live in a very cold house, too, and when I bake bread in the winter, I have a solution. I use a cooler with a clamp-on lamp in the bottom of it. I turn the light on, vent the lid, and TA-DAH, instant home proof box! Works like a charm. I have some sourdough starter refreshing in there as I type (it's 3 below outside tonight, and the house is extra-chilly!). I will add a link to my blog below that has pictures and a better description.

Good luck--Gina (http://lindseysluscious.blogspot.com)

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade Proof Box

Another variation of the cooler trick: put a large jug of hot tap water in the chest (leave it in the jug, don't pour it into the bottom) then put your dough in the other end of the chest, and close up the chest. It'll keep the interior fairly steady and warm for several hours without worrying about any electric device overheating the dough.

Another trick for shorter proof times: put a 2 cup pyrex measure filled with hot water in the microwave, nuke it till it's boiling, turn off the microwave, then put the dough in the microwave (of course, do NOT nuke it then)--that makes a nice warm moist environment.

The temperature in our house drops to about 65 at night, so I worried about the same thing when I first made the no-knead bread. I put my dough in the oven with the light on, then just before I went to bed, I put in a pan of hot water (and turned the light off). When I got up the next morning, I turned the light back on until I was ready for the next step. It appeared to work okay as the bread was very tasty and the texture was just what I wanted.

valorie

Gina, I checked your blog from a link over at Harvest, LOL, I do get around.

I agree that the crockpot will be too hot to proof the bread, but I really like the cooler/light proofing box. I use a cooler with hot water to make yogurt and it works like a charm, gotta love those plastic coolers!

I love the Peach Preserves for a Cold Morning, (yes, I found that on your blog too) I got the recipe from Doris here at CF a couple of years ago and it's one of my favorites. Where she got it, I don't know, but it's really good, isn't it?

Now I've just GOT to make some bread. Would you please share your recipe for that sweet potato brioche?

Annie

My house is 60 degrees all winter and I never have trouble raising bread on the kitchen counter. However, I don't make the no-knead variety. I just let my recipes rise a little longer than normal and they turn out very nicely.

Thanks everyone again for the suggestions. I will have to check out your blog Gina. The cooler with clamp on light sounds interesting. With temperatures at night dropping into the high 20's here, the house gets down to 58/60. Too cold for me (who now sleeps with all the covers and a flannel nightgown) and I am sure for the bread.
Clare

Clare,

Generally a long cool rise makes for a better flavor for your bread. The first NK bread I made called for an 18 hour rising period. The new version from Cook's Illustrated calls for the bread to be made the day you mix the dough. Personally, I think this is too short of a rising time and the bread lacks flavor.

My NK bread usually rises for at least 24 hours if not more.

From Wikipedia:

"A dough retarder is a refrigerator used to control the fermentation of yeast when proofing dough. Lowering the temperature of the dough produces a slower, longer rise with more varied fermentation products, resulting in more complex flavors. In particular, cold reduces the activity of the yeast relative to the lactobacilli, which produce flavoring products such as lactic acid and acetic acid."

Linked below is a Washington Post article.

Michelle

Here is a link that might be useful: Slow Rise and Shine

Michelle - Thanks for the article. I will check it out.

I have done refrigerator rising in the past, but I don't think it would work with the very little yeast (1/4 tsp) in the NK bread. And it didn't work with the very cold house temps the last time I tried to make it. The bread rose very little and remained very dense. I had constant success in the summer and fall when it was warmer, so I know it is not the recipe or my way of doing it.
Clare

Annie? THE Annie? Salsa Annie?? Wow! It's like meeting the queen...or Madonna! ;-) I am happy to share the sweet potato brioche recipe (from Sherry Yard's incredible book, _Baking by the Yard_), but before I do, I just want to tell you that I made your wonderful salsa for the first time this season, and it is just fabulous! I ended up doing four batches, I believe, around 28 or 30 pints? That oughta hold me for awhile--tee hee. And then I also made your grandma's apple butter, the one you do in the oven. I did mine on the stovetop (and had the forearm burns to show for it!), but it was just delicious. I swapped out half of the granulated sugar for brown, and it gave it a deep, caramel flavor that was out of this world! Anyway, thanks so much for sharing your recipes with us. Here's the one you asked for, and though it's a bit involved, it does make the most divine loaves that are particularly amazing for toast (with homemade jam, of course!). Enjoy!

Pumpkin* Brioche
(from Sherry Yards The Secrets of Baking)
*can be made with winter squashes, sweet potatoes, yams, or carrots

Yield: three pounds (three large loaves) of dough

Sponge:
3/4 cup whole milk at room temp.
3/4 oz. fresh yeast (or 2 1/2 t. active dry yeast)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour (bread or AP)

Combine milk and yeast in a mixer bowl with the paddle attached until yeast is dissolved. Let mixture stand for five minutes, then stir in the puree, sugar and flour to form a thick batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place for 30-45 minutes or until bubbles form.

Dough:
5 cups flour (bread or AP)
2 t. salt
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1. Add flour and salt to the sponge, then add the eggs. Mix on low for two minutes or until eggs are fully absorbed. Increase to medium and knead for five minutes (the dough will begin to slap aroundÂhold the bowl in place if necessary). Gina's note: I had to switch to a dough hook for this!
2. On medium-low speed, add butter, two tablespoons at a time. Stop the mixer and scrape it down occasionally. Knead until dough is shiny and smooth, about five minutes. Scrape out the dough, wash and dry the mixer bowl, and then coat it lightly with oil.
3. Place dough in the bowl and turn to coat in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about two hours.
4. Press down to deflate, folding one half of the dough over the other. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight. (This is the second rise.)
5. Spray three 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
6. Remove dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into thirds (covering two of the pieces while working with the third). Dust the top of the loaf lightly with flour. Roll into a rectangle equal to the length of the pan and double the width. Starting from the short side, roll up like a jelly roll and pinch the seam closed. Place seam side down in the pan and work gently with fingers until dough touches all sides of the pan (it should fill it halfway). Repeat with the other two loaves.
7. Cover with plastic wrap coated with nonstick spray and let rise at room temperature until doubled and pans are completely filled, about 1 1/2- 2 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 400F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Brush loaves with an egg wash of one egg plus one yolk, lightly beaten.

Baking:
1. Bake for ten minutes, then turn the oven down to 350F and bake for 30 minutes or more (until they have a dark, golden crust and an internal temperature of 180 degrees and make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom).
2. Remove from pans immediately and cool before serving.

*For rolls, make 2 oz. (golf ball-sized) pieces, and roll into smooth, tight balls. Proof in a pan with sprayed, paper-lined cups. Egg wash the rolls and then cut a cross on top with scissors. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.