# Naan dough trouble



## joaquindumile (Jul 10, 2013)

I'm trying to make naan but my dough does not come out correct.

I followed this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/naan/

After i kneaded the dough and let it rise for 1.5 hours, it came out like this:





  








soNohDi.jpg




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joaquindumile


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Jul 11, 2013








What am I doing wrong?


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

What temperature was your warm water? It is hard to tell but it looks like your yeast didn't correctly activate. I like to heat liquid to 110* F before adding yeast.


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## joaquindumile (Jul 10, 2013)

cheflayne said:


> What temperature was your warm water? It is hard to tell but it looks like your yeast didn't correctly activate. I like to heat liquid to 110* F before adding yeast.


I didn't know the exact temperature but it was more hot than warm. I think I might have mixed in the flour and other ingredients a bit too early.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

If the water temperature was 120* F or higher, the yeast was probably killed. It is best to let the yeast sit in the warm liquid for about 5 minutes or so, but adding the flour and remaining ingredients too quickly really shouldn't have affected the dough all that much.


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## joaquindumile (Jul 10, 2013)

cheflayne said:


> If the water temperature was 120* F or higher, the yeast was probably killed. It is best to let the yeast sit in the warm liquid for about 5 minutes or so, but adding the flour and remaining ingredients too quickly really shouldn't have affected the dough all that much.


Oh ok, and when i add the yeast to the water, should i stir it all or just let it sit?


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I usually whisk the water pretty vigorously and then sprinkle the yeast on the top. Then I let it sit and about halfway through the rest period, I stir it again making sure to whisk the bottom of the container to get any yeast that settles there.


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## stuartscholes (Jun 17, 2013)

Just to add to this, if your water is too cold, all that will happen is it will take longer to activate, grow and rise. Too hot and it'll kill the yeast. The easiest way to measure the temperature is to stick your (clean) finger in the liquid. If it feels cold then it's too cold. If it feels hot then it's almost definitely too hot. If you barely know your finger is in there then it is about right - the body's natural temperature is maintained at around 37 deg C, which is close to what you want your yeast liquid to be.

I can't tell, because I don't know about cup sizes etc (I use grams) and I don't have time to check out now, but that recipe looks VERY dry. I've found in baking bread that dough of lower than 50-60% hydration (100% hydration = 100g flour to 100g water,  50% hydration = 100g flour to 50g water) is very hard to work with as it's so dry. It looks to me like your dough is in that category.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

StuartScholes said:


> I can't tell, because I don't know about cup sizes etc (I use grams) and I don't have time to check out now, but that recipe looks VERY dry. I've found in baking bread that dough of lower than 50-60% hydration (100% hydration = 100g flour to 100g water, 50% hydration = 100g flour to 50g water) is very hard to work with as it's so dry. It looks to me like your dough is in that category.


Even though you weren't asking for an opinion on the recipe, I agree with StuartScholes's assessment about the hydration. Although I will admit that on the website the recipe had a ton of highly rated reviews.

A couple of weeks ago at work we made naan for a wedding party. Our liquid amount was about twice what your recipe calls for. Naan is usually a really soft dough that will leave an indentation when you press it with a finger. It also has a tendency to be somewhat wet and sticky.

If you try it again, let us know how it turns out because i am curious.


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