The best test for this state is to poke a finger or two about one-half inch into the dough. Deflate the dough in order to more easily redistribute the yeast or to shape the dough. Bread dough doesn't really require violence but, hey, if that's what you personally need at the moment, go for it. Some authorities say that you should be ever so gentle and just ease the dough from the bowl. A second or third kneading to get more rising power out the yeast and create a finer textured bread.
Yeast is a microscopic organism.
It doesn't grow much in the sense of enlarging its size, but it multiplies like crazy under proper conditions. Sounds hollow when tapped The test for doneness after baking. Relax, you'll know. Insert a thermometer and look for an internal temperature of 200F. Hearth Breads Breads that are baked without pans directly on the floor of the wood fired oven. In our kitchens that usually means putting the loaf on preheated tiles on an oven rack in the lowest third of the oven.