What does 50 degrees Celsius water feel like

There are certain times in life we are told to use a liquid that is lukewarm, mainly when we are bathing or feeding a baby, and when we are baking with yeast. For those of us who are not experts at either, this direction can be stressful—how warm is lukewarm? What will happen if it is too hot? Or too cool? We know (and don't want to think about) what will happen if the liquid is too hot to bathe or feed the baby, but what about when using yeast in a recipe? Before we get into those details, it is important to understand what lukewarm really means.

The word lukewarm comes from the Middle English word "lukewarme," the "luke" being a derivative of the word "lew" meaning tepid, which means only slightly warm. Lukewarm is a way to determine the temperature of a liquid, but, interestingly enough, there really isn't a scientifically established degree when water becomes lukewarm. 

Depending on the source, you will find differing opinions on what temperature range constitutes lukewarm water. Some references say it is between 100 and 110 F (36.5 to 40.5 C). But others report lukewarm water falls between 98 and 105 F. However, there are schools of thought that lukewarm means room temperature (72 to 74 F), and others believe it means body temperature (98.6 F), while one definition is adding 15 degrees to room temperature water.

If you feel comfortable choosing one of these temperature ranges, use a thermometer to determine when the liquid is lukewarm. However, if you don't have a thermometer handy, or would simply like to do it by "feel," there is an easy way to discern the right temperature. Run the water over your wrist and if it feels warmer than your body temperature, but not hot, that should be just about right. Just be sure to run the water for a bit and maintain that temperature, and that it's not getting hotter.

When making recipes that include​ yeast, you need to add a lukewarm liquid (usually water or milk) to activate the yeast. It is important that you get the temperature right since cold water won't get that yeast going, and hot water will kill it. Yeast is a leavening agent—what makes the bread rise—so it needs to be alive before the dough is put in the oven (where the yeast dies due to the high temperature). An active yeast converts the sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide, which causes the dough to rise and create bubbles after the dough has risen. And lukewarm water activates the yeast.

If you are not using a thermometer, run the water until it feels comfortably warm and no longer cold, making sure the temperature is consistent. If you are uncertain, it is better that the water be cooler rather than warmer because hot water can kill the yeast. 

Depending on whether you are using active dry yeast or instant yeast, you will handle the yeast activation differently. Active yeast needs to be initiated by mixing it with lukewarm water. Red Star Active Dry Yeast recommends hydrating the yeast in a liquid that is between 110 F and 115 F when using for regular baking recipes, and if using in a bread machine the liquid temperature should be 80 F. 

Instant yeast, also called fast-acting, rapid-rise, and fast-rising, does not require any mixing with lukewarm water; instead, the dry yeast is added directly to the dry ingredients in the recipe. However, if you would like to give the yeast a "good start," you can add it to 1/2 cup of lukewarm water that has been mixed with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir until dissolved and then let it sit until the mixture begins to foam vigorously, which should take between 5 and 10 minutes. An important thing to note, however, is that if you choose to use lukewarm water with instant yeast, you need to decrease the total liquid in the recipe by 1/2 cup to account for the water you added with the yeast.

Im going on holiday this summer with my family and i am sure that temperatures will be up to 50 degrees. Has anyone else experienced that high temperatures?

Trust me its bad.. When you get of the plane you'll see how hot it is. Its like being in an oven. Sometimes its very hard to go out and about because after 5 mins you will be sweating like mad.

As long as the humidity is relatively low...you'll cope alright, but once the humidity is high, your sweating will do nowt to cool you down and its harder to cope!

I've been in 45 degree heat in Egypt, where there's low humidity, and it was still horrible to walk around in. You need to drink constantly and whatever you do don't wear denim!! Saying that I was on a sightseeing holiday, if you're relaxing all the time you won't get as tired, and should acclimatise more quickly.

I've been in 45 degree heats in Death Valley. Not nice, and, to top it all off, my Dad managed to pop the hire car's tyre so we had to change that in the heat - the tyre literally melted to my hand!

If you're out in that sort of heat for more than 15 mins or so, you start feeling very ill. After 15 mins of changing a tyre, I had to drink 4 litres of Gatorade. Imagine walking out of your air-conditioned car and into a hairdryer - that's what it's like!

i've been in 47c. this was in portugal the same day their 'hottest day ever' record was smashed. that whole week was hot, 45-50, it was insane.

a 'hairdryer' is a good comparison, but it's worse, more like a fan oven.

When I lived abroad school was closed if the temperature reached 50 or above, which was pretty much certain to happen in the summer months. Since it's expected to get that hot, everything in the country is designed to cope with it. AC everywhere and nothing open around midday when the locals avoid the heat and have a nap. Also, less is not better when it comes to clothing. Light, airy, all over coverings are best (think Arabs).

As a fair-skinned red-head I coped just fine, but I did develop a passionate hate for humidity!

(Original post by Batman)
Im going on holiday this summer with my family and i am sure that temperatures will be up to 50 degrees. Has anyone else experienced that high temperatures?

(Original post by erk) i've been in 47c. this was in portugal the same day their 'hottest day ever' record was smashed. that whole week was hot, 45-50, it was insane.

a 'hairdryer' is a good comparison, but it's worse, more like a fan oven.

actually to be honest its Okay but you get sweaty very quickly and tired soonafter

It's lovely

45 degrees in Nevada was bad enough. I didn't really go out much...

40-45 in cuba was pretty bad, especially when we walked about a mile at midday. Makes getting irratable very easy.

Also if you go to the beach bring decent sandals, the sand literally burns your feet..

(Original post by LibertineNorth)
45 degrees in Nevada was bad enough. I didn't really go out much...

Have fun!

I was on a camping holiday in france. It was in the mountains and temps hit 40c thing is it was humid and well, we were in tents so there was little escape. No wind whatsoever because of the deep valley. You do acclimatise to it, its like a hair dryer in the win. Breathing becomes hard work because the air feels hot when you breath it in. Stay out the sun, wear sensible clothes, don't move much. Drink lots of water.

Go in swimming pools too, thats the best help. Or a cold shower.

It's not too bad, but if you aren't used to it then keep cool as much as possible. Cooling spray and lots of water to avoid dehydration. Stay out of the sun in the afternoon if you can.

I grew up in the middle east so was always used to these sorts of temps where we would walk around on the hot ground barefoot.

It's nicer than -50. Until you're at 50, and then you'd kill for the -50! ;-)

Haven't experienced more than 40, and that was 5-10 more than is 'nice.

(Original post by erk) i've been in 47c. this was in portugal the same day their 'hottest day ever' record was smashed. that whole week was hot, 45-50, it was insane.

a 'hairdryer' is a good comparison, but it's worse, more like a fan oven.

Well the hottest recorded temperature on Earth is apparently 56.7C. So 50C is pretty hot, if its humid expect to not be able to do very much at all, certainly at midday. If its not humid then you might manage some walks, but don't expect to be running around or anything.

You will find that, much as in extreme cold your body reacts in certain ways to keep a core body temprature, in extreme heat different body processes you wouldn't normally experience occur.