I made my first loaf of bread tonight.......

**purpleprincess**

And it was pants!!:p

Before I made it I looked through the indexed thread like a good ol' style chick!! And made lots of notes. This was the first time I used my new breadmaker too.

Now what did I do wrong?????

600 grams of brown flour
1 teaspoon of yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
about 370 ml of water



please help!!! *she wails* I really want to make my own bread!!! Smelt so lovely when I just got in from work too!!!

It was really heavy (could probably knock someone out if I threw it at them!:p )

Can't really describe it really!! Not good though!

Many thanks in advance!! xx

Kazonline

Doh! Or should that be Dough!? lol.
Sorry to hear that your first hasn't been a success - guess that means that the only way is up now? (sorry, pun not intended - tis getting late)
Did you use STRONG wholemeal flour?

apparently the Stong varieties have more protein which is necessary for the gluten, which in turn is necessary for the 'rise'
In short - you need Strong flour, and with wholemeal I put crushed up vit C tabs in it as this apparently helps....
FIngers crossed for next time,
Kaz x

Queenie

Did you put your ingredients into the machine in the order stated in your instruction manual? And the right setting for the loaf you wanted to make?

Is that the recipe from your instruction book? With a new machine, it's always wise to use their recipes first before progressing on and using a recipe from elsewhere.

I used 2 Gary Rhodes bread mixes in my BM in recent weeks but cooked them on 2 different settings. Following the manufacturer's instructions, used the quick bake setting and even the though the loaf was lovely, it didnt' rise much and was on the dense side. Second pack I chose to use a longer setting and it came out light, rose beautifully and lasted a weeny bit longer :laugh:

Don't lose heart, just keep trying - even the temperature of your kitchen can make a difference to the success of BM loaves.

**purpleprincess**

Thanks girls!! I'm not sure really!! I think I'll go with what the book says first and go from there perhaps. I am determined to have home made bread!!!

Queenie

**purpleprincess** wrote:

Thanks girls!! I'm not sure really!! I think I'll go with what the book says first and go from there perhaps. I am determined to have home made bread!!!

Always a wise first step

Honestly, once you become familiar with your machine and it's own quirks, you'll soon be adapting other recipes and have homemade bread, doughnuts, danish pastries, pizza's, rolls and Chelsea Buns to die for

All the best

Aril

We usually make our bread with dried skimmed milk powder [as per the machine's book] but OH experimented by leaving it out altogether just to see what happened. It didn't rise properly and wasn't nearly as nice so maybe that would help
Aril

exlibris

I still, after 12 months, have patchy success with my breadmaker. It is alway edible but not always light. I made 2 seperate loaves last week (when it was hot) and it was wonderfully light. Yesterday the bread was much heavier. I have got a lot of tips from here as I make brown bread (1 brown cup to 2 white works best)

Does anyone think that making a loaf on baking day with the bread maker near the cooker would work?

dhug

If you are using the timer on your machine to have hot bread ready when you walk through the door make sure the salt is no where near the yeast as it can make it less effective giving a heavy loaf. I used to always use skimmed milk powder and water but now I just use semi skimmed milk instead of water and dont bother with milk powder and the loaf is much lighter, another thing I do quite a lot is if I am making white bread put a teaspoon of olive oil in the mix

Floss

I always put the water in first, follwed by oil, salt sugar & milk pwder, then flour and yeast on top so it stays dry as long as possible.

I often use the timer, and there is nothing nicer than coming home to the smell of fresh bread!

exlibris

Thannks dhug.

I don't use the timer and try to put the salt at the opposite end if the tin from the yeast. However, I sometimes get lop-sided loaves lol.
I do use olive oil in the brown mixes as oh doesn't like the taste in white bread. Do you use it instead of ordinary oil or as well as?

I use dried milk but as it is nearly empty I will try semi-skimmed as we have it for normal use. Do you warm it first?

My instructions are water, skimmed milk, sugar, salt, oil, flour, yeast. I have found that I can reduce salt, sugar and oil a fraction but where the book says 1and an eighth cup of water I use 1 and a half. This has worked so I don't this this is the problem.

dhug

I just take the chill off it in the microwave then use it the olive oil is instead of ordinary I havent tried it in brown bread but will have a go when I make tomorrows loaf (yes I have to make a loaf nearly every day sometimes it is half gone before it is cool )