Where did this recipe go wrong?

Sunnyday

Can anyone take a look at this recipe please
http://www.food.com/recipe/best-low-carb-bread-bread-machine-102631?mode=metric&scaleto=1.0&st=null

I made it today in the breadmaker and i used the metric conversion thingy on the webpage, the loaf turned out like a small charred lump:rotfl:

I`m wondering if the recipe looks right or not. I used the millileter setting on my scales and weighed everything (i assumed this was how i did it) the result was also very sweet and i did wonder about weighing out over 29 ml of splenda at the time but thought that i should follow the recipe.

Sooo - have i made a huge mistake in measuring everything out this way or is the recipe a bit dodgy? Other peeps that have commented on the website say its turned out great.

Any help would be appreciated.

SD

katieowl_2

I don't get grammes so I switched to the US measurements, does two tablespoons of splenda sound better?

Still seems like a lot to me, I think there are two teaspoons of sugar in my normal loaf?

Also if it came out charred looking did you make the time adjustment for a 1lb loaf?

I have all the breadmachine expertise of a whole summer of use, so I may not be the worlds best expert on the subject!

Kate

Draagonfly

Can't really help with the "where it went wrong" bit...but it does seem very strange to me that the US/metric converter turns everything to ml, I would have expected to see grams for the soild ingredients & ml for the liquid.

I converted it back to the US quantities & the flour volume of only 1 cup in total doesn't seem very much for a loaf, must be a tiny loaf lol

The only thing I can really suggest is that you get yourself a set of cup measures (you can get them all over the place at quite a reasonable price) & try again using the US setting & see what happens.

Badrick

Try weighing 2 tablespoons of Splenda, I think it'll weigh a lot less.
Couldn't you measure the spoonfuls and use metric for cups?

beanrua

Had a look at the recipe link and was wondering if it is possible for you to contact one of the people who reviewed it. Lots of other great low carb recipes on that site as well. Hopw you get it sorted.

LondonDreamer

Did you use the flours specified? I don't think vital wheat anything is very common here, and substituting it could throw off the protein/gluten balance which is important for the rise in bread.

I think the real problem is the conversions. I wouldn't use the ML setting on your scales, as ingredients weigh different amounts by volume due to their density. As an example, a cup of water is 250g where a cup of flour is around 125g. I'm guessing the scales aren't clever enough to figure out density and are just returning the standard weight based on water density, which means you probably had twice as much flour as you should have. Pick up a set of measuring cups, they're pretty cheap (sure I've even seen them in supermarkets) and make life much easier for internet recipes.

But after all that, those quantities don't seem right at all to me compared to typical recipes. So it could be a dud anyway. :think:

Sunnyday

Draagonfly wrote: »

Can't really help with the "where it went wrong" bit...but it does seem very strange to me that the US/metric converter turns everything to ml, I would have expected to see grams for the soild ingredients & ml for the liquid.

I wondered about this too but thought that i would just follow it as the recipe had good reviews.

The only thing I can really suggest is that you get yourself a set of cup measures (you can get them all over the place at quite a reasonable price) & try again using the US setting & see what happens.

I`ve had a quick look on Amazon and they have quite a few. i`m assuming that they are all US measurements or am i wrong in this?

beanrua wrote: »

Had a look at the recipe link and was wondering if it is possible for you to contact one of the people who reviewed it. Lots of other great low carb recipes on that site as well. Hopw you get it sorted.

I tried to join yesterday to do just that but for some reason the page just kept refreshing, i may try again later.

LondonDreamer wrote: »

Did you use the flours specified? I don't think vital wheat anything is very common here, and substituting it could throw off the protein/gluten balance which is important for the rise in bread.

I did use the vital wheat gluten after finding a supplier not too far away and ordering it online.

I think the real problem is the conversions. I wouldn't use the ML setting on your scales, as ingredients weigh different amounts by volume due to their density. As an example, a cup of water is 250g where a cup of flour is around 125g. I'm guessing the scales aren't clever enough to figure out density and are just returning the standard weight based on water density, which means you probably had twice as much flour as you should have. Pick up a set of measuring cups, they're pretty cheap (sure I've even seen them in supermarkets) and make life much easier for internet recipes.

I`ve seen these in supermarkets and almost bought some a couple of weeks ago but i`m unsure if these are the ones to use for measuring things out for US measurements as they wern`t marked up as that. The label just said measuring cups and i didn`t want to buy the wrong item
But after all that, those quantities don't seem right at all to me compared to typical recipes. So it could be a dud anyway. :think:

Thanks for all your replies guys - very much appreciated. I`ll have a look at the cups again i think, can anyone recommend any that do US measurements or are they all the same and its just me looking for something that doesn`t exist?

SD

squeaky

Sunnyday wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies guys - very much appreciated. I`ll have a look at the cups again i think, can anyone recommend any that do US measurements or are they all the same and its just me looking for something that doesn`t exist?

SD

Cheap cup sets are available in the kitchen area of most large superstores these days for between £1 and £2.

An American cup is 240 mil

European cups are 250 mil


The difference is minimal and shouldn't affect any recipes, honest

Sunnyday

Ah thanks Squeaky - exactly what i needed to know :A

I think that i shall get them from the supermarket this weekend

SD

TrixieB

Poundland have funky plastic neon coloured cups and spoon sets in

lizzyb1812

The reason that the conversion to metric is shown all in mls is that the USA measures things by volume and not by weight for cooking - ie teaspoons/tablespoons/cups. If you already have spoon measures these will be 5ml = teaspoon, 15ml = tablespoon. Quarter cup = 4 tablespoons = 60ml, half cup = 8 tablespoons, 1 cup = 16 tablespoons. All measures are level not heaped. Don't try to mix volume measures and weight measures.

Scales that weigh mls generally use a conversion rate of 1ml = 1gm. If you weighed 29mls Splenda it would be about 29gms = more than 1/3 of a jar! One tablespoon of Mr T's version of Splenda would weigh 1.5gms, so 2 would be 3gms - unfortunately weighing instead of measuring has meant you have used ten times the amount of sweetener required.

Best to get spoon and cup measures and ignore these conversions.

Lesson over - sorry if that was TMI