Heavy bread

homerdog

Can anybody help me please? Why is my bread heavy and dense in texture?

good_advice

I take it you have a bread machine?

I have had 2 bread machines, I thought the texture was more cake like for a plain white loaf. Good to eat the same day but by tomorrow could play football with the loaf.
I got rid of both and now just buy the ready made.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

yeast needs time to bloom ie act.
Today when I used my breadmachine to mechanise the dough making process I bloomed the yeast first, by making a mixture of milk and golden syrup in microwave, cooling it sufficiently adding a wee bit of water and by throwing prescribed amount of yeast into the mixture.
I waited 15 mins for it to bloom which is unmistakable as you always see how it has been activated.
I then put prescribed salt mixed it into recipes flour four cups, then dumped it in breadmachine liquid first.
The machine took an hour to make the dough proving it kneading it.
I put ready dough in oven and now have another milk loaf to enjoy as I had run out of bread.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Correct proportions are critical to successful breadmaking as well as cultivating a 'feel' for what is an successful process.
For me all I have to do is successfully bloom the yeast meaning once done so the rest is a doddle.

meritaten

I had a breadmaker given me - and the results were like housebricks! not to mention that getting that blade out of the bottom of the loaf was a challenge!
I can make a decent loaf the 'traditional' way. just takes a bit of patience and some muscle power. and to be honest - the results are better.

marmitepotato

I had a bread maker which I used on and off for a year. What I can't understand was why the recipe called for milk powder to keep the loaf fresh, because after one day the bread was like a brick and totally indelible. I now make my bread using my Kenwood, I don't used milk powder in the recipe and the resulting loaf lasts about three days...

Anyway, I digress! OP, are you kneading it for long enough? Are you proving it for long enough? I don't bloom my yeast as stated above, I just use dried yeast. Its all trial and error, it took me a few attempts to get it right and I also had to come on here and ask for advice. The advice I got was very good.

joedenise

I think you need to remember that homemade bread is never going to be anything like the bread you buy in the shops. It is a completely different texture and can take a bit of getting used to.

I think the kneading and proving isn't always long enough in a bread machine and you would probably be better off using a mixer with dough hooks or kneading by hand, but that takes a lot of muscle power to do for long enough!

Denise

Swan_2

the OP's not given much information, we could speculate endlessly, but some basic questions first

if a bread machine's being used ...

it could be something as simple as the machine itself, some makes/models just don't make good bread & will always turn out 'housebricks' and/or 'cake' & nothing you can do will improve their performance

you must follow the instructions to the letter, weigh/measure ingredients exactly & put them into the machine in the order specified for your model


if handmaking ...

what recipe are you using?

is your dough moist enough? a stiff dough will be hard to knead properly & won't rise well

is it warm enough? are you letting the dough rise/prove enough before baking? it's possible to cold rise dough, but it needs extra time


& for both ...

what flour are you using?

is your yeast active? just test a little, once established, no need to test every time & if it is active store it well sealed in the fridge to keep it viable longer


come back & tell us more OP

FairyPrincessk

If you're not making it in a machine, then here are some things to try:

-extend your rise time, or provide a warmer place for your bread to rise. My house is quite cold, so i warm the oven (about 5 minutes at 50) and then pop my bread in there (after the oven is off) it still takes around 2 hours for my first rise.
-try kneading less
-try kneading more--this may seem counter intuitive and probably isn't the problem, which is why I suggest it last.

I too, put my yeast out, although I do it in the water for my recipe (one part boiling to two parts cold makes it about the right temperature, but test it first) and a teaspoon of sugar. I like to leave mine to sit for a bit, sometimes several hours as it helps to develop a different flavour.

homerdog

good_advice wrote: »

I take it you have a bread machine?

I have had 2 bread machines, I thought the texture was more cake like for a plain white loaf. Good to eat the same day but by tomorrow could play football with the loaf.
I got rid of both and now just buy the ready made.

Hi, no, no bread machine, we have just been using the kitchen aid and dough hook, perhaps we're not kneading long enough??

homerdog

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver wrote: »

yeast needs time to bloom ie act.
Today when I used my breadmachine to mechanise the dough making process I bloomed the yeast first, by making a mixture of milk and golden syrup in microwave, cooling it sufficiently adding a wee bit of water and by throwing prescribed amount of yeast into the mixture.
I waited 15 mins for it to bloom which is unmistakable as you always see how it has been activated.
I then put prescribed salt mixed it into recipes flour four cups, then dumped it in breadmachine liquid first.
The machine took an hour to make the dough proving it kneading it.
I put ready dough in oven and now have another milk loaf to enjoy as I had run out of bread.

We weigh everything really carefully, using yeast sachets, the easy mix ones, have tried fresh yeast too and it ended up the same.