Bread making help please

michelefauk

I have recently begun using a bread maker, and started off by using the bread mix packets from Asda with fantastic results. Trying to be a bit more frugal, I decided to give it a go using my own ingredients following the recipes in the instruction manual, what a disaster! Tried 3 different recipes and settings, the first one turned out like cake and was tasteless, the second one turned out so tiny I could only get 3 slices out of it and the 3rd one I have just made this morning was rock hard on the outside and like cake inside and has gone out for the birds!

Really don't want to waste any more flour etc by messing it up again, so what am I doing wrong?

The recipe today was 270 ml warm water, 2 tablespoons butter, 450g bread flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons dried milk ( have tried it with and without the dried milk ) half teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons fast rising yeast. I used the fast programme today which took an hour and 50 minutes, previous programmes have been about 3 hours.

Is there a secret to making the perfect loaf? Am reluctant to try again as I really don't want to waste any more money :-(

busybee87

Hi Michele,

I've always found the following recipe is fail safe in my bread maker. None of the bread maker's recipes worked for me either!

Ingredients
500g strong white flour , plus extra for dusting
1 1/2 tsp salt
7g fast-action yeast
3 tbsp olive oil
300ml water

You can also use half wholemeal flour and I subsitute the olive oil for 25g butter if I don't have any oil

good_advice

Good morning Michele
I have had x2 breadmakers and got rid of both. The home made bread is more solid and cake like and I found by the next day you could play football with the loaf.
It is nothing like shop bought bread.

D&DD

Are you using Asda yeast ? Reason I ask is my mum recently had problems with her new kenwood breadmaker tried allsorts of different things and I told her to try a different box of yeast which she did and she's had no problems since..She has had problems before with their yeast.
Hope you get it sorted

Gigervamp

I don't know about breadmaker recipes as I make bread by hand, but 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3 teaspoons of yeast seems excessive. I only use 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of dried yeast for 500g flour.

peachyprice

Are you definitley using the right yeast, fast-acting/easybake not dried active?

I had a problem with Asda flour, don't know if you're using that?

Are you measuring the ingredients accuratley and putting them in the exact order they state?

Not implying you wouldn't do or know any of the above, just giving you ideas to try

Swan_2

Hi Michele
is your yeast ok & working?

What make & model is your breadmaker? There will likely be someone here who has experience of it & can offer some tips.

That said, some machines will never make good bread & will only produce 'cake'

michelefauk

Hi, thank you for all the replies. It is a Mellerware 84300 make.
The flour is Asda Strong white bread flour and the yeast is Allinson Easy Bake Yeast fast action yeast for bread makers and hand baking.
I put the ingredients in the order the manual says, so don't know what else to try, other than a different flour and the recipe from Busybee! Or go back to using the packet mix!

Finefoot

The yeast sounds like a lot, but do you have the water at the right temperature? Is it the right sort of yeast for a breadmaker? Does your loaf double at the end of the proving stage?
You could check if your yeast is still 'alive' by sprinkling some with a tiny bit of sugar into some arm water. It should go frothy after 10 mins. If it hasn't, get a new pack of yeast.

michelefauk

I only bought the yeast last week so hoping it isn't off! Will try some more though, just in case.
After proving, the dough was right up to the top of the pan, it was just about touching the glass window of the bread maker, but when it started cooking it all went wrong.
The water was out of the kettle, recently boiled (the recipe said 85 degrees so not sure if this was accurate enough)

Kevie192

That's probably your problem... Water that's too hot will kill the yeast. You just want it to be lukewarm, that's all. My suspicion is that the recipe is talking Fahrenheit which would make it about 30 deg Celsius.

HTH

Kevin