Quick questions on bread making

dawnylou

I made my own buns, but just like my bread they were stodgy.
More like scones than buns!!
Why is this???

butterfly72

Quick question, can I use fresh milk in my bread maker rather than milk powder as I don't have any powder in stock? (out of bread and need some for the morning!) And if I can, should I set the machine going straight away or can I let it sit for a few hours ie. using the timer?

many thanks

Pink.

Hi butterfly,

Yes you can use fresh milk....just replace the water with the same quantity of milk. Or you can leave the milk powder out altogether. I know a number of Old Stylers don't use milk powder at all when making bread.

If you are going to use fresh milk it's not advisable to set the breadmaker on the timer as it's not a good idea for the milk to be sitting around at room temperature.

I'll add your question to the breadmaking quick questions thread as it helps to keep the replies together.

Pink

Biggles

I've found, when making bread (by hand) with a high proportion of milk, that it will rise OK but I get very little oven spring. Using water with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, on the other hand, works a treat.

becky2812

i bought myself a bread maker yesterday and my first attempt was with a wholemal loaf. This rose all the way to the top of the pan when baking and then an hour or so before it finished it sank and collapsed.
then i tried a white loaf and it worked perfectly.

i asked a firend who suggested seiving the wholemeal flour, so i did and tried another wholemeal loaf, which sank again??!!

is there something that i need to do differently to get wholemeal loafs to stay risen to bake??
thank you!!

Andy_Hamilton

You need to be accurate with water measurements. Try reducing the amount of water by 20ml or make a half and half loaf. The loaf only sink because there is not enough starch to hold the bubbles shape until it's been baked. Also too much water allows the bubbles to fall easier

Other ways to improve this would include using water which you boiled potatoes in but be aware of the extra salt.

Biggles

becky2812 wrote: »

This rose all the way to the top of the pan when baking and then an hour or so before it finished it sank and collapsed.

I guess you mean when rising, not baking; how long was it in there for, it sounds a tremendously long time?

You will have more success if you make your wholemeal loaves with only about 50% wholemeal and 50% white flour.

becky2812

Sorry i actually meant baking.
it rises to the top of the bread pan whilst baking, but then sinks again and bakes with the top collapsed in on itself.

i will definitly try reducing the water content although i out in exactly what the recipe said.

thank you for your help

Biggles

Sinks with an hour still left? How long is the baking time altogether? I'm not used to the machines, I hand bake, but I wonder if the temperature is high enough if it takes that long?

becky2812

from start to finish ( so that's 2 lots of kneading and rising and then the bake ) is about 3 hrs 10 mins for a wholemeal loaf.

the white programme is exactly the same just a bit shorter time wise, and they come out perfectly??!!