Quick questions on bread making

cheeks

After reading everyones posts about how much nicer home made bread is compared to shop bought, i decided to dig my BM out of the shed yesterday. Its been in there about 4 yrs, so i put the pan, blade and measuring cup&spoon in the dishwasher. Once it was all washed i got the instruction book out to get the recipe for raisin&cinnamon bread and noticed that it said not to put it in dishwasher.....oops! I greased the pan as the instructions said and put it on easybake for 10 mins and it tripped the electric off......oops! I think its trying to tell me something!!

trying-very-trying

cheeks wrote: »

After reading everyones posts about how much nicer home made bread is compared to shop bought, i decided to dig my BM out of the shed yesterday. Its been in there about 4 yrs, so i put the pan, blade and measuring cup&spoon in the dishwasher. Once it was all washed i got the instruction book out to get the recipe for raisin&cinnamon bread and noticed that it said not to put it in dishwasher.....oops! I greased the pan as the instructions said and put it on easybake for 10 mins and it tripped the electric off......oops! I think its trying to tell me something!!

Putting it in the dishwasher only affects the underside of the pan, and sort of pits it a bit like an aluminium pressure cooker, because I used to do this with my old bm. Are you sure you dried it properly, although I don't see even that affecting the electrics. Maybe you could just check the fuse

JennyW_2

becky2812 wrote: »

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!!

what percentage of wholemeal loaf are you trying to bake? I only get good results with 50/50. 100% or even 70% can be heavy and there is also somethiing to do with the wholemeal and water balance too that can make a difference.

When mine have sunk prior to baking (baking is usually the last 45 minutes or so), it's been because I've used too much water. I now use 20ml less than the recipe states.

It's also worth looking at the flour you use. When I was having sinking problems I called the helpline and they were telling me about the quality of starch in some flour and if it's not good or strong enough, then the loaf collapses. This has happened alot lately because of the rainfull in spring - it's ruined many crops.

becky2812

well i tried again last night, and did 50/50 wholemeal and white flour, and reduced the water by 20ml.. it still sank!!!!!

i can't fault the taste though, it was a gorgoeus tasting and incredibly soft inside, loaf of bread!!!

so i still can't seem to get a wholemeal loaf to form properly!!!

aslo, this is probably a silly question with an obvious answer, but when i first bake the bread it is lovely and cursty on the outside, once it is totally cooled, i store it in an airtight bag (air squeezed out), and the next morning it is a soft loaf?? how do i keep it crusty without making it stale?
thak you!

Pink.

Hi Becky,

Do you add vitamin C to the mix? I find that helps as well as mixing the wholemeal flour with some white breadflour.

These earlier threads may help:

Wholemeal/granary breadmaking help!

plain wholemeal flour for breadmaking

Pink

Lesley_Gaye

I have had a look through the bread making posts, but can't seem to find the answer to this question. Apologies if it's been answered before.

Posters seem very keen on using a BM. I don't currently make loaves, although am considering, but do make a lot of rolls of various kinds, focaccia etc.

If I make loaves, what is the advantage of using a BM. Is it the cost of cooking in the oven, being able to set the timer to have it fresh when you come in/get up, or something else? Or just a preference?

Would certainly get a BM if it was worth it, but don't want to get one if I won't use it much

trying-very-trying

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

I have had a look through the bread making posts, but can't seem to find the answer to this question. Apologies if it's been answered before.
Posters seem very keen on using a BM. I don't currently make loaves, although am considering, but do make a lot of rolls of various kinds, focaccia etc.
If I make loaves, what is the advantage of using a BM. Is it the cost of cooking in the oven, being able to set the timer to have it fresh when you come in/get up, or something else? Or just a preference?
Would certainly get a BM if it was worth it, but don't want to get one if I won't use it much

I would say that if you can already knead your own dough and make your own rolls, then you would probably be cheaper just buying a loaf tin. I think the biggest advantage to the breadmaker is that it kneads the dough. A lot of poster say that they only use the dough setting then bake the bread in the oven.
I use it because I don't really have a lot of room for kneading dough, and don't feel confident anyway about trying it, and also the fact that I just switch on and keep my fingers crossed because even my panasonic I've found it can be a bit unpredictable.

Lesley_Gaye

trying-very-trying wrote: »

I would say that if you can already knead your own dough and make your own rolls, then you would probably be cheaper just buying a loaf tin. I think the biggest advantage to the breadmaker is that it kneads the dough. A lot of poster say that they only use the dough setting then bake the bread in the oven.
I use it because I don't really have a lot of room for kneading dough, and don't feel confident anyway about trying it, and also the fact that I just switch on and keep my fingers crossed because even my panasonic I've found it can be a bit unpredictable.

thanks Trying, I'll hold off for a bit then. I think I'll try making a few loaves and see how I get on.

If I am going to do loaves, I would rather not use white flour as I do for the rolls etc. My OH isn't that keen on wholemeal, he much prefers granary. Have found a cheap source of wholemeal flour, but I have not seen any granary other than in titchy, expensive, packets.

Anyone got any ideas?

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

thanks Trying, I'll hold off for a bit then. I think I'll try making a few loaves and see how I get on.

If I am going to do loaves, I would rather not use white flour as I do for the rolls etc. My OH isn't that keen on wholemeal, he much prefers granary. Have found a cheap source of wholemeal flour, but I have not seen any granary other than in titchy, expensive, packets.

Anyone got any ideas?

How about spelt flour, Lesley? Not quite as strong as wholemeal and produces a very crumbly, tasty loaf. You can get a 2kg bag at Waitrose for just under £2. It also makes excellent biscuits, if you have any left over

Lesley_Gaye

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart wrote: »

How about spelt flour, Lesley? Not quite as strong as wholemeal and produces a very crumbly, tasty loaf. You can get a 2kg bag at Waitrose for just under £2. It also makes excellent biscuits, if you have any left over

that's a good idea. I'll try that, thanks