Why oh why is the bread caved in?

sparklygirl1

Making brea in the BM for past few weeks and always caved in rather than raised ontop......... Why?

Recipe

260g brown bread flour
260g white bread flour
1.25 teaspoon dried yeast
2 table spoon butter
2 table spoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
320ml water

Any help is welcome.

Pitlanepiglet

I think the theory is that it's too much water. I've had the same with a 50/50 wholemeal last night that I added seeds to the mix so added a bit more water which I think was a mistake.

squeaky

I'd be inclined to think too much water as well. It's at the top of my book's list of "sunken bread problems".

Try 300 mil of water. It doesn't need much of a change to make a LOT of difference to a loaf.

Andy_Hamilton

Possible causes

• Too much water was added.
• Not enough flour was used.
• Poor quality flour was used.
• The yeast was old.

boredofbeingathome

I add some vit c, and that solved the problem, someone mentioned saving potato water and so far worked really well.

JennyW_2

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

Making brea in the BM for past few weeks and always caved in rather than raised ontop......... Why?

Recipe

260g brown bread flour
260g white bread flour
1.25 teaspoon dried yeast
2 table spoon butter
2 table spoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
320ml water

Any help is welcome.

Usually too much water when this happens. I always use 20ml less than the book says. Having said that though, I attempted a granary loaf (using Hovis granary flour), used 20ml less water and it still sunk.

sparklygirl1

Thanks guys......... Will try less water. It's really annoying as that part of bread gets wasted as too chunky and not straight. I ate it last night with butter but gonna try and get to bottom of it.

sparklygirl1

boredofbeingathome wrote: »

I add some vit c, and that solved the problem, someone mentioned saving potato water and so far worked really well.

Really does this work? It is in powder form????

JennyW_2

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

Thanks guys......... Will try less water. It's really annoying as that part of bread gets wasted as too chunky and not straight. I ate it last night with butter but gonna try and get to bottom of it.

I think the most annoying thing is when the 5 hours is up, you open the lid and it's sunk :mad: I'm now taking a sneaky look just as the bake program kicks in. If it's sunk by then, I stop the machine. No point in baking a crater loaf!

boredofbeingathome

sparklygirl1 wrote: »

Really does this work? It is in powder form????

I am not sure about powder form, you can crush tablets though. Potato water is free source of vit c, and i have used it in two wholemeal loaves and has worked well for me. I would also try reducing water as well. You have nothing to lose by giving it a try. I didn't strain the first time though and made bits of bread a bit chewy, but quite liked the taste.:D

sparklygirl1

Might try potato water, is this just water thats had the potatos sat in it???? DO you use this as your normal water?