Problems with bread!

[x7anooonah]

I have not read all the responses so forgive me if I repeat anything.. Their are several reasons bread will not rise..

1. You have to make sure to add yeast to a bit of WARM (not cold or hot) milk or water and then a bit of sugar, wait 5 mins and it will froth that means ITS ALIVE.

2. The weather makes a huge sufferance so if its wet or humid that could be it.

3. make sure to place your dough in the warmest part of your house to rise until doubled in size (1-2 hours) in the summer I place mine in the hall and the winter I place it covered in the microwave. You can cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap which keeps heat inside.

4. Maybe its not the yeast maybe its the flour, baking soda or baking powder.

5. Are you kneading it well?

with the above you should have perfect bread every time..

 

[raidencmc]

I put it aside for the second rise so we will see. I was wondering several people had mentioned foccacia bread. How could you tell? I did not even know. It just sounded good. I went back and looked at a picture and think it is the way it should be but we shall see. Someone mentioned sugar. If I added sugar would it have risen more?

 

[Selkie]

Earlier in this post I included a link that has explainations of bread making for beginners. Read those and they will help you next time.

Sugar is sometimes used to help activate your yeast in the very beginning. It does not help in getting your bread to rise.

A couple of us recognized your bread as being focaccia the same way you would recognize the ingredients of eggs, milk, cheese and mushrooms as being the components for an omelet. It's just experience.

 

[raidencmc]

Knowing now that it is supposed to be a flat type bread it makes more sense to me. The last time I think I cooked it longer hoping it would rise more. It did not. It looks good and smells great. I need to try some different types. Thanks guys!

 

[raidencmc]

1 big old door stop. We might try a different recipe. Tasted good just tough. I can make bread crumbs with.

 

[vagriller]

And wait to slice it until it's mostly cooled. Slicing too soon may ruin it!

I love to slice into bread just out of the oven and spread butter on it. Few things are better!

 

[yourstrulyewalani]

I just came across this post and I can appreciate all of this info. I just came to an understanding with bread this past week and I kid you not, I have baked a loaf daily to take advantage of my newfound knowledge!

I have not been able to come to an understanding with yeast until now.

It took me bringing back packets (from France) of what I was told was a certain French baking yeast. Turns out those packets are comparable to our yeast and some to baking soda.

I have been dissolving my yeast in warm water and adding sugar to "feed" the yeast and letting it grow so to speak. The problem I still have is that I have to add at least two tsp. of yeast to make it really fizz up. The expiration date is well into the future. Perhaps I am expecting it to fizz up too much I don't know. I suppose I can try it with less and see how much it will rise once the dough is finished.

I also added my fed yeast to a small amount of flour and let it rise a bit before adding it to the rest of the flour and the rest of the bread recipe.

I have made brioche this week that tastes amazing but it doesn't have that flakey layered consistancy that it usually has when I buy it from the PRO's. Maybe I need to knead it more? I shouldn't be complaining it turns out perfect with an ideal bread-like texture. But how can I create a layered flakey-like bread?

 

[Selkie]

yourstruelywalani, try making a poolish (pre-ferment)

Mix together 1 cup of flour, one cup of water, and 1 pkg. of yeast (NO sugar). Let it set in a warm place for 8 to 48 hours before using. A poolish will develop into a set of pleasant complex flavors and take away that strong "yeasty" flavor that comes from using newly bloomed yeast too soon. Then, simply add the poolish to your fresh flour/water/salt mixture and precede with your recipe..., remembering to subtract the one cup of flour and water of your starter from the new mixture amount before adding.

I bake bread once or twice a week, and use a poolish as my starter. It works great!

Pre-ferment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[justplainbill]

Selkie's advice works well. You can also ferment at room temp for just 4 hours and then keep the poolish refrigerated for upwards of 5 days, feeding it with small amounts of yeast, flour and water every two days.

 

[yourstrulyewalani]

Thank you Selkie that helps tremendously I'm going to try it now...and I think I'm going to document with pics lol. justplainbill I will ref. it for a few and feed it for the next time I bake bread I will experiment with it this weekend.

I am excited to taste the flavor of it, the yeasty flavor is something that puzzled me since that is part of homemade bread I do not prefer when I make my own.

THANK YOU THANK YOU!

 

[crazycook]

Water temperature should be around 110F. Most recipes say warm water but that's subject to interpretation.