What would cause doughy bread?

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MJWild

Assistant Cook
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
17
I made some bread today for the first time, but it was doughy and moist after i had cooked it. Would this be from to much liquid?

Ingrediants used
  • 700g Bread Flour
  • 1 Tsp Salt
  • 1 Tsp Quick Yeist
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 200ml luck warm water
  • 200ml luck warm milk
Method
  • Mix all ingrediants together in big bowl, free hand.
  • Place in oiled pot with tea towel over and let rise for 5 hours (i fell asleep :))
  • Remove and kneed for 3 min (i added to much flour so it split a bit)
  • Place in pot and let rise for 3 hours (feel asleep again :))
  • Over at 180 degrees C, cooked for 45 minutes but bowl of water underneath

    This is when i took it out and it wasnt cooked properly so i put it back in.
  • 15 minutes 160 degrees C (checked it, still wasnt cooked)
  • 15 minutes 200 degrees C
It is still edable and goes well with butter/jam ect.. but it isnt as tasty on its own. Which i think is down to it being doughy, next time i will use my sugar as it was very bland. And i wan't it sweet.



Any one got any idea's of what it could be?
 
I think your oven wasn't hot enough. The no knead bread recipes I use call for a 450 degree oven.

Your bread will be less bland if you add some more salt.
 
I agree with the others:

oven not hot enough

not enough time in the oven

This is a large recipe, having about 40% more flour and liquid than the no knead recipe I have. Seem like too much liquid is not problem, as my calculation show about 54% hydration which is low if anything. And then there was your comment about "too much flour", which might make it even lower.

Low moisture content may produce a dense, chewy bread. Combine that with low temp and short cooking time and you get moist, dense, chewy bread.
 
Now that my mind is working better, I agree with Mozart that it needed a lot more time in the oven -- that's a LOT of dough to bake.

Usually a recipe with that much flour will make 2 loaves of bread, meant to be baked off separately.
 
The actual size wasnt big, probably 3-4" diameter, 1-2" heigh. Well i dont think that is big, i am probably wrong though.

Ok so i used to little water and i didnt cook it for long enough/heat to high.

So would you recommend adding more milk/water and either turning heat up or putting in for longer?

As well as seperating it into 2 buns?
 
Id do all those things, but probablywould try to find a better recipe, actually.

Can you easily cinvert an American recipe to weight/metric?

If so, this one is a very good one.
 
The actual size wasn't big, probably 3-4" diameter, 1-2" high. Well i don't think that is big, i am probably wrong though.

OK so i used to little water and i didn't cook it for long enough/heat to high.

So would you recommend adding more milk/water and either turning heat up or putting in for longer?

As well as separating it into 2 buns?

OK, that doesn't seem possible with that much flour (3-4" dia. and 1 to 2" high)

Your original post on method was a little hard to follow. After the second rise, did you put it in something to bake it?

I agree about a different recipe. Bread recipes seem pretty exacting to me, and if they don't work well for you, just move on to a better one.
 
I tried again but on a higher heat, it was a bit better, the outside layer is crusting really really hard and i perfer soft bread, after i had let it risen and i tried to punch it, it was really sticky so i couldn't. I split it into two and put them in 2 glass bowls, tried 75% bread flour & 25% regular flour, it tasted alot nicer plain then the first one did. I added a bit more sugar aswell. Everything else as the same.

Ye i kept it in the pot i used to let it rise in.

I'll try jennyema recipe tomorrow morning, prepare and let it rise before i go to college.



Also, is their a way to make it so it doesnt go crusty? as i do not like crusty bread.

Cheers
 
I tried again but on a higher heat, it was a bit better, the outside layer is crusting really really hard and i prefer soft bread, after i had let it risen and i tried to punch it, it was really sticky so i couldn't. I split it into two and put them in 2 glass bowls, tried 75% bread flour & 25% regular flour, it tasted alot nicer plain then the first one did. I added a bit more sugar aswell. Everything else as the same.

Ye i kept it in the pot i used to let it rise in.

I'll try jennyema recipe tomorrow morning, prepare and let it rise before i go to college.



Also, is their a way to make it so it doesn't go crusty? as i do not like crusty bread.

Cheers

No. You can't make it un-crusty. The whole point of the cooking technique (in a cast iron pot, at high heat) is to make it crusty!
 
I dont use a cast iron pot, also the max my oven goes is 220 C.
 
Finally it worked, i used the recipe of the side of the Yeist package :D

500g regular flour
1 tspn quick yeist
1 tspn sugar
1 tspn salt
1 tspn virgin oil
200ml hot water (was boiling when i used it)

I mixed it all together, kneeded it for about 30 minutes, placed into a bowl (which i forgot to oil) for 2 hours to let rise, i punched it a few times to get rid of air, oiled the top to stop it from crusting (and it worked!) and put it in oven for 1.5-2 hours at 100 C.

Came out nice, it could of been better but it wasn't doughy, now i just have to work on the taste. I might add more sugar as it was a bit bland. And it wasnt crusty, top was a bit hard but it doesnt crumble like my first 2-3 did.



I think but i might be wrong, that is worked this time because i cooked it for alot longer at a reduced heat (1-2 hours @ 100 C) compared to what 45 minutes @ 150-200 C
 
Also, is their a way to make it so it doesnt go crusty? as i do not like crusty bread.

Cheers

No, like Mozart said, the whole point of your recipe is to make crusty bread. Pretty much any no knead bread recipe baked in a pot or on a stone with steam will generate a substantial crust.

For a tradtional while loaf, try the recipe on the back of a package of King Arthur bread flour.
 
Finally it worked, i used the recipe of the side of the Yeist package :D

500g regular flour
1 tspn quick yeist
1 tspn sugar
1 tspn salt
1 tspn virgin oil
200ml hot water (was boiling when i used it)

I mixed it all together, kneeded it for about 30 minutes, placed into a bowl (which i forgot to oil) for 2 hours to let rise, i punched it a few times to get rid of air, oiled the top to stop it from crusting (and it worked!) and put it in oven for 1.5-2 hours at 100 C.

Came out nice, it could of been better but it wasn't doughy, now i just have to work on the taste. I might add more sugar as it was a bit bland. And it wasnt crusty, top was a bit hard but it doesnt crumble like my first 2-3 did.



I think but i might be wrong, that is worked this time because i cooked it for alot longer at a reduced heat (1-2 hours @ 100 C) compared to what 45 minutes @ 150-200 C

100 celcius is only around 200 degrees F and that is way too low to bake anything. I can't imagine what bread would end up like baked for 2 hours at 200 degrees.

Like I said, add a bit more salt -- not sugar -- if the bread is bland. Adding more sugar can screw up the yeast.
 
:) seemed to work at 100 C, wouldn't salt give it a salty taste? (i dont no these things as i have never done it before) or doesn't it work like that?
 
:) seemed to work at 100 C, wouldn't salt give it a salty taste? (i dont no these things as i have never done it before) or doesn't it work like that?

I'm not talking about a lot more salt .. maybe 1/2 teaspoon more.

Salt enhances the savory taste of food. Adding sugar can mess up your yeast and won't fix the blandness problem.
 
this is another recipe you might try if you are willing to turn your oven temp up some. View Recipe. It has many recipes for all kinds of yeast breads.

I can't imagine making good bread at 200 F.
 

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