Bread maker tips

I've been making our own bread in our machine for ages now, but we're having problems with the density of the bread. It's just so thick. Doesn't matter how thin we slice the bread, it's pretty full on to eat as a sandwich (you can taste mainly bread, nothing much of the sandwich ingredients). I've tried a variety of recipes, both from online sources and the bread machine book that came with it. It's brilliant as toast, or as toasted sandwiches, but sometimes DH can't toast his sandwich when he's working. I've tried sifting the flour before it goes in, and I make sure the ingredients go into the machine in the correct order.

So my questions are:

Does anyone have a recipe for bread that's great for sandwiches?

Is the secret in the yeast? Does it really matter what I buy?

Have you tried a premix?

Have you tried that bread/pizza flour that comes in a box?

I can't help. Currently I am using a premix (Defiance) that comes in a bag and i just throw it in the machine with yeast and water. I think it's fine density wise.

We've tried premixes in the past, but we're trying to work from scratch. We're using a baking flour suitable for pizza and bread.

I haven't had this problem, but my bread machine book has a troubleshooting section and suggests for dense bread to increase the liquid by 1 tablespoon or more?

are you using the original book that came with the machine?

Are you weighing dry ingredients or going by an actual measuring cup? I found weighing is a bit more accurate because flours can fluff up or pack down. Same with liquids using ml instead of a cup because if i was a smidge out it was a horrible loaf of bread.

Is the lid on 100%? one loaf mine was sitting crooked and the bread was heavy

Do you store your yeast in the freezer? mde a difference here for some reason

I'll add more if i think of it.

*Star* - thanks, I'll give that a go.

CrazyLady - It's the original book. We measure out the ingredients on a kitchen scale, I never use cups. The lid is part of the machine - it's on hinges so can't actually come off, swings back down into position, ITMS. I keep the yeast in the fridge, will try the freezer and see what happens. Thanks.


The other thing I do is I go off the directions of the yeast packet, rather than the direction in the recipe. We were doing it the other way and the loaves were tiny.

not sure if you mean tiny as in lacking quantity of ingredients or didn't rise enough. If you mean tiny as in ingredients that could possibly be your answer. My bread maker specified not to stray too far off the recipes because too many ingredients won't allow it to rise properly or the lid could knock the dough down. Maybe contact the manufacturer of your machine if you don't find out anything and troubleshoot through them.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

Nah, tiny as in didn't rise enough. Thanks anyway!

I had a similar problem when I first used my bread machine. I got it second hand so didn't come with recipes. The recipes I tried from the net always gave me dense bread. After lots of and error now we bake a perfect loaf. I increased the water added, increased the salt slightly, increased the yeast slightly, decreased the flour. I didn't know what order was recommended for my bread machine as didn't come with a manual so I followed this order off a baking site: warm water, yeast, sugar. Stir and let sit for a while. Flour, salt, bread improver n oil. Don't let salt touch the yeast. Not sure of the reason but it worked and I've never tried otherwise. Hope this helps and you start to get nice fluffy bread again.

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Thanks, caixin.

Sounds like a bit of trial and error. Thanks for all the tips :hug:

Breadmakers seem to recommend putting in different ingredients in a certain order, so I'd stick with the order instructions that came with your machine.

We do our bread from scratch (recipes did come with the breadmaker). I've found extra yeast makes it fluffier. We also use a mixture of white bakers flour and organic wholemeal flour with a high protein content, rather than a premix. We have fiddled with the quantities of each to give what looks like a wholemeal loaf (compared to shop bought), but is still fluffy enough. Wholemeal flour tends to make a denser loaf in our machine.

GL!

I also make bread from scratch. Yeast is one thing that makes it fluffier, as well as kneeding and rising phases.

I find most machines I've used, either dont allow enough time for the yeast to work, or have short kneeding and rising phases causing the loaves to be dense.

I changed the settings on the machine - so now I don't do basic loaf but a French loaf. Tastes sensational! Thanks for all the tips though :D

Do you know what is different between the two settings? Has one got a longer 'rise' phase or something?

I don't actually know TBH. I didn't pay attention while it was baking. The only ingredient that wasn't in the French bake was milk powder, everything else was the same, and the same quantity too. The bread came out with a beautiful crust and soft bread. The loaf didn't last long, so I'll see how long each phase goes for when I bake it again.