White Bread Troubles

[h.mcpherson]

Hi there, I attempted to bake my first two loafs of white bread today and have encountered a few issues.

The first being they didn't rise as big as I would have liked. The first time they rose it was great. Doubled in size. I punched them down and kneaded a bit more and let them rise again in the pans. This time they did rise but no where near what I would have liked. Even after baking them they still were short.

The next issue was the tops of them were not smooth. The sides of the dough came up and made large ridges on the top crust. Looks like mountains!

And the third is that the bread itself is not airy at all. In fact it's like elastic. Not nice.

Anyone have any ideas of what I did wrong??

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

Dough can sometimes fail to rise for a number of reasons, so it might be quite tricky to pinpoint exactly why yours didn't. The fact that it rose well initially might indicate that it was left to prove for too long and fell back down, but I'm just guessing.

Smoothing out the tops is easy to fix, it's down to how you roll it up to put in the tin. You want to roll up the dough into a short sausage and place the seam underneath the bread - you want a nice smooth surface on the top.

The third problem about the bread not being elastic enough may be to do with the first issue. Perhaps try proving the dough in a cooler place - a long slow prove always results in a better, tastier loaf than when you have a quick rise!

Hope this helps, but let me know if you have any queries.

 

[h.mcpherson]

Thanks so much! I tried again yesterday.
This time I let my dough rise a third time and it turned out much better.

I also handled it less than last time and the dough was much easier to work with. They baked really nicely and presented well!

 

[Winterybella]

I am so proud of you h.mchperson! I am so afraid of making bread. It seems such a challenge and the thing is I could eat bread all day ever day. I want to be able to make a healthy bread, but every time I read recipes they seem so complicated and intimidating. I went out and got some yeast to make a trap for some mosquitoes and that didn't work one bit so I have some yeast left and Lord knows I am afraid to try anything. I am still searching for the easiest bread to make.

 

[h.mcpherson]

I know how you feel! I used to look at bread recipes and cower in fear lol!
But I have to admit, after this latest success I am itching to try more!
I'll share with you the recipe I used the second time around. It's really simple and there's a video to go with it (it really helped a newbie like me!).
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6683/grandma-vandorens-white-bread/

 

[Becky]

That's great news, I'm really pleased to hear that they turned out better this time! They look perfect

What's next on your list to try?

 

[h.mcpherson]

I'm thinking next I want to try some French bread rolls.. And perhaps a sourdough bread with a nice spinach dip

 

[cookiesfromhome]

Thanks for the recipe.Perfect for occasions.

 

[Becky]

I'm thinking next I want to try some French bread rolls.. And perhaps a sourdough bread with a nice spinach dip

Yum I like the sound of that! My husband is currently very fond of a light rye sourdough bread which we get from a local bakery. He's not usually fussed about rye bread, but sourdough makes everything so much tastier

 

[justme4910]

I know how you feel! I used to look at bread recipes and cower in fear lol!
But I have to admit, after this latest success I am itching to try more!
I'll share with you the recipe I used the second time around. It's really simple and there's a video to go with it (it really helped a newbie like me!).
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6683/grandma-vandorens-white-bread/

thanks for the recipe,i will give it a try and a question,does it have to be bread flour instead of all purpose ?

 

[h.mcpherson]

Too be honest I'm not sure! I used bread flour and it turned out great for me.
I always air on the side of caution though

 

[Becky]

thanks for the recipe,i will give it a try and a question,does it have to be bread flour instead of all purpose ?

Yep, you should definitely use bread flour instead of all purpose

 

[justme4910]

I don't think the grocery store I go to will even carry bread flour,I assume it is different from Bread Machine flour ? I will look for it,but I'm assuming that I will have to drive further to be able to pick up any,I can't even get parchment paper from them


but I will definitely try to pick some up and see if that helps

 

[Winterybella]

I know how you feel! I used to look at bread recipes and cower in fear lol!
But I have to admit, after this latest success I am itching to try more!
I'll share with you the recipe I used the second time around. It's really simple and there's a video to go with it (it really helped a newbie like me!).
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6683/grandma-vandorens-white-bread/

I did it! Maybe not with the exclamation mark, but I did try a bread and substituted whole wheat flour which probably made it too stiff/ tough. I also might have allowed it to stay too long in the oven as I was using a glass pan and did not adjust the temperature. I'm sorry I did not see this one before as some said my recipe was flawed. I spoke about my first yeast bread in another thread.

My near major miss has me wanting to go again. When something doesn't go well for me I either go back with a vengeance or run away from the task. I think I am going for the former.

 

[justme4910]

so the big difference is the amount of gluten used ?

 

[Becky]

so the big difference is the amount of gluten used ?

Yep, bread flour has a higher gluten content, which is needed for most breads

 

[cookiesfromhome]

Use glass pan to adjust gluten in bread.I agree that gluten changes the taste of bread.

 

[justme4910]

Yep, bread flour has a higher gluten content, which is needed for most breads

hmmm so it might be easier for me to pick up some gluten and add a bit to the AP flour then ? does gluten keep good ? yea i'm new to baking

 

[Becky]

hmmm so it might be easier for me to pick up some gluten and add a bit to the AP flour then ? does gluten keep good ? yea i'm new to baking

You can't get gluten as a separate ingredient - it's a protein in flour. It's just that certain types of flour have a higher gluten content than others