Simple and
Easy Bread Recipes
Troubleshooting Machine Bread
Bread machines—wonderful inventions that they are—don’t think very well. You
and I, when we have a loaf of bread percolating on the counter, can look and
say, “My bread is rising a little slowly today. I think I will let it be for
another fifteen minutes.” Our bread machines go ahead and start the bake
cycle anyway. The result is a dense loaf of bread that didn’t rise enough.
The only way that we know to compensate for those loaves that aren’t quite
right is human intervention. Most loaves and most recipes that aren’t acting
right can be fixed to make perfect bread. Many recipes take a little
tweaking to come out just right in the individual environments of our own
kitchens.
We had a call from the Denver area this week, “My bread machine worked just
fine in Australia. Now it bakes hard, dense loaves.” (He hadn’t tried our
mixes yet.) Denver is a much different environment than Australia. Dough
will act differently there. But then, dough may act differently in your
kitchen than it does in the kitchen down the street.
Most days, in most kitchens, the bread turns out just fine (which is a
compliment to modern machines). When bread doesn’t come out just right, it’s
usually because the machine starts baking too soon or too late for a
particular recipe in a particular environment. If it starts before the bread
has completely risen, the loaf comes out dense. If it rises too much, the
top starts to cave.
So, what to do? Most bread machine faults can be corrected if you apply a
little human intervention.
Keep conditions consistent. If you pull the machine and/or ingredients out
of the cold garage this week but the warm pantry next week, you will have
two different loaves. If you use more or less water or warmer or cooler
water, you will have different loaves. Measure carefully and use a
thermometer.
Watch the dough ball. During the second mix cycle, check the dough ball to
see if it is too wet or two dry. (Wet dough rises faster than dry dough.) If
the dough ball appears too sticky and wet or doesn’t hold its shape, add
flour a tablespoon at a time. If it is too firm, flakey, or your bread
machine begins to “knock”, dribble in water a teaspoon at a time.
Adjust the recipe. Even if your bread is not perfect, it is probably still
good. Some recipes are going to take a little adjustment to work just right
in your machine, in your kitchen, the way you bake bread. If your bread is
not as light as you like, add another tablespoon or so of water next time.
If the top has started to cave, add another tablespoon or so of flour next
time. Even if your bread is not perfect the first time, it can be the second
or third time. Similar mixes from the same manufacturer are likely to act
the same in your kitchen.
Use the oven. When you hear that little beep that most machines make to tell
you that baking is about to begin, check your loaf. If your loaf hasn’t
risen enough or if it has risen too much—it looks too poofy or has started
to blister—you have a choice: go ahead and let bake good but not perfect
bread or rescue it. To rescue it, pull it out of the machine, form a loaf,
place it in a bread pan or on a sheet pan, and let it rise on its own. When
it has risen until it is light and soft (probably in 45 to 60 minutes),
stick it in a 350 degree oven and bake it until is done—usually 30 to 40
minutes. The top should turn a nice deep brown and the interior of the loaf
should reach 190 degrees. (Many bread machine owners use their machines this
way and bake with their ovens most of the time.)
Once you have tweaked a recipe (or a mix) for your machine in your kitchen,
keep conditions consistent and you should have picture perfect machine bread
every time.
Source: Prepared Pantry
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