I got a bread machine and have been having issues. I have been using instant yeast and all-purpose flour. can anyone give me an idiot-proof white or french bread recipe. And if i add dried herbs do i need to reduce flour?
Best reply by Jim:
We have a bread maker and if the humidity changes you may have to adjust how much liquids you use. That will solve your problems.
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my bread machine bread is coming out dense and super hard on the outside?
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When you put the ingredients in the bread machine, are you making an indentation in the flour so the water doesn’t touch the yeast? That could be a problem. I have a bread machine and since we do that, every loaf we’ve made had has come out pretty good.
I am also using flour for bread. I’m not using all purpose flour.
I have been using recipes from the book that came with our bread machine. I don’t have it with me or I’ve give you a recipe from it that I have used.
Are you adding the ingredients in the order that is listed?
How are the settings? Are they exact?
These are the only things I can think of.
There a lot of good sources on the internet to help you. Try this one or use the search list below:
http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm#breadproblemsmachine
a 1kg french bread loaf.
put 310ml of warm water in the tin.
put 2 level teaspoons of salt in the water
sieve 600g of “strong white” flour into a big bowl to aerate it.
Tip this flour carefully on top of the water in the tin.
make a little dent in the top of the flour with your finger so it’s looking kind of like a volcano.
tip 1 sachet of dried active yeast into this dent.
The point is to keep the yeast seperate from the water and salt until mixing begins.
if the yeast gets wet it will start to wake up and do it’s thing. if the bread maker then starts up six hours later, your bread will be pathetic as the yeast will be spent. so keep your yeast seperate from your salt and water. I usually go for medium crust. A lot is down to the machine quality as well to be honest. hope it works out for you !
I can give you some recipes but it depends on what kind and size of bread machine you have as to whether it will work in yours. Some bread machines make 1 pound loaves and others make either 1 1/2 or 2 lb loaves.
I have about 3-4 bread machine cookbooks and I believe they say what size loaf they will make so you can take your pick.
As far as your bread coming out dense and super hard – the super hard sounds like it’s cooking it too long and the dense sounds like the yeast isn’t rising. Are you adding it at the time it wants in your directions? Some have a special little spot to put it – not directly in the mix – and others don’t (mine does). I like to set mine up before I go to bed and have it start and do it’s thing for when I wake up. But, with mine (it’s an older model), if you aren’t up and getting it out of the machine as soon as it’s done, the heat and moisture from the machine will cause the bread to get damp and not be as good.
Here are a couple of recipes. You might also compare your recipe to these to see if you can see an obvious error in the recipe you are using. Remember, if someone typed something wrong when the pamphlet that came with your machine was printed, something that should be a tsp could wind up a tablespoon. Here you go:
WHITE BREAD – This is basic, no frills white bread – low-fat, sugar and sodium and reall good. (Small is 1 lb or 2 cups of flour, Medium is 1 1/2 lb and Large is 2 lb (the books only lists 2 sizes in it’s maximum size loaf but the recipes show 3. Anyway, the size above small shows 3+ cups of flour)
milk or water (Small = 1/2 c)(Med = 3/4 c)(Large = 1 c)
vegetable oil (Small = 1 T)(Med = 1 1/2 T)(Large = 2T)
honey (Small = 1 T)(Med =1 1/2 T)(Large =2T)
salt (Small 1/3 tsp)(Med = 1/2 tsp)(Large = 2/3 tsp)
bread flour (Small 1 1/2 c)(Med 2 1/4 c)(Large 3 c)
yeast (Small 1 tsp)(Med 1 1/2 tsp)(Large 2 1/2 tsp)
MINTED HERB BREAD
water (Sm 2/3 c)(Med 1 c)(Lg 1 1/3 c)
olive oil (Sm 2 T)(Med 3 T)(Lg 1/4 c)
salt (Sm 1/2 tsp)(Med 2/3 tsp)(Lg 1 tsp)
sugar (Sm 1/2 tsp)(Med 2/3 tsp)(Lg 1 tsp)
grated Parmesan cheese (Sm 2 T)(Med 3 T)(Lg 1/4 c)
basil (Sm 1 tsp)(Med 1 1/2 tsp)(Lg 2 tsp)
parsley (Sm 1 tsp)(Med 1 1/2 tsp)(Lg 2 tsp)
mint (Sm 1 tsp)(Med 1 1/2 tsp)(Lg 2 tsp)
bread flour (Sm 1 1/2 c)(Med 2 c)(Lg 3 c)
yeast (Sm 1 tsp)(Med 1 1/2 tsp)(Lg 2 1/2 tsp)
That recipe also said you can vary this bread by substituting up to half of the bread flour with whole wheat flour but don’t forget to triple the amount of herbs if you use fresh.
TRADITIONAL FRENCH BREAD
water (Sm 3/4 c)(Med 1 c)(Lg 1 1/8 c)
sugar (Sm 1/3 tsp)(Med 1/2 tsp)(Lg 2/3 tsp)
salt (Sm 2/3 tsp)(Med 1 tsp)(Lg 1 1/3 tsp)
bread flour (Sm 2/3 c)(Med 3/4 c)(Lg 1 c)
cake flour (Sm 2/3 c)(Med 3/4 c)(Lg 1 c)
yeast (Sm 1 1/2 tsp)(Med 2 tsp)(Lg 2 1/2 tsp)
cornmeal for shaping
Allow the dough to rise in the machine for at least 1 1/2 hrs – even if the machine has stopped. Punch down the dough while it is still in the pan in the machine and allow it to rise in the turned off but still warm machine or other warm, draft-free location for 30-40 minutes. Shape it and bake it in your oven. The instructions also said for an extra crispy loaf, put a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven during baking. Another trick is to use a ceramic or clay pizza or baking stone for an extra crispy crust.
At the bottom of the French bread recipe it says the small flour equivalent is 2 cup, the med is 2 1/4 cups and the large is 3 cups.
Try adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice. I had the same issues as you described and saw this tip on another web site…It worked beautifully! Try it and see what you think.