Crumbly Bread

[homemade_mamma]

I am getting better at baking bread. It tastes good, looks good. Generally happy with my results.
But more often than not it is pretty rough and cumbly.
I use a bread machine on the dough cycle, then take it out and let it sit for 10 min., shape it in a loaf, let it rise to double and bake at 350 till done.

My recipe is as follows:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 - 3 cups of AP flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2 T butter

I want to get a bread that can cut and use for sandwiches without falling apart. Does anyone see anything I am doing wrong or maybe a better recipe for me?
Thanks :)

~Debbie

[bee_pipes]

I've had a lot of luck with this recipe. Almost all the bread I make is for sandwiches.

Bread and Biscuits (http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl?board=foo-bread;action=display;num=1217893356)

Best of luck to you.

Regards,
Pat

[homemade_mamma]

Oh that's great! I have also been wanting a recipe for my mixer that can handle more dough. I will try it today.
Thank you :)

[homemade_mamma]

OK, so I have 3 loaves rising right now. So far so good. I don't think I added enough flour though, it was a very sticky dough.
I did my mixing in my mixer with a dough hook. I didn't think my mixer was liking so much thickness and quit with 8 cups of the flour. Do you think I could have added more flour or should have kneeded in more by hand?
Or is this dough supposed to be really sticky dough?

~Debbie

[Shamrock1121]

I am getting better at baking bread. It tastes good, looks good. *Generally happy with my results.
But more often than not it is pretty rough and cumbly.
I use a bread machine on the dough cycle, then take it out and let it sit for 10 min., shape it in a loaf, let it rise to double and bake at 350 till done.

My recipe is as follows:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 - 3 cups of AP flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2 T butter

I want to get a bread that can cut and use for sandwiches without falling apart. Does anyone see anything I am doing wrong or maybe a better recipe for me?
Thanks *:)

~Debbie

Debbie -

Bread that crumbles or is hard to slice is often a sign the dough was over-proofed. Either in the bread machine, or after the loaf was formed.

I use my bread machine for mixing and kneading, but I remove the dough as soon as the kneading stops and stick it in a dough rising bucket. The bread machine times the rise, so it actually can't tell WHEN the dough has doubled - it's just a guess, so depending on the strength of your yeast, it may be over-proofing in the bread machine.

OR, you are putting the dough in the wrong size pan. From the recipe, it should make around 1-1/2-pounds of dough (scale it to be sure), which should fit a standard loaf pan, 8-1/2x4-1/2-inch. If you are using a 9x5-inch loaf pan (designed to be used for quick breads) it requires about 2-pounds of dough, or approximately 4-cups of flour in the recipe. Therefore you may be letting it over-proof trying to fill the larger pan.

Another point... If you allow the dough to rise to the height you want the finished loaf, you have probably over-proofed it.

Rule of thumb: The log of dough is 1/3 the size of the finished loaf. Allow it to double before placing it in the oven, and that accounts for 2/3 of the finished size. Oven spring (the amount the dough continues to rise in the oven) will account for the last 1/3 of the loaf size.

What's the temperature of the rising place? An overly warm rising place contributes to a crumbly loaf. Around 80°F or cooler is a good rising temperature.

Last point... Are you allowing the loaf to completely cool before cutting it? If not, then you are compromising the crumb by cutting it while hot/warm.

Hope there's something there that helps make the perfect loaf :)

-Karen

[homemade_mamma]

OH MY! It's a wonder my bread has ever turned out LOL!

I often wondered about the rise cycle of the bread machine. I just knew that it was way more than double a couple of times. I will take it out and let it rise in a bucket.
AND
I think my pans are too big (I will have to check when they are out of the oven)
AND
I usually let them rise in a warmed oven. Not too too hot but probably more 80 degrees.
AND
I do usually cut too soon... I just can't wait ;)

Thanks for the tips. I will practice these this week.

~Debbie

[Shamrock1121]

OH MY! *It's a wonder my bread has ever turned out LOL!

I often wondered about the rise cycle of the bread machine. *I just knew that it was way more than double a couple of times. *I will take it out and let it rise in a bucket.
AND
I think my pans are too big (I will have to check when they are out of the oven)
AND
I usually let them rise in a warmed oven. *Not too too hot but probably more 80 degrees.
AND
I do usually cut too soon... I just can't wait ;)

Thanks for the tips. *I will practice these this week.

~Debbie

Debbie -

In your earlier post you mentioned the dough was wet. It's better to err on the side of a well-hydrated (wet) dough than a dry dough. If the dough is dry you'll get a "brick". A wet dough may have a more open texture to the crumb, which is just fine.

Don't preheat the oven if you use it as a proofing box because you're almost guaranteed some problems with temperature. Try just leaving the light on in the oven. When I start to make the dough, I turn the light on in the oven to warm it up. In my oven it's a perfect 80-85°F. as far away from the light as I can get. You can use an oven thermometer to check the actual temperature. About 10 minutes before it's done rising, I take it out and pre-heat the oven.

I've made so many loaves of bread and all sorts of yeast breads for so many years that I'm no longer tempted to cut into them before they are completely cool. Kinda sad, isn't it? ;) Maybe you could go take a long walk or vacuum the house. :D

Your problems are common ones I often deal with when I judge breads at County Fairs - so you have lots of company.

-Karen