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bread too dense
On 5 Apr 2004 20:15:19 -0700, (judith) wrote:
>WHat could be the reasons for my bread to be too dense? It tastes like
>it contains too much flour, although I used the amount the recipe
>called for. Is it a problem that I didn't sift the flour? I used
>regular nonbleached flour to make the bread.
>
>Could it be that I kneaded the bread too much?
>
>Judith
Hi Judith,
Others have given you great tips, but here is another thought...
It sounds to me as if the loaf did not rise sufficiently.
That said, there are a ton of variables that affect the results when
baking. The amount of flour, the amount of liquids, the amount of
yeast, the degree of kneading, the temperature of the ingredients, the
temperature of the surroundings, and more, all matter.
Many recipes specify the amount of rise by describing an appropriate
amount of time. ("Knead the dough, form the loaf, and allow it to rise
for two hours...") But that approach makes things difficult unless one
knows the impact of all the other variables.
I find it best to allow the dough to rise to a specific increase in
volume ("Form the loaf and allow it to rise until doubled in
volume...") rather than by the clock.
But even that simple matter has a hitch because evaluating the
increase in volume is extremely difficult when we are looking at
typical loaf shapes.
And so, this suggestion:
Get some sort of small, clear, cylindrical plastic container (a pill
bottle might work well.) Be sure that it is a cylinder, that is, that
the sides are parallel.
When you have kneaded your dough next time, tear off a lump about
large enough to fill 1/4 of the plastic bottle. Toss it in, and tamp
it down gently. Mark the top line of the dough in the bottle (a rubber
band, or piece of tape works well.)
Then, form your loaf in any way you choose.
Put the loaf and the bottle in the same location and allow them both
to rise. Try to ignore the increase in volume of the loaf (remember
that it is extremely tough to estimate accurately) but focus on the
rise of the dough in the bottle. It will tell you very clearly when it
has doubled, or tripled. It will be rather like reading a
thermometer...
Again, different breads want different volumes, but try to triple the
loaf volume and I'd bet that it won't be dense...
I hope that this is useful, and wish you the best with your baking,
--
Kenneth
If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."
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