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Bread Too Crumbly
at Thu, 15 Apr 2004 20:22:24 GMT in
>,
(Tony) wrote :
>I have a good recipe for making an egg/raisin bread for Easter (white
>bread), and it always comes out great, except that the bread is a bit
>too weak and crumbly. A slice of it can fall apart on you while
>eating, and if you try to butter it with anything but those spreads in
>tubs, you usually just tear the slice into pieces trying to spread the
>margarine.
>
>Any advice on what to do to "toughen up" the bread? I've always used
>all-purpose flour; would changing to a bread flour produce a stronger
>loaf that holds together better?
>
>Some particulars: 9 cups of flour, 2 yeast packages, 2 sticks of
>butter, 5 eggs, other small items like salt and sugar and vanilla,
>makes 3 loaves. I use the quick-rise yeast, might regular yeast make
>the difference I'm looking for?
>
>Thanks in advance for any advice!
>
>Tony
>
That's a lot of butter. Since butter is a shortening, it could potentially
make the dough crumbly by inhibiting gluten development when you knead.
However, of more importance - how much water are you using? Hydration has a
major impact on crumbliness and without good information on that it's hard
to tell whether it's contributing as a factor.
Furthermore, what's your specific method? Sometimes differences in method
will account for poor texture.
--
Alex Rast
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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