I Knead the Dough wrote:
> Yes . . . . and hello to you all!
>
> This post's about the hand-baking of white bread. I've made quite a few,
> now, and whereas I'm very happy with the *taste* of the finished product,
> it's in the *texture* department that I feel improvements could be made in.
>
> I'm from the UK, and I tend to use the 'Super Strong' white bread flour made
> by the Hovis company (though I've also used the standard-grade stuff by the
> same firm), and their 'Fast Action' yeast, which only requires one "kneading
> and proving".
>
> I always follow the instructions to the letter. Kneading takes 10 minutes,
> after which I let it "double in size" (that's *so* specific!). As it's still
> summer, that usually means I allow it to sit for about an hour-and-a-half,
> at room temperature, before I pop it into the oven for half an hour (230°
> C). In winter, I'll place the dough somewhere warm.
>
> When finished, it looks good, and tastes good. The problem is that it tends
> to be a little . . . . well . . . . "denser" than the uncut loaves I can buy
> from a baker. Nothing wrong with that, as such, but I'd really like to try
> and aim for something a little lighter, while still keeping the great taste.
>
> Question is - is this possible? I wonder if a *second* kneading, or
> something, would result in a lighter product? Or perhaps letting the dough
> sit longer? Perhaps adding some ingredient that's not mentioned in the
> instructions, like sugar?
>
> Anyone else use the basic methodology, above, and get a non-dense result? Or
> is that just the way of things?!

This is exactly the same problem I had when I started making
bread. Solved by:

Switching to an other brand of flour
Using a traditional method with two rises
Using ordinary dried yeast rather than the instant kind



I now use Tesco own brand bread flour. It is cheap and, for
me, produces better bread than Hovis.

To be honest I didn't try very much with instant yeast, Its
just that it seems to solve some problem that I don't have.
For some reason I rather went off it when I noticed it
contained Plaster of Paris.

It is important to remember that the amount of water
controls how much the dough rises. The more water the higher
it will rise. The downside is that the dough gets more
difficult to work.

Have a look at alt.bread.recipes they are nice people and
the FAQ will teach you more than you ever wanted to know.


Noises Off