Home-Made Bread Too Heavy

[Frozzie]

again loving your answers andie....would so love to pick your brain over a coffee, tea or whatever thats not important 

oh and by double rise they meant what you said ie letting the dough rise twice to double in size before baking

[fundj&e]

The way i read it frozzies is, let it rise twice in the bowl, then again once it’s shaped.
Oh well i have been doing wrong all this time.
Thanks andie 

[patsycate]

Wow, really appreciate everyone's thoughtful answers 

With the Bible Bread I make the dough in TMX but it's very sloppy so I scrape it into the tin and when it rises to the top it goes into the hot oven and bakes.  This is what we use for our 'toast bread' as we know it's heavier with all the fabulous ingredients and it has a fantastic crunch.  This one isn't too heavy really but we don't use it for sandwiches because we actually find it tears.

As the TMX bowl is sticky from making the Bible Bread dough I follow-up with a different recipe for a sandwich loaf as it picks up all the sticky dough from the Bible Bread and cleans the bowl out for me!  I usually make the 'No Fuss' recipe but have adapted it to have roughly 70/30 wholemeal/white flour and usually a small scoop of grains/add-ins (whatever I have to-hand) to make the loaf more wholesome than just plain white.  I have experimented with adding 20g macadamia oil but haven't really noticed the difference.  Again I've just been popping it straight into the tin after kneading for about 6mins.  After reading everyone's comments, and knowing that this dough is very taut, perhaps I need to increase the water as the dough is so taut to compensate for the addition of the wholemeal flour?  I have read somewhere that wholemeal needs more water.  I take it from everyone's comments that I should be knocking it down after the first rise, knead again and let it come up again... however I have done this sometimes when making another batch for bread rolls and haven't noticed much difference either.

If I experiment with adding more yeast, should I also increase the amount of sugar/honey/molasses or whatever the food is for the yeast?

I should add a postscript to note that I quite like the heavier bread now! I did buy some store-bought rolls last week for my lunch and while at first I enjoyed the lighter texture I was afterwards disappointed at how 'empty' they tasted and how I was still hungry after eating them!  What's wrong with my DH not appreciating my efforts in the kitchen 

[achookwoman]

Patsycate,  nothing wrong with your DH.  Everyone looks for something different in bread.
Bluesed and Andi are professionals, I am just a home cook ,who has been making bread for about 50 years.  Take what you need from all of us but don't mix the methods that we all offer 

[Frozzie]

fundj if your bread has been turning out how you like it then dont change what you do...I have found that in general bread is very forgiving ...i let it rise in general either double to size in the bowl then put it on a tray or in a loaf tin to rise to double again...if i need the bowl i put it in a glass bowl covered in gladwrap and leave it to rise to double...each to their own as long as you get the result your after!  I might try andies method of rising in the fridge overnight as I have heard also that it gives the bread a nicer flavour with a very slow rise..

[fundj&e]

I have a triple rise dough baking now 

[dede]

I love these posts. All these tips and tricks make it possible to make successful recipes with much less failures. Thanks for all the tips.

[faffa_70]

I rise my bread in the fridge overnight all the time in summer so that I can cook it first thing in the morning when I get up (generally 5-5.30am latest) before the house heats up. It works a real treat 

[dede]

Faffa do you do a double rise before you put it in the fridge? Or just one rise then in the fridge for the night?

[faffa_70]

One rise in my bread mat, shape into the tin then rise in the fridge. Pull it out when I get up, preheat the oven, cook when the oven is hot and also throw some boiling water in a dish in the bottom of the oven 

[judydawn]

Patsycate,  nothing wrong with your DH.  Everyone looks for something different in bread.
Bluesed and Andi are professionals, I am just a home cook ,who has been making bread for about 50 years.  Take what you need from all of us but don't mix the methods that we all offer 

Good advice Chookie, that's when things start going wrong. I'm going to stick to my double rise, that takes long enough without waiting for a third one. I'd be so hungry by the time the loaf was ready to eat, I'd eat the whole darn thing in one sitting which would bring me back where I started - no bread in the house 

[fundj&e]

I did the triple rise today just after my normal way,(just 2) DH or i could not taste any difference 

[judydawn]

A good enough reason not to bother then fundj 

[Jude59]

I've been adding a tspn of vinegar for ech tspn of yeast and a dollop of sour cream as bread improvers to my bread dough mixes with good results. When I grind wheat I leave it overnight in the fridge adding the usual amount of water for baking plus the vinegar and sour cream and then mix in the plain flour etc and rise twice and bake.  At the moment I am grinding 350 grams wheat and soaking in 350 mls water with 2tspns vinegar and 1 dollop of sour cream overnight then adding 150 grams plain organic flour, 1 tspn sugar, 1 tspn salt, 2 tspns yeast and kneading 4 mins in TMX. Rising then shaping and rising again, then baking.

[meganjane]

Jude, that sounds like a great Bread Improver substitute.

Pastycate, try the TangZhong Bread recipe. Everyone has had great success with it.