dme post all-grain?

so i had a little trouble on my first all-grain, and the next batch went without a hitch. although both of them had low starting gravities of 1.045, and 1.040. when the calculations i did on tastybrew.com showed almost 1.060. both recipes had 11 lb. grain bills. i am hoping maybe with practice i will improve. but in the meantime, if my gravity is a little low, has anyone added dme after cooling the wort? is that a bad idea?

if your fine with the low og, then leave it, otherwise dme is a great way to bump up the gravity if you miss.

No real answer to this, but I have also done just two AG batches, and my efficiency is also low. I was tempted to add a pound of honey in my last batch at the ending of the boil, but I resisted the urge just to have a few total AG styles to compare with the partial mash/steeped brews I have been doing.
Have you been taking samples from your running's to get an idea of what the problem is? I have to admit I'm still searching this board for ideas. The second batch I hit the temperatures right on, and my volumes where good.
I use a SS braid and I don't have much dead space after a drain, but in each case my first running was much lower in the SG than I thought it should be. For now though I think I'll just live with the beers being on the lower end of the style until I can dial in my process.

You'll need to figure out your brewhouse efficiency. You can do a search on here, there's lots of talk about it. What was your efficiency setting on Tastybrew? If it was 75%, your efficiency is in the low 50's. That's pretty low. You'll need to figure out what you can do in your procedure and/or brewing equipment to increase your efficiency.

Oh, one more thing... I wouldn't add DME directly to your fermenter for risk of contamination. If you really wanted to increase the gravity at this point, it would be best to boil the DME, cool, then add. Next time, keep some on-hand during the boil. At the end of the boil, take a sample and quickly cool it down for a gravity check. Then, if your OG is low, you can add it to the wort while it is still hot to reduce risk of contamination.

Until you get your system dialed in, adding DME is a good way to insure you're getting the beer you expected.

Always add your DME to the boiling wort though.
Once you're close to the end of your normal boil, take a sample and cool it and then take a reading. IF your reading is low...then toss in some DME to boost the recipe.

Or, it might be best if you could sample your wort after you have collected in BK. Stir it, sample it and figure out what your OG is going to end at. Then add it near the end of your boil. I would use light DME the last 5-10 minutes of boil. It is easier this way especially if you don't have a refractometer. All I have is a hydrometer so I have to cool the wort first. Takes me about 10 minutes to cool.