Troubleshoot bread maker woes

I LOVE the spent grain bread recipe posted on here (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/spent-grain-bread-machine-recipe-85379/). When it turns out right, and even when it doesn't, it completely replaces store bought bread in my house. The first time I made this was last summer it turned out great.

My last two batches have started collapsing leaving a half loaf of dense, yet still fantastic bread. I have read the machine book and none of the answers provided fixed the issue.

Common sense tells me it is something with the yeast. Since I have seen through the window that the bread infact rises properly I suspect the yeast is doing its job TOO well. I just don't know how to fix it since bread machines have some nuances in order of ingredients.

Next loaf I am going to cut back on the amount of yeast but figured I would ask for help from those with experience in the meantime!

PS: here is a pic of my sammich for lunch today made from the collapsed loaf...still amazing bread!

my really crappy breadmaker has the same issue...every loaf i make over rises, and then falls during baking.

some suggestions i found involved punching the dough down manually at a certain stage, so when it rises the final time its not over risen.

that's also when i pull out the kneading arm so i don't have a big hole in the bottom. basically my machine doesn't punch it down well enough, and probably heats it too fast.

Your dough might be too wet.

I've done the same thing when making spent grain bread - the grain has a ton of moisture in it.

Best thing to do is watch the dough during the kneading/mixing stage. It should just about hold the shape of a ball. If it looks more like pancake batter, add flour, one Tbs at a time.

Alternatively, try using less water/milk in the recipe, and adding more if needed while mixing.


This is good practice to do on every loaf (spent grain or not), since the humidity in the air affects the moisture content of the flour. Since you're most likely adding flour by volume, not weight, you may be adding moisture and not realizing it.

Awesome. Thanks for the tips guys! I will start trying things out one by one as I devour each loaf I make

I am about to start moving to oven baked recipes and using the bread maker to kneed!

Take a look at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

It's the bread baking version of HBT.

-peabody304

Germelli1 said:

I am about to start moving to oven baked recipes and using the bread maker to kneed!

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Look into a pizza stone to bake bread on. We love ours.

If I had to do over again though, I'd buy an unglazed ceramic tile that fit my oven better, rather than a commercial stone. Much cheaper, too. Like a boil kettle, you'll always want a bigger one.

_JP_ said:

Look into a pizza stone to bake bread on. We love ours.

If I had to do over again though, I'd buy an unglazed ceramic tile that fit my oven better, rather than a commercial stone. Much cheaper, too. Like a boil kettle, you'll always want a bigger one.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! My mom has a stonewhere pizza stone...is that sufficient for bread or does pizza stone refer to something more specific?

peabody304 said:

Take a look at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

It's the bread baking version of HBT.

-peabody304

Click to expand...

I actually read a few of the lessons in there on my lunch break yesterday! It is an awesome site.

Stay tuned in the near future for a thread for the sourdough experiment I am undertaking!

There's some good stuff on sourdough there, too.

You should send off for this one:
http://carlsfriends.net/

I've used it for a few years, plus it's free.

Ya, I am not sure if my current plans are technically sourdough or more just a bread starter, but it will be fun and I can't wait to see the results!

PS. I am not trying to pull the middle school "I know something you don't" but I am preparing an all inclusive thread for this weekend so I have a place to discuss what I am doing (Baking bread with Pacman yeast )

peabody304 said:

There's some good stuff on sourdough there, too.

You should send off for this one:
http://carlsfriends.net/

I've used it for a few years, plus it's free.

Click to expand...

Oh, and great website! Thanks for the link!

Germelli1 said:

Thanks for the tips! My mom has a stonewhere pizza stone...is that sufficient for bread or does pizza stone refer to something more specific?

Click to expand...

Pizza stone = bread stone. All it is, is just a thermal mass for the dough to sit on.

Allow extra time to preheat when you use one. Your oven might be up to temp, but the stone might not be. You want the stone as hot as you can get it.

Awesome, I had read that somewhere along with using steam to help the crust so thank you for the clarification!

Germelli1 said:

Awesome. Thanks for the tips guys! I will start trying things out one by one as I devour each loaf I make

I am about to start moving to oven baked recipes and using the bread maker to kneed!

Click to expand...

kneading is for chumps. check this one out, it's my favorite bread. super easy


http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Pane_Rustica/Pane_Rustica.html

FromZwolle said:

kneading is for chumps. check this one out, it's my favorite bread. super easy


http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Pane_Rustica/Pane_Rustica.html

Click to expand...

ARG I have to wait and see if my yeast experiment works before trying all these recipes and you just added another to my que! haha thanks for the new recipe and technique!

This the recipe for No-Knead Bread, adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery printed in the NYT in 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

And of course, there are sourdough versions.
http://www.breadtopia.com/sourdough-no-knead-method/

I've made both of these many times.

Be careful though, don't let your baking get in the way of your brewing.

This is probably painfully close to showing off, and I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I really like these pictures.

Multigrain Oatmeal Bread


Sourdough Seed Bread


Sourdough bread baked in dutch ovens


And finally, my first spent grain bread. It was a busy day. Brewed 5 gallons of something, made two loaves of spent grain bread and made spent grain dog treats.


Apologies if this is too far off the subject.

-peabody304

No apologies needed! I am getting just about as sucked into baking bread as I am brewing and my issues have already been addressed! Those look amazing and if my plans this weekend go well, I will have the same house yeast strain in both my brewing and in my dough starter!