We love making bread. We love to push our hands into the soft dough and knead it into beautiful brown loaves, delicious rolls, and sticky cinnamon buns.
However, not all of our creations would end up on a Hallmark card which is why we appreciated the following tips from David Joachim. We have had several “ah-ha” moments reading what he has to say, and hope that you will as well.
Excerpted from
Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks, by David Joachim.
Problem: Dough is not rising
Possible Causes: Yeast is old; yeast was dissolved in too-hot or too-cold water; dough was kneaded too stiff–gluten was overdeveloped; rising location was too cold.
Solutions/Suggestions: Try proofing new yeast and kneading it into the dough; additional flour might be necessary.
Problem: Dough is bloated and blistering
Possible Causes: Dough has over-risen; rising place is too warm.
Solutions/Suggestions: Punch down, reshape, and let rise again.
Problem: Bread rises and bakes unevenly.
Possible Causes: Dough was shaped unevenly; dough was not scored or scored unevenly; oven heats unevenly.
Solutions/Suggestions: Try rotating the loaf; there is little more you can do at this point.
Problem: Bread browns unevenly on top
Possible Causes: Loaf is or was too close to the oven top; oven heats unevenly.
Solutions/Suggestions: Rotate loaf if browning unevenly; lower the rack on which the bread sits if browning too quickly.
Problem: Bread is too brown on bottom
Possible Causes: Baking stone or oven is too hot.
Solutions/Suggestions: Place a rack or wire cake stand between loaf and stone; check that oven is calibrated correctly.
Problem: Bread is too brown all over
Possible Causes: Oven is too hot.
Solutions/Suggestions: Lower the heat; check that oven is calibrated correctly.
Problem: Bread interior has gaping holes
Possible Causes: Too much yeast was used in dough; too little flour was used; too little kneading; dough over-rose; oven was too cool.
Solutions/Suggestions: Use the bread for toast; the uneven texture is desirable in certain breads such as sourdough and French bread.
Problem: Bread didn’t rise high enough
Possible Causes: Water was too hot for yeast; too little flour was used; too little kneading; dough was under-risen; pan was too large.
Solutions/Suggestions: Slice thin and serve small pieces.
Problem: Bread is heavy and dense
Possible Causes: Too much flour was used; too little kneading; dough was under-risen.
Solutions/Suggestions: Slice thin and serve small pieces.
Problem: Bread has a yeasty taste
Possible Causes: Dough over-rose; temperature was too high during rise.
Solutions/Suggestions: Let the bread dry 1 day and use to make bread crumbs.
