Title: Abm--Trouble Shooting for Troubled Loaves
Categories: Breadmaker Info
Yield: 1 Servings

LISA CRAWLEY/TEASPOON

This is a small help guide to aid you in assessing your troubled loaves.

CRATERED BREAD=If the top or sides cave in, you've probably got substantially too much moisture. Try reducing your water by 1/8 c... If you're using canned fruit or vegetables, drain well and blot them dry...Try to remove your bread from its pan when baking is completed. Leaving a loaf in the pan can result in soggy sides and silly shapes... Sometimes craters occur w/ heavier flours because the yeast makes the bread rise, but it can't sustain the structure. Try a lighter flour.. Crater loaves also happen w/ cheese breads; they taste great but getting the liquid content right can be tricky since each cheese has its own moisture content.

PUDDING POCKETS=The center of this loaf isn't cooked all the way through. Typically it happens w/ heavier flours such as whole wheat, rye and bran. One solution is an extra knead. After the first knead, let the dough rise, then restart the machine at the very beginning as for a new loaf of bread. That puts more air into the dough... Another culprit may be moist ingred. such as yogurt, applesauce, canned chilies and canned fruit. Try reducing your liquids a tablespoon at a time.

MUSHROOM BREAD=There's too much yeast, it's blown its top, it's officially overproofed. Are you using the right yeast w/ the right measurement? Our recipes give two yeast measurements. Use either ACTIVE DRY OR FAST RISE not both! Did you use a tablespoon by accident? Yeast is almost always measured in teaspoons... You may have too much sugar, or too many ingredients w/ natural sugar like dried fruit. Older dried fruit has an even higher sugar content. Decrease the sugar or honey accordingly.. Another possibility is a smidge too much water. Try decreasing it by one tablespoon at a time... Using a finely ground flour? Occasionally, finely ground, softer flours require slightly less water or yeast than the harder, heavier flours.

GNARLY LOAVES=You know the kind-they look like gnarly tree bark. Your dough probably needs more moisture; when it's too dry, it can't knead properly. Try reducing flour 1/8 c at a time or increasing liquids 1 tablespoon at a time until you hit the right balance for your machine, flour and yeast.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH=Live in a higher altitude? Your loaves may rise, look great-then crash while baking. The low air pressure in higher altitudes means your yeast meets with less resistance, so your bread may make promises it can't keep; the bread can't sustain its own expansion. Experiment w/ reducing your yeast by 1/4 teaspoon at atime to slow the rising. Also try reducing water by no more than 1/8 c. Our Colorado-based baker also solved this problem by using a light, finely milled flour, which produced perfect loaves.

HOCKEY PUCKS=Some stone ground and whole wheat flours will bake a shorter loaf, but not a puck. If it looks like a hockey puck, you forgot your yeast. If the loaf is slightly higher, like a hockey puck on steroids, your yeast may be old. Test it by mixing one tsp. of sugar and one tbsp. of yeast in 1/2 c of warm water. If the mixture doubles in volume in 15 min., the yeast is still good. Water that is either too hot or too cold is also a yeast inhibitor. Think tepid, like a baby's bath.. Another possibility: accidentally measuring your salt w/ a tablespoon instead of a tsp.

WHERE YOU LIVE=Needless to say, summers in Alaska are different than summers in Albuquerque or Atlanta. Humidity, temp., and water quality can effect your bread results. For instance, yeast may process faster in hot weather, so you may need less. In humid weather, heavier flours may absorb the moisture in the air more than finer, softer flours. We've told you what we discovered about the variables of flour, water and yeast, but you'll be the expert on your ingred. in your machine in your climate. TAKEN FROM ELECTRIC BREAD

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