Making bread more "airy" and light?

[RedSnackBowl]

IT IS A SUCCESS!!!!! A perfectly shaped 2-pound airy and light french bread with medium colored crust! I AM SOOO happy!! I wish I could send you a picture of the bread and me poking the airy content. hahaha...

Yes, I used yeast that is specifically for bread machine, and went really easy on the bread flour. I also added more water than the recipe calls for, 1.5 cups rather than 1.25 cups.

Again, thank you so much for all your diagnosis and advice! Do you know if I can substitute whole wheat flour for bread flour in this five-ingredient french bread recipe?

[Red Apple Guy]

Yeah!!!!! Congradulations! I'm glad you stuck with it.

Whole wheat, from 10% to 30% of the flour will have little affect on the density of the bread. Above that, whole wheat benefits from soaking with some of the recipe liquid for several hours before the breadmaker starts doing its thing.

Red

[duonyte]

That is great - I am so glad your bread turned out wonderful, and I am sure it is just the first of many many wonderful loaves.

[RedSnackBowl]

So I got excited and tried another recipe that comes with my bread maker... wasn't quite a success....Hmm...

I first wanted to ask if it is typical (for is it the case with your bread makers) to have Rapid Bake setting whereby the duration is only 58 minutes for a 2 pound loaf.

I wouldn't say it's "uncooked" this time, especially the bottom half where the crust is light brown and crispy. However, the whole content is still fairly gooey (not bouncing back as you would expect when I finger pressed on it), and the top crust is pretty much the color of white flour. I would say it's 85% cooked... but it's not what you'd expect a proper bread to look like now I've seen one!

It has risen up to an almost proper 2-pound size; just a bit shorter I think in comparison to my "success" benchmark.

What could be the matter?

Below is the recipe/setting I just used today entitled Setting - Rapid Bake, Herbed French Bread:

2 cups of water (110 to 120 F)
2 tbsp instant minced onion
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp bread machine yeast (I used almost 2.5 tsp)

I didn't use the following that the recipe/setting calls for:
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic.

Thank you!

[duonyte]

I seem to remember looking at a manual for some machine which warned not to use the quick bake cycle for more than a 1 lb loaf. But I checked the manual for my Cuisinart, and it shows 1 hr 5 minutes for a 2lb loaf on what they call last-minute loaves.

I have never tried it, but your description sounds as if it has not baked long enough.

Does your manufacturer have a website that might have a forum section where people discuss their issues with the different cycles? I am going to check whether the Cuisinart has one.

[duonyte]

My manual says to eat these loaves within 2 hrs, by the way - I'd have to have a lot of people over to eat that much bread in 2 hrs.,,,,,

[Red Apple Guy]

I'm guessing that the recipe is shy on the yeast for a "rapid cycle". The yeast is about 0.9% by weight of the flour, which is fine for longer fermentation breads, but rapid cycle doesn't sound like it will allow enough time for that. I would either up the yeast to 4 teaspoons (1.7%) or select a longer cycle.

Red

[duonyte]

Red! Great observation! I checked my manual and the 2 lb loaves all use 4 tsp yeast!

[Red Apple Guy]

Aw shucks!


Red

[RedSnackBowl]

I'm not sure if black and decker has a discussion forum but will look.

I'm not not happy that my manual contains a a recipe/setting that is not working! Not only did I have to adjust the amount of ingredients in a previous recipe, now I feel I cannot rely on the recipes at all. I am starting to feel like returning it. Is Cuisinart a better make you think?

[RedSnackBowl]

Really appreciate the advice on the amount of yeast by the way. I'm just weary of not being able to trust the recipes... Do you have to adjust the recipes that come with the breadmaker for fundamental ingredients like the amount of yeast and water?

[Red Apple Guy]

You should be able to trust the recipes, but I've looked at your manual and question a number of the recipes. The French Bread suggests .9% yeast while the Italian bread suggests 3.3% yeast, three and a half times as much. The salt ratio is goofy for the Italian bread recipe also.

We have a bunch of good recipes here for bread machines (often with ABM in the title for automatic bread machine). Beth Hensperger's book "The Bread Lovers Bread Machine Cookbook" is a favorite of mine whether I'm using a bread machine or not.

Try your local library for books on Bread Machine recipes.

Sounds like the bread machine is more dependable than the recipes.

Red

[Dee514]

RedSnackBowl wrote:
I'm not sure if black and decker has a discussion forum but will look.

I'm not not happy that my manual contains a a recipe/setting that is not working! Not only did I have to adjust the amount of ingredients in a previous recipe, now I feel I cannot rely on the recipes at all. I am starting to feel like returning it. Is Cuisinart a better make you think?

Below is a link for the most recent inquiry about bread machines (from our Kitchen Gadgets & Appliances forum).

Bread Machine - The last post in the thread has links to other threads on the same topic which I think you may find helpful.

[duonyte]

I know a lot of people have complained about recipes in a number of manuals. if the machine works well, I would stick with it. There are many recipes to choose from. As Red suggested, check your library, and also check the recipes posted here. I've had no problems with the recipes in the Cuisinart manual, but someone said one I posted without trying did not work. So you cannot be sure with any of them, I am afraid.

[RedSnackBowl]

Thanks everyone! You are all soo wonderful and helpful!

Are there some critical "ratios" in bread making via machine? E.g., Red mentioned .9% yeast to flour ratio is fine with longer fermentation. I'm trying to get some rules of thumb is there are...