Fail! So sad.

[2ManyHobbies]

What did I do wrong?
The last two times I have tried to make the white bread plus recipe (White Bread Plus) I have been met with with absolute failure. Both times the dough did well rising, punched it down, doubled in size, punched down, shaped and baked. Absolutely flat as a fritter and no taste at all. The problem is I have made this recipe with great success several times and now it just isn't working. Any ideas? I am frustrated as can be. Thanks.

[duonyte]

Did you switch to Rapid Rise yeast - this supports just a single rise. Instant yeast or active dry yeast will do fine with the three rises. I am also wondering if you are possibly allowing the dough to overrise. If the dough is allowed to rise too much before being put in the oven, the ovenspring (rise it gets from the initial heat in the oven) will cause it to rise beyond the ability of the structure to support it, and it will then collapse.

It isn't always easy to tell when dough has risen enough. The best example I can tell you is to draw a circle with a 3 inch diameter and another one with a 4 inch of diameter. Now imagine these are balls rather than just circles - if they were balls, the volume of the 4 inch sphere is more than double that of the 3 inch diameter sphere. But when you look at them side by side, the one is not so obviously double the size of the other.

It;s much easier to see the increase in size when the dough is in a pan than when it's a roll or free-form loaf.

[2ManyHobbies]

Thanks so much for the reply. I did some investigation after reading your reply and found that, sure enough, the yeast was Rapid Rise. After reading the instructions ( ) on the back of the package I see the error of my ways.
Another culprit was as you mentioned allowing the dough to over rise. I let it rise by time given in the instructions instead of observing for doubling on the first and then proceeded to the second, which it did but I punched it down sooner as it did rise to what I thought was about double. Maybe not. When I put it in the oven to bake and watched it there was not one bit of rise. Terrible.
Shot myself in the foot.
Well, I've learned something about yeast. Think I'll try another batch with a ten minute rest and then rise and bake. When used up I may go back to my original yeast used.
I'm pretty new to baking and have a lot to learn. Here's a pic of my first ever attempt following directions to a 't'. That's what was so upsetting about the failures.
EDIT: OH MY! I just reread the directions after looking at pics of my very first attempt with this recipe. Not only did I not read the directions on the different yeast but I missed the 3rd rise after forming loaves and just threw it in the oven. Failure all the way around. There are no pics of the failure.
First effort pics:

[duonyte]

Everyone here has had their share of baking disasters. I have on at least several occasions sat there and looked at a lump of dough that is just sitting and not rising and realized that I never put the yeast in (remedy - tear dough into chunks, proof yeast in a little water, sprinkle over the chunks and then knead it all together).

The more you bake, the more it will all become second nature and it will be easier for you to diagnose problems yourself.

Let us know how it goes! Check out the What Have You Baked Recently thread, we would love to have you join in. Those good looking loaves should definitely join in!

[Red Apple Guy]

By all means, join us at the "What Have You Baked Recently?" thread.

This is the forum I learned to bake in. duonyte and Donna dignosed most of my flops (those I told them about).

Don't be a stranger.

Red

[Bonnie G #2]

Ahhh reading this thread answered my questions about types of yeast, so which one do you prefere, rapid rise or active?

[JoeV]

Bonnie G #2 wrote:
Ahhh reading this thread answered my questions about types of yeast, so which one do you prefere, rapid rise or active?

Instant yeast (aka Rapid Rise) is all I use. Brand doesn't matter to me, but I have used SAF red label, Red Star and now I have Flieschman's. I buy it in a 2-pack at Sam's Club for about $4.25. That's for 2# of yeast. I make between 100-150 loaves each year, and lots of that is given away.