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Ten Troubleshooting Tips for Yeast Bread




Source of Recipe


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.