Bread Baking Tips & Troubleshooting Guide (2024)

FAQs

What is one of the most common problems when baking bread? ›

The color indicates the day of the week the bread was baked. Typically, commercial bread is baked and delivered to grocery stores five days a week. This gives bakeries two days off–Wednesdays and Sundays. The color system helps the store staff as they rotate in the freshest bread and remove the older loaves.

It may be flat or if it is proofed and baked in a tin, then the sides of it will start spilling over. It will not rise as it is baking either.

bread recipe | TikTok. to tell when your bread is ready for the oven, gently poke the dough. underproof dough will spring back completely correctly, proof will spring back slowly and only halfway, and overproof dough won't spring back at all. after baking, the underproof dough will be dense and deformed.

If baked too soon or too late, loaves can collapse and have a dense, gummy center. “There are so many factors that affect rise time, so exact time will vary for every baker.

Why is my homemade bread so dense and heavy? ›

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

The more yeast in a recipe initially, the quicker it produces CO2, alcohol, and organic acids. Alcohol, being acidic, weakens the gluten in the dough, and eventually the dough becomes “porous,” and won't rise; or won't rise very well.

Yeast is too hot Yeast may have been dissolved in water that was too hot, or the liquid ingredients in the recipe may be too hot, causing the yeast to die. Yeast needs to be warm - not too hot, not too cold. Yeast is too cold If the other ingredients are too cold, it could cause some of the yeast to die.

Wrong type and amount of yeast

Make sure you've added the right amount of yeast, or your bread will rise too rapidly and collapse because the dough's structure can't hold that much rise. Also, pay attention to the type of yeast suggested in the recipe.

Too much flour and not enough water can cause crumbly bread – people often do this if the dough is too sticky and they add more flour rather than kneading through it. Other culprits can be overproving or not kneading enough – the things you need to do to get a good structure.

Too much shortening or sugar. Too low an oven temperatur. Insufficient baking. Too much batter in the pan.