Can you please tell me what I am doing wrong when I make yeast breads?

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I'll try to answer your questions one at a time...but first of all, you don't need to gauge the temperature of the water for the yeast. Just make sure it is warm, not cold and not hot. Put a good pinch of sugar in the water when you activate the yeast and you will see it bloom (foam) more quickly.
1. If you have a shelf over your stove and you are cooking, that is the best place. Just cover your bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. I also will use the oven itself if I am only making bread at the time. Turn the oven on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes and put a small bowl of water in there also for some humidity. Turn off the oven and put in your bread dough. Make sure the bowl is covered in a kitchen towel or plastic wrap so the dough doesn't develop a skin.
2. First rise can be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the temperature you are raising it in. This one is not as important as the second one, and you can tell it's done when you poke it with your finger and the indention remains. Before it's done it will spring back on you. Keep testing it to get a feel. You will see that it springs back less and less. Second rise, after you have shaped the bread is the opposite. You can tell it's ready to bake when you give a little poke and the dough springs right back into place. Again, give it a few pokes through the process so you can see the change. If the dough does not raise enough during this phase it will be very doughy and heavy. When it has raised too much you can have gaps like you were describing. You can tell it has gone too far in this raising pretty easy. You poke it, and it just dents. With practice, you can fell the space of air between the skin and the rest of the dough. You actually can start over at that point by kneading and giving one more raise. Depending on the strength of your yeast this could take a good bit longer to get it to raise, or it may not raise completely at all.
3. I think your problems come from your raising process. It is not an exact science and doesn't take exact timing. Just become familiar with how the dough should feel.
4. Spray the bowl with cooking spray. I always plop the dough in the bowl and then turn it over so the top and the bottom of the dough are greased. Then it won't stick to the bowl on the bottom, or the towel or plastic wrap on the top.

Make sure you are kneading it enough. Bread dough is created by bonding these proteins in flour called gluten. You create these protein strands by adding water and what-not to flour and continuosly pushing them together a.k.a. kneading. This is what gives the bread it's ultimate structure. Bread flour has the highest gluten content of the flours, such as cake/pastry and all purpose, so it makes the strongest breads. Kneading by hand takes me 10-12 minutes usually, and if I use a stand mixer like a Kitchen Aid, I set the timer for eight minutes and that usually does the trick.

So keep practicing, don't buy a bread machine. I don't care what anybody says, handmade bread can't be beat!

You can email me if you have anymore questions, I would be happy to help....Show more

Arrrgh. I hear you. I'm not a natural bread baker. I had to practise a lot. Fortunately, my husband and sons didn't care what the bread looked like.

I put my bread in a small oven to rise. No heat. It was just the most convenient place to keep it out of drafts.

I used to get big air pockets too. There were two problems. I wasn't kneading correctly and was putting air pockets into the bread especially when I punched the dough for the last rise. The second problem was letting the bread rise too high in the bread pan before I baked it.

I finally got it that the dough didn't need to come up over the top of the loaf pan.

I usually grease the bowl with whatever I have on hand. Butter or oil usually.

Rise time is directly related to temperature. So I can't give you an exact time. But, I've noticed that for me the times rarely coincide with recipes and are shorter.

One thing that really helped me was to make rustic shaped breads without using any loaf pan. This gave me a chance to see how dough really behaved.

I'm convinced that bread making is an art. You have to take the time to develop a feel for it. You'll get there....Show more

The first thing I'd suggest would be to check the calibration of your thermometer. If you don't know how to calibrate a thermometer, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you.

If you house is always cool and there is a draft, let your bread rise in the oven, cold of course.

The recipe should tell you how long or how much to let the dough rise. Most of the time, it says a certain time or until the dough has doubled in size. If it hasn't doubled by the end of the specified time, let it rise longer.

I use regular cooking oil to grease my bowl for rising.

And like Bart said, knead the daylights out of your bread. Don't be overly gentle, and don't stop too fast. Kneading helps develop the gluten structure.

Good Luck.

Doc Hudson...Show more

The things that kill bread are:

1. Underactive yeast, or yeast that's been mixed with water that is too hot.
2. Too much or two little flour
3. Not being placed in a warm enough area to rise.
4. Working too much flour into it during the kneading process.

Ok, so here goes:

1. Place two packages of active dry yeast in your bowl. Turn the water on to lukewarm and measure the heat by placing your wrist under it. If it stings its too hot. You shouldn't be able to feel much heat.
2. To your yeast and water mixture, add some honey, salt, and 3 T oil.
3. Heat 2 cups of milk, but don't bring to a boil. Cool and add to water mixture.
4. Measure out your flour and add accordingly. Sprinkle flour on kneading surface and work in to dough. Dough should not be sticky, nor too dry.
5. Rinse out your bowl and put a little oil in it. Fold your dough into a ball and roll your dough around the pan, and turn over. Cover with a dry tea towl and place on your stove. If you have a gas stove, place on back burner. If you have an electric stove, place in oven with door shut (to avoid drafts).
6. Dough will triple in size within about an hour and a half. Punch down and fold into ball. Cover with towel again and put back to raise again.
7. When dough has doubled in size, punch down again and divide into your baking pans. Cover and let rise a third time.
8. Heat oven to 350 degrees. When dough is ready, place pans in oven to bake....Show more

Why not get yourself a Bread Maker. They are really great and almost fool proof. You can probably find one pretty cheap at a thrift store now since the it is no longer all the rage. I have two that I picked up for less than $ 10 and I love them especially at the holidays. I even make bread in them and use it as gifts at the holidays or other special occasions. I can even make jam and/or jelly in one of my Bread Makers. Even if you get one without the instructions that usually have some recipe also, you can also call the maker of the Bread Machine and get a copy....Show more