September 26, 2011 - 7:43pm
What happen to my raisin bread
Just got a Zo bread maker tried the recipe that came with the machine for raisin bread...did exactly what it said set to the quick bread cycle since I have instant yeast, however when I put the raisins in when it said add, none of them made it into the loaf. Bread is great, but all the raisins are on the outside of the bread..lol...so I basically have a raisin crust Cinnamon bread. Is there a specific reason I couldn't just add the raisins into the mix along with every thing else, because waiting until the add beep the dough is all ready in a ball, no wonder nothing went into it.
Share
Were they washed or wet? Soft or hard raisins?
If they were fresh out of the moisture sealed package, they should have blended unless the blades had stopped mixing. Did they move at all from the spot they were dropped? The reason for adding after initial mixing is so that they don't get chopped to itty bitty bits by the blade in the beginning. You can put them in early but use firm dry raisins if you want to see any of them in a slice.
Washed and strained raisins blend better. They tend to soften the dough around them and stick to the dough. Might try moistening them first and watch the machine as it blends in the raisins. Then if the raisins are still visable, remove the dough with your hands, give it a few folds to work in the raisins and return the dough to the machine. That also gives you a chance to check the firmness of the dough which might be too stiff to blend in the raisins. Maybe some more water is needed during the kneading cycle. If so add only a tablespoon at a time and let it work in well before adding more.
They were fresh raisins ready to eat, came in a big can from Krogers, All Natural Raisins. I did sprinkle a little flour on them because they were sticky and clumping together, the flour made them not stick together, just a dusting, maybe I shouldn't have done that....lol...and they did mash all up from the blades mostly because they didn't fold into the dough ball, and it all ended up outside the dough ball. It was doing the kneading cycle when the add beep came on, continued the kneading cycle for another ten minutes after I added the raisins, but like I said they just refused to fold into the dough. What type of raisins should I get and should I put them in along with the rest of the ingredients. I really like raisin bread, I need to find a good recipe for this..thanks
in liquid batters so the raisins don't all sink to the bottom. I think if you want them swirled nicely into the crumb take Joan's advice and roll out the dough after the bulk rise. What about the dryness of the dough? Something to watch for too with the next batch.
Did the raisins burn on the outside? That sounds so interesting... sort of reverse fruit bread. We have a fruit bread here that is made in the winter months with a heavy dried fruit filled dough log inside and wrapped with a lighter dough, docked and baked. It is a dense sweet bread sliced thin. Tastes a lot like fruit cake. Dark inside with golden color outside. I can imagine that your raisin coating outside left the slice looking light inside with a darker sweet crust outside.
LOL...tried again, same recipe the one that came with the Zo machine, but this time I put the raisins in well before the add beep, about two minutes into the first kneading, they ended up well dispersed in the bread, but the bread overall wasn't that great. Real chewy, seemed like the dough didn't finish cooking. I have decided that these recipes just aren't that great...lol...I have read reviews that often said the recipes that come with the machine are no good, guess they were right...so I am looking for a better recipe. I like the idea of rolling out the dough and sprinkling the raisins, may try that with a white bread recipe from the Internet I made that worked real good, and just add the raisins and some Cinnamon, give that a try...but thanks all for the suggestion and help, I'll post back when I get a good raisin bread.