Sticking with "Wrong" method when you get the right results?
Hi everyone.
I have a bread machine that I use only on the "dough" setting, since I don't like the shape of loaves baked in the machine (or the hole at the end...I use an old bread machine I got at a thrift store).
I just reread the instructions looking for info on when to add raisins for raisin bread, and I found out I was supposed to be letting my dough get a second rise. The first rise is in the bread machine, the second is suppossed to occur once I have shaped the loaves and put the bread in the bread pan.
My issue is this: I usually just put the shaped loaves right in the oven, and they come out perfect. Soft, fluffy, perfectly shaped. I make primarily plain breads with a blend of 2:1 bread flour to white whole wheat flour. Also, I live in high altitude, so that probably has something to do with it.
Should I change my method just because the instructions say I should? Are there other types of bread I should let rise outside the oven? Or should I just stay with what's working?
like instructions say you should. If it tastes better - you're probably better off doing it the way they say. If it doesn't - why bother?
I do think that breads that have an actual proof (second rise) are better. I think you'll find that to be the case as well. Not to mention the longer fermentation will yield a somewhat longer keeping loaf.
Even if it works, it's about the taste too. The shorter the fermentation time, the blander the bread.
Happy baking,
Karin