January 7, 2015 - 6:12pm
Please help!
My name is Zarina and new here ! I like baking bread and trying to get pro on it ) I baked bread last night and its good except I think it's dense still how can I make it lighter and fluffier ? :/
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My name is Zarina and new here ! I like baking bread and trying to get pro on it ) I baked bread last night and its good except I think it's dense still how can I make it lighter and fluffier ? :/
The experienced bakers here are far more likely to be able to help you if you list your recipe and state your method in full.
Looks pretty good overall.
If you want lighter & fluffier you have a few options:
1. Use stretch & fold method instead of kneading. (search these forums for info)
2. Use tang zhong a.k.a. water roux method when making your dough.
3. Use intensive kneading (for example, in Kitchenaid mixer with dough hook on speed #4 for 10 minutes). Look for txfarmer's posts on shreddably soft bread.
4. Incorporate more fat or protein into your dough (milk/butter/shortening/oil/etc).
5. Incorporate cooked mashed potato, potato flour, or instant potato flakes into your dough.
You may be able to combine some of these methods to further make your crumb lighter/fluffier.
Wow thank you guys so MUCH!
Since i m new here , its hard to find anything you want . Hope soon will learn it ) anyway my mom used to bake bread a lot in my country( Kyrgyz republic) . So we used to help to bring the woods from the big river and she had an outdoor oven at the back yard to bake , the bread used to turn out excellent every time. I think i got my baking skills from her )) miss her and the bread !!!
Anyway i got the recipe here in that second lesson article .
2 cups all-purpose enriched unbleached flour
1 cup bread flour (or all-purpose flour, if you do not have bread flour)
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup sugar
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup lukewarm water
I pored the first 1/4 cup of water it looked dry so i add the 1/4 of cup water again and it was little bit too much so i start needing with some flour
I have a kitchenaid and i did the first mixing part in that machine later after 3 or 4 min i start kneading by hand for 10 min exactly ( i need to check needing technicks) could be that
I let it rise in warm place for an hour or more ,then i knead for just slightly few min, then shaped it for bread and let it rise for an hour again! After i baked it 350 for 50 min
Thats all i did ! I will keep working more , definitely bread is Delicious but needs some more work :)
Cranbo thank you so much!
I didnt know that i can use kitchen aid with that speed , we just bought it .so i m new in that too and its book says with dough hook only speed 2 ?! anyway i will try it! and thanks again for your suggestions really appreciated :)
Yes you can, but be careful. I use my KA Artisan regularly (at least 1x per week) at that speed with no problem, and I've been doing it for 2 or 3 years.
NOTE: You have to watch & listen to the mixer carefully; listen if the mixer is struggling, or if the mixer housing is getting hot, if so then STOP and let the mixer cool down, and take out some of the dough.
I don't recommend that you use speed #4 with dough hook when kneading more than about 1.5kg of dough. If you have more than 1.5kg of dough, knead your dough in batches, and then recombine separately by hand.
FYI if you do knead at speed #4 in your KA, and need to send your KA in for warranty repair, don't tell them, because it could void your warranty!
You certainly can knead at speed #2, but you will need to double your kneading time, i.e., knead at speed #2 for ~20 minutes to have the same intensive kneading effect. Again, pay attention to the weight of the dough and the heat of the mixer, so you don't overburden your mixer.
if the recipe you used is supposed to produce a loaf that is like the one you've shown. If it's not supposed to be (much) lighter and fluffier, then you may have done alright.
Thank you guys!
Cranbo Thank you so much! I promise I will be very careful! ;)
Tomorrow I will bake another bread, so we will see how it goes! Btw I think i should use the same recipe or try it something else? I was thinking do better with one bread first,then jumping to another ) don't know any thoughts ?!
Hi Zarina,
I think like you. I'd do the same formula again as you did the first time. That will be sort of a "tried and true" formula since it's posted here in the "lessons" and now you can try it with your improvements worked in. You'll know when you're bored with that recipe.
And, btw, your first loaf looks pretty darn good. I bet it tasted good too!
Have fun and don't be afraid to experiment.
Happy Baking!
What I did when I started (which was last fall, so not very long ago) was to bake the same loaf a few times until it was consistent. Since then, I have tried variations of that base recipe. I would suggest changing only one thing at a time, or maybe two at the most. I did change more than two a couple of times, but when one of them didn't turn out well, it was very hard to figure out the cause.
Aww thank you Jane!
It was good little bit sweet, I was thinking to cut back the sugar some ! i think its a lot for this loaf :)
I think it looks good, too. Lightness comes with practice - and also depends on the recipe.
I agree, stick to the same recipe for a while so you can get a feel for it, and enjoy playing with things like sugar content until they're to your taste.
Thank you Hippytea!