everything turns out dense/yeasty, help!
Hi, I am desperate to figure out why this keeps happening. Every time I make bread or breadlike things it turns out dense, too moist and with a strong yeast flavor. I have made rolls, loaves and bagels now and had the same issue with each. The recipes I've used do not infer this, so it must be something I am doing. I use King Arthurs bread flour and have tried both fleischmann's and red star dry active yeast packets, both of which I bloomed in a cup of 115 degree sugar water. I've risen the dough twice in all instances, other than the rolls rose several times while I prepared other items. I've tried letting them bake longer until nearly burnt and also tried baking at shorter times, neither seems to fix the problem. I also live near sea level so altitude should not be an issue.
Any idea's or suggestions? Thank you in advance! I really want to figure this out as I am determined to stop buying bread from the store!
-Gayle
You should post the formula you are using so someone can tell you what the problem is.
I get dense and strong yeast flavor when the fermentation and proofing room temperature is too warm. I forget the temperature. It's something like between 75 and 85F. Or you can go cooler temperature with a longer fermentation time. Too warm with a short time causes bread to be dense because the gluten structure is too weak while the yeast is too active, resulting dense, gummy, collapsed bread.
The following website has some good tips and techniques involving on how to bulk ferment and proof:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/how-to-make-and-proof-bread-dough.html