making homemade yeast bread?

Question

Mine doesn't rise and its too moist and heavy after baking...frankly it sucks! I have tried two different recipes, my mom's which was always good when I was a kid and one I pulled off of the internet this morning....I was really hoping for good bread. My yeast was new and fresh, I followed the directions exactly. I read some answers to this same question that other ppl asked. Some said room temp? I live in Florida and we us A/C...could that be it? I also read that you should really knead the dough well...but then in another it said not to OVER knead the dough. I'm confused...will someone please give me a recipe and directions to make a good loaf of white bread PLEASE? Also, any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong?

Also I am NOT using a bread machine.

Answer 1

I used to work as a customer service rep for a yeast manufacturer. rather than get into detail let me give you a website that has all the recipes and troubleshooting tips
http://breadworld.com/index.asp
http://breadworld.com/beginners/index.asp

From what you wrote it seems that you either had too much liquid or underbaked the loaf.
either way check out the links they are very helpful for begginer bakers

Answer 2

It's not that complicated . white bread is really basic stuff and as long as you follow a couple of simple rules it's really hard to screw up
A couple of things :
if you are not using a kitchen aid mixer or a big commercial Hobart it is almost impossible to over knead by hand- your hands would get tired long before you over- kneaded it
The first thing you need to know is whether or not your yeast is alive . If it's alive it will reproduce and release CO2 in the process it will also create an alcohol.
Using a calibrated instant read thermometer place the water which is between 108 and112 degrees into the mixing bowl add your yeast and a teaspoon or so of a sugar-yeast needs to eat something. Whether or not you choose to use wet[fresh] or dry yeast is of no consequence
wait until the yeast gets all bubbly and starts smelling of alcohol If that doesn't happen the yeast is bad- start again with a fresh batch of yeast
Pour all of you carefully measured flour which should contain a little salt into the mixing bowl
Find a four ingredient french bread recipe for this exercises [ water, flour sugar and salt]
Assuming that you don't have a stand mixer ; mix all of the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until you have sticky ball pour out onto a wooden or stone surface have a cup of flour available
Time to knead
kneading does two thing it distributes the yeast evenly and allows gluten development to occur by stretching and re-stretching the protiens
How to knead:
Push your palms into the bottom of your dough ball/ lump while pulling the top back with your fingers . Do the push/pull thing 3-5 times and then rotate the dough 90 degrees. What you should be doing is turning the dough inside out on itself . At this point the dough should be warm and slightly sticky.
If it's really sticky sprinkle a little of the flour on the board and knead it into the dough.
Continue the process for at least 10 minutes- sorry
The dough should have a shiny appearance
form the dough into a ball . Lightly spray a mixing bowl that is at least twice the size of your ball with Pam or a similiar product.
Place the ball dough in the bowl cover w/ a slightly damp towel put in a warm draft free place and allow to DOUBLE IN SIZE
When doubled literally punch the air out it
place the dough onto a work surface and divide in half.
knead the halves for another couple of minutes make dough balls first and then make long loaves - think of making snakes from clay
turn oven onto 425
cover a baking sheet w/ parchment
place loaves on top of it
cover
allow to double
Just prior to baking place some diagonal slits in the loaves using a very sharp knife or a razor
spray loaves with water sprinkle w/ seeeds -sesame or poppy
bake until golden brown and when turned over and thumped loaves sound hollow
remove and eat

Answer 3

I made white bread this weekend from a recipe in the Joy of Cooking, been using the same recipe more than 25 years. It's been slightly modified over the years to suit me so here is how I successfully make plain white bread.

In a ceramic bowl heat 1 cup of milk until in the microwave almost boiling. Add
6 tablespoons butter or shortening
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Stir and let sit until all the solids have melted. Add 1 cup of water.

Let it set for a few minutes unti it's just warm.

In a large bowl combine 1 package active dry yeast and 1/4 cup warm water. It should feel just warm to the touch. You don't need to stir it or anything. Let it sit a few minuts. If the yeast is alive it should develop a few bubbles. Pour in the luke warm milk mixture. (Note: Yeast is temperature sensitive. Pay attention.)

Stir in 3 cups flour. By now it should be starting to get hard to stir so you'll want to work in the rest by hand. Mix in another 3- 3 1/5 cups of flour. You want the consistency firm without being sticky. Most of the dough should have worked off your hands by now.

When it is a smooth texture form it into a ball in the bottom of the bowl and spray the exposed surface with some PAM to keep the liquids from evaporating. Cover and let sit out of the drafts until the dough has doubled in bulk.

Turn the dough over in the bowl working it enough to reduce it to its original size again. Spray with a thin layer of PAM again and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk.

Remove from bowl and cut into two equal sized pieces.Roll between your hands to form two loaves and place in greased and floured loaf pans. Cover and let rise again until a little more than doubled in bulk. Cook in a 350 degree oven about 30 minutes. The bread is done when you tap on it and get a hollow sound and the bread is pulling away from the sides a little.

Roll out onto sides on wire racks and allow to cool. If you are eager you can cut it while still warm, not hot. But you are best to let it cool completely to avoid the loaves drying out later.

Answer 4

My wife buys the sifted flour and then sifts it again. She also sits it on stove covered with a towel with other burners on low to help it rise. She also gets Fleichmann's Rapid Rise yeast. When kneading don't over knead because of air bubbles when dough is cooked will have air pockets.
What kind of flour are you using? All white flour--follow above directions. When using wheat flour you need a 50/50 mix of wheat and white. If milk is to hot it can de-activate yeast, but not always. She was told NEVER NEVER use wet yeast always use dry yeast, because of fermintation. A/C has nothing to do with problem.

Answer 5

My mother makes the best yeast rolls ever. She always "works the dough over". She also covers the pan of dough with a kitchen towel to aid in it rising. You may have your home too cool for the dough to rise properly, try adjusting the A/C, and see if that makes a difference in the bread. If the bread is heavy, you definitely did not 'work it over' enough.

Answer 6

You can make decent wine using bread yeast. It is NOT dangerous in any way. It just doesn't make very good wine. Wine yeast has been specially cultivated to work best for wine while bread yeast has been cultivated to work best with bread. It is kind of like making a pizza with velveeta instead of using good mozzerella! It will work, but you can do much better. Bert

Answer 7

You need to let it rise in a warm draft free place. Try your oven if it is gas the warmth will help and if its electric set it a the lowest warm setting keep an eye on it and when it is almost double start baking it.