Home Made Bread?

Question

How can I get my home made Bread lighter and more like the in store bakery bread. It is very tasty, but always so dense.

Answer 1

after proving dont over handle and it is better if your dough is slightly wet b4 proving as rises better. use strong flour as it is more glutanous and fresh yeast is better than dried

Answer 2

You got to just keep baking, keep notes if you need to; It has been my experience that bread can be dependent on a lot of variables, some of which might be beyond our abilities to understand.

I bake with a sour dough starter with wild yeast. I have kept it alive for almost four years now. When I moved it changed the flavor. But it is temper mental, sometimes it works better than other times. Temperature, humidity, ingredients, and perhaps the phase of the moon, all have their effects. Also, how long you let it rise, how long you work the dough.

In a bakery, they don't use sour dough and they have better control over the variables, so their bread is consistent, but it is also non-distinctive.

When my bread works, it is the best bread you have ever eaten. I am not bragging, because I do not know how it comes out so good. Sometimes. Sometimes it doesn't work.

It is an adventure

Answer 3

What works depends on where you are. Differences in sea level and humidity and temperature and who-knows-what-else make a difference in how bread turns out. Like one of the previous answerers said, keep notes!

Try using yogurt or buttermilk as your liquid.

If you're into cookbooks, find the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book -- it has lots of good information and bread recipes.

Answer 4

Make sure you are using bread flour, not all purpose flour. The gluten (protein) content in higher in all purpose flour which will make your bread heavier and dense. But if you did use bread flour, try kneading the dough a bit longer. Hope that helps, Happy Holidays, Mark C.

Answer 5

when you knead the bread you have to stretch it and give it a good kneading, it will never be like store bought bread cos you have made it yourself, you can rise it as many as 3 times, the more you knead and rise the better the texture of the bread. you must knead it for at least 5 minites.

Answer 6

It's certainly alot of trial and error but I find (if your in the UK) that "Carrs" bread making flour is the best, and I use Lurpack spreadable butter + 1 sachet of Tesco fast yeast. Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

when you read any recipe for making bread, it will say to let it rise 2xs punching it down and needing it after each time. I will let it rise a 3rd time (or if pressed for time just on the 2nd time it rises) and DO NOT PUNCH IT DOWN.
I have had people refuse to belive that my bread was homemade. enjoy.

Answer 8

add less flour . the dough will be much stickier and harder to handle so coat your hands with oil first. from i bin makin bread for many years..

Answer 9

Thanks for making me hungry. Yummmm warm fresh home made bread with butter.