When i make bread, it's never soft, instead its hard. Is there a foolproof way to make soft sweet bread?

Question

The kind of bread at chinese bakeries. How much water, yeast, and time do i need for it to be soft.

Answer 1

I assume your wanting a recipe for Chinese Steamed Buns. Look over the recipe I use and give it a try.

When I make regular white bread as soon as I remove it from the oven I take the small end of a stick of butter and rub it over the top of the bread which results in a soft crust.

Steamed Chinese Buns
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup warm water or milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder


In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over a mixture of 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup flour and leave for around 15-30 minutes.
Stir in the remaining water/ milk, flour, salt, sugar, pepper (if using) and oil.
Mix everything to a dough.
Turn it on to a floured work surface and knead it until it is smooth.
Return it to the bowl, cover it and leave it in a warm place for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until it has tripled in size.
Punch down the dough with the back of your fist to flatten on a floured board.
Sprinkle the baking powder over and knead for a few minutes.
Shape the dough into 24 rolls.
Keep each ball on a wax paper and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
You can place these balls on individual pcs of wax paper so you can use these to place in the steamer too for easier handling.
Bring water in the bottom of a steamer to a boil first.
Then place the rolls in the steamer, leaving a 1-inch gap between them.
Cook in batches if need be.
Cook them for 10-15 minutes, or until they are firm and cooked through.
Do not turn the heat off before you lift the lid of the steamer as this causes blistering on the surface of the rolls.
Serve them hot.

Answer 2

Some of your other answers are correct - the really soft is steamed. And the answer about spreading butter over the bread right when it comes out of the oven helps keep it soft on the outside or regular baking. If you want the rest of the bread nice and soft, place a number of loaves in a cake pan and the sides will be very light and soft. If they are in individual bread pans, the sides will be harder.

Answer 3

In order to make a bread with a softer crust, use a liquid oil instead of lard or shortening, use corn syrup, honey or molasses instead of sugar, take it out of the oven earlier, and paint it with butter or oil immediately upon removing it from the oven.

You might also want to play around with tenting the bread with aluminum foil, and with increasing the humidity in the oven, by putting a pan of water on the bottom shelf while baking the bread.

Answer 4

At Chinese bakeries they probably steam the bread.

Answer 5

try this


Portuguese Sweet Bread
1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
2-1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 water, at room temperature
dough
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered milk
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp vegetable shortening
2 large eggs
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cup unbleached bread flour
about 6 tablespoons water, at room temperature


to make the sponge, stir together the flour, sugar, and yeast in a
small bowl. add the water and stir until all the ingredients are
hydrated and make a smooth batter. cover the bowl with plastic wrap
and ferment at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the
sponge gets foamy and seems on the verge of collapse.
to make the dough, combine the sugar, salt, powdered milk, butter,
and shortening in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or the bowl of an electric
mixer). cream together with a sturdy spoon (or the paddle attachment)
until smooth, then mix in the eggs and the extracts. knead by hand
(or switch to the dough hook attachment) and mix in the sponge and
the flour. add the water, as needed, to make a very soft dough. the
finished dough should be very supple and soft, easy to knead, and not
wet or sticky. it will take 10 to 12 minutes with the electric mixer
and close to 15 minutes by hand to achieve this consistency. (dough
with high amounts of fat and sugar usually take longer to knead
because the gluten requires more time to set up.) the finished dough
should pass the windowpane test (see note below) and register 77 to
88 degrees f. lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the
bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. cover the bowl with
plastic wrap.

ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the
dough doubles in size.
remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into two equal pieces.
form each of the pieces into a boule. lightly oil two 9-inch pie pans
and place 1 boule, seam side down, in each pan. mist the dough with
spray oil and loosely cover the pans with plastic wrap.
proof at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, or until the dough fills
the pans fully, doubling in size and overlapping the edges slightly.
(if you only want to bake one loaf, you may retard the second in the
fridge for 1 day, although it will take 4 to 5 hours to proof after
it comes out of the refrigerator.)
very gently brush the loaves with egg wash. preheat the oven to 350
degrees f with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

bake the loaves for 50 to 60 minutes, or until they register 190 f in
the center. after 30 minutes, check the loaves and rotate 180
degrees, if necessary, for even baking. because of the high amount of
sugar, the dough will brown very quickly, but don't be fooled into
thinking it is done. it will get darker as the center gradually
catches up with the outside, but it will not burn. the final color
will be a rich mahogany brown.
remove the bread from the pie pans and place on a rack to cool. the
bread will soften as it cools, resulting in a very soft, squishy
loaf. allow the bread to cool for at least 90 minutes before slicing
or serving.

Answer 6

Just bake it with a pan of water in the bottom of the oven.

Answer 7

Yes if you put it in the toaster to long it gets hard and crunchy!