Using A Bread Machine

Using A Bread Machine

Using A Bread Machine

Bread machines are making a comeback into the culinary world! There are many beautiful, new (and improved!) bread machines on the market today.

Also, you can almost always find a good, used bread machine at your local thrift store or yard sale. If you happen to buy a used machine that does not have an instructional booklet, or you have lost yours, a good resource to check out ishttps://www.wikihow.com/Use‐a‐Bread‐Machine

Bread Machine Troubleshooting Guide

1) Top inflated, mushroom‐like appearance:
Possible cause —

•  Too much yeast
• Too much sugar
• Not enough salt
•  Substituted fast‐acting yeast for the amount given for active dry yeast
• Yeast was not added according to the manufacturer’s directions

Solution —

• Decrease yeast or sugar in recipe
• Try adding a little more salt
• If substituting fast‐acting yeast for active dry, decrease

the amount by 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon

Bread Machine

Troubleshooting Guide continued

2) Top and sides cave in:
Possible cause —

• Too much liquid
• Used canned fruit but did not drain well
• The liquid is off‐balanced by the addition of cheese
• Used coarser flours such as whole wheat or rye

Solution —

• Try reducing liquids 1 tablespoon at a time
•  If using more than half coarse flour, try increasing yeast slight‐
  ly or reducing coarse flour and increasing bread flour

3) Soggy sides:
Possible cause —

Did not remove bread from the pan soon enough

Solution —

•  If possible, remove bread immediately when baking is finished

 

4) Center of the loaf is raw or not baked through:

Possible cause —

•  Used coarse flours such as whole wheat or rye
• Used moist ingredients such as yogurt or applesauce

Solution —

• For coarse flours, try adding an extra knead cycle. To do this, after the first knead, let the dough rise then restart the machine at the beginning of the cycle for a new loaf
•  If too many moist ingredients are used, try reducing liquids 1
  a tablespoon at a time

5) Gnarly, knotted loaves:

Possible cause —

•  Not enough liquid
• Too much flour

Solution —

•  Increase liquid 1 tablespoon at a time or reduce flour 2 table‐
  spoons at a time

6) Didn’t rise or flat loaves:

Possible cause —

• Yeast was omitted
• Yeast was old
• Liquid used was too hot or too cold
•  Too much salt was used

Solution —

•  Make sure yeast is fresh
•  Make sure to use room temperature water
•  Taste the bread to see if it is too salty; if so, reduce salt by 1/4teaspoon at a time

7) Lower volume or shorter loaves:

Possible cause —

•  Used stone ground and whole wheat flours
• Not enough liquid
•  Not enough sugar or no salt added
•  The wrong type of flour used
• Wrong type of yeast used
•  Not enough yeast was used
  Solution —
• Try substituting bread flour for part of the stone ground or whole wheat flour
•  Try adding more liquid, sugar, or yeast
•  Check to make sure bread flour, not all‐purpose flour, was used
•   Check to make sure the yeast amount suggested was for the type of yeast you were using

8) Collapsed while baking:
Possible cause —

•  It may be caused by baking at a high altitude

Solution:

•  Try reducing yeast by 1/4 teaspoon or reducing water by 2 table‐spoons

 

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• How to Use a Bread Machine: 10 Steps (with Pictures)