Please help Bread is not soft and fluffy
Hi Everyone,
I have been making bread for about 2 months trying different recipes. I found a recipe on this site that was probably the best i have found.
I am following the ingredients exactly and everything looks fine until i cut the loaf when cool and it is a bit dense. I have this problem with all recipes i have tried. I am trying to create a soft fluffy loaf but I am kneading the mixture and using the window pane test and everything is good it is translucent and stretches without breaking. It rises beautifully i letter fold it a few times place it in a buttered tin with the spine perfectly in the middle underneath but it still doesn't turn out light and fluffy it's still s bit dense not bad but i'm a bit of a perfectionist and want to get it right.
The air pockets in the bread are very small making the bread dense.
Would more yeast help ? or is it a problem with my kneading ?
Here is the recipe i am using.
Any advise would be appreciated.
Ingredients500 gWhite Bread Flour25 gSugar10 gsalt1 tLecithin granules (Helps with shelf life)1⁄4 tGinger powder (Helps the yeast)1⁄8 tAscorbic acid ((Vitamin C) Not a misprint, just need a dash. It helps with rise and oven spring.)25 gVital wheat gluten (To get my flour up to 14% gluten content. You may need less or none depending on flour used.)320 gWhole milk5 ginstant yeast (One slightly heaped teaspoon)25 golive oilInstructions
- Remove chill from milk and pour into mixing bowl.
- Add lecithin, sugar, yeast and ascorbic acid and stir to dissolve.
- Ad flour and then all the other ingredients except the salt.
- Stir in mixing bowl or mix in mixer only until the ingredients are combined.
- Let it sit, or autolize for 35 minutes.
- Add salt spreading evenly and knead, or mix in mixer at medium speed until gluten is fully developed. I use a Kitchenaid, takes about 8 minutes. During this process adjust flour or milk to achieve a soft ever so slightly tacky dough. Not essential, but try mixing until you achieve a good windowpane test result.
- Remove from mixer, and do a few letter folds on a board dusted with flour.
- Place in bowl, close with wrap and proof for 45 minutes - 1 hour until the dough increases about 65% in volume.
- Remove from bowl, do another two letter folds and proof until dough doubles in volume. Be patient and cover while proofing.
- Oven bake for 40 minutes at 350F or until nice brown crust is achieved.
Nice oven spring, do not over proof. I find a slight difference in flour, milk content or baking time makes a substantial difference. Try and get as close as possible to the recipe.
hello
Ascorbic acid is typically added in the 2ppm range by large commercial mills, it's also the main active ingrediant in many "dough improver" mixes used by some commercial bakers, your addition of 1/8 of a teaspoon to 500grams of flour makes for quite a full dosage. This will for sure help you achieve a dough that passes the window test and has good proofing tolerance, it also has the affect of producing a crumb with a smaller average cell size. This should be giving you a soft feeling bread. I think however that for 500grams of flour, that the amount of ascorbic acid that fits on the point of a steak knife, would be a more appropriate dosage.
Personally , i would leave the vital wheat gluten out and also use a lower protein flour and for this formula go half water half milk. This, i believe could help you to get onto the soft and fluffy path you desire.
regards
daniel
I would try the recipe with nothing more than flour, salt, water/milk, sugar, oil and yeast...leave out those additives. Try all purpose flour. Bread flour with that high a protein content is going to give you a denser result. I'm not into the science and am far from an expert but I do know this from my own experiences as having made a brick or three.
If you want a fluffy bread , use buttermilk instead of the milk.
I would not use all the other stuff.
Longer shelf life can be achieved with some oil in the dough.
I always put 2 tbsp olive oil in my doughs, wether it is Sourdough bread or yeast bread.
High protein bread achieves good gluten formation , I found that 13 % protein gives me a nicer crumb though.
It does not contain any fat and fat is going to give you a softer product.
Gerhard
using an enriched dough is txfarmer's Pain de Mei or Hokkaido Japanese bread using yeast water. Her is varda's Hokkaido
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33387/hokkaido-or-asian-style-pain-de-mie
You've received some good tips about ingredients that promote a soft crumb from the previous posters, so I'll just summarize those:
- Add fats (oils, eggs, cream, milk, butter, shortening, lard, etc.)
- Use flours with lower protein contents, such as All Purpose. By the same token, do not add gluten because it will make the crumb firmer and tougher.
- Replace some of the flour with starches (potato, tapioca, corn starch, arrowroot, etc.)
With respect to achieving a fluffy crumb, the biggest factor seems to be how much the dough is kneaded. All other things being equal, a dough that is kneaded 20-25 minutes will yield a fluffier crumb than the identical dough that is kneaded 10-12 minutes. The crumb will be very finely textured and uniform as a result of the additional kneading. Here's a post from txfarmer that describes her technique for a fluffy, shreddable crumb. And another. Although those two posts are about sourdough breads, the principles still apply to yeasted breads.
Best of luck with your quest.
Paul
Just a hearty second for dabrownman's recommendation of Hokkaido bread. The "tangjong" (sp.?) process is easy and incredibly effective in producing soft, "shreddable" loaves. Also gets there via a recipe with no unusual additives.
GregS