Help with baking Hamelman's Oatmeal Bread
hi guys,
I am not getting enough rise when baking this bread. I increased the amount of dough to compensate for small loaves (using Hamelman's 18 ounces recommendation) but my loaves are still heavy. By my calculations, my loaves should be overflowing — I am using way too much dough but my loaves are still coming undersized
I used about 765 grams of dough and 1.7% yeast, adjusted by the .33 factor as I was using instant yeast, following Hamelman's recipe. i generally followed Hamelman's yeast volumes (teaspoons) as my scale is not accurate enough to measure the yeast weight when only baking one loaf. I am using a small baking pan (4" x 8").
I did a bulk ferment for 2 hours at 76°F and proofed the dough in the bread pan for 90 minutes in my microwave where the temperature was 76°F. Dough only rose up to the pan lip, if that. Considering how much dough I was using, I would have expected the dough to rise well above the lip. I got some nice oven spring, maybe 20%.
So what do you guys think? what are your experiences?
My thinking that the problem is probably that I need to replace the yeast or double it up. Or maybe just extend the proofing time. I did a poke test on the loaf and the finger indention did not spring back.
Here is a picture of the baked loaf, not that it will probably not help much:
I'm unclear on the actual quantities that you used.
I have the book(1st edition) , but haven't made that bread.
Could you please give the exact measurements and the ingredients that you did actually use?
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Many people make substitutions, and don't mention their substitution, because they think it's an equivalent; and if it actually is not functionally equivalent, then that is what throws things off. so please enumerate/list all your actual ingredients.
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Under the "home" column for this formula, the 1-1/2 tsp yeast is already for instant yeast. So if you used only 1/3rd of that, that is, only 1/2 tsp for 2 lbs of flour, that could be the source of lower rise.
If you scaled the formula for 1 pound of flour, (one loaf pan), instead of 2 lbs of flour, then 3/4 tsp of instant dry yeast should be appropriate.
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the total dough percentage is 208.9% (ignoring the difference for yeast). So your stated 765 grams of dough would be 366 grams of flour.
366 grams flour, as a fraction of the original 907 grams (2 pounds) of flour is .4035.
.4035 times 1.5 tsp, (the yeast for 2 pounds flour) is .605 tsp.
.605 tsp is just a tad under 5/8 tsp. (5/8 = .625)
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I hope this line of thought helps.
Thanks idaveindy for replying.
I have the 2nd edition of Bread. I don't have the actual weights I used but they were accurate because I followed (and double-checked) the baker's percentages published in Hamelman's book. The reason that I mentioned the 765 grams was to illustrate how much extra dough I used. For example, following the recipe, Hamelman suggests using 18 ounces (510 grams) of dough for my small bread pan. I used 50% more dough — to get a very heavy but reasonable-sized loaf.
I want to know if the recipe's yeast % of 1.7% works. Maybe there is a member of this forum who has had success with this recipe. If the recipe works then I need to change one or more of the ingredients. Either my instant yeast isn't working or my unbleached flour (13% protein). Or else I need to double the yeast. Or...but it is a simple recipe so it would seem that it should rise properly. I didn't mention this but I did run a windowpane test and the dough passed.
Working backwards, using my spreadsheet, the flour weights that I probably used were: 276 grams all purpose flour and 93 grams of whole wheat flour and, as mentioned, 2.1 grams of instant yeast. By my calculations this equates to recipe's 1.7%.
Thanks guys for your comment(s).
From memory, I used 2.1 grams of instant yeast (½teaspoon+dash+pinch). Because I was only baking one loaf and the yeast weights are so small, I used volumetric measurements rather than trying to weigh 2.1 grams.
The 1.7% is for fresh yeast.... --> .17 kg (7.5+2.5kg) = .17 / 10 = .017 = 1.7%.
For dry: .18 oz / 32 oz = .5625 % , or approx 1/3 (.33) as you mentioned above.
So your (1/2 tsp + pinch + dash) is right there with my .605 tsp estimate.
I'm guessing your yeast was weak. I'll look up the post with the official standardized yeast test and update this comment with a link.
Here ya go: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/65009/tip-commercial-yeast-testing-expiration-storage
and the original: https://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/yeast-shelf-life-storage/yeast-freshness-test/
Be sure to follow exactly with temperature and volumes of water and yeast.
thanks very much for your comments and the links. I am a new baker and I have never tried testing my yeast but i'll give it a try.
BTW, with the current covid-19 situation, I was unable to purchase yeast! So a friend from British Columbia mailed me some — so I just don't know it's origin, quality, etc.
to close off this thread, I tested my instant yeast and, sure enough, it was weak, so I am chucking it.
In case some of the members may to see the results of my test(s), I am including a couple of photos. The first yeast test photo (of my instant yeast) shows that the mixture rose to only the ⅔ cup mark after 10 minutes. The second photo is the result of the same test but using some active dry yeast that I had not used (for comparison purposes). This second test shows the yeast mixture rising well beyond the 1 cup mark.
I'm having difficulty adding photos...
let me try again to add the 2 photos...
52777C37-E920-47A2-B59C-1820FC3DB421.jpeg