Making Bread

Willie

I need some help, and hope someone can offer suggestions. I make dough in our Sunbeam bread machine and then cook on our egg. However the bread is what I call "heavy", not light textured. We use the plate setter and cook at 400*F.
Thanks in advance and Bon Appetit'.
Willie

emilluca

The bread would have been heavy out of the bread machine also. Most bread if made at home is much more dense then store bought especially if Whole Grain flour is used.
Nytimes has a no knead bread recipe that would work on the egg. Do a search at the New York Times or google.
E

egret

Normal to be more heavy textured. If it is a dough that will rise quite a bit I do mine with plate setter (legs up), ceramic feet on plate setter and pizza stone on ceramic feet. This simulates a center rack in your indoor oven. If it is a dough that won't necessarily rise a lot, such as focaccia, I will use plate setter (legs down), ceramic feet on plate setter and pizza stone on ceramic feet.

civil eggineer

I think you could avoid that be placing the dough in the pans right after mixing and without "punching" down much. Although it will not be as tasty as the dough hasn't rested. Try using double the yeast?

FearlessGrill

Willie,

This has nothing to do with making it in the Egg. You didn't give any details on your ingredients, methods, etc. I've had great luck baking bread on the Egg and in the oven using both a bread machine and a stand mixer. It sounds to me like your bread is coming out denser than you would like because it hasn't fully risen.

Here are links to a couple of breads I've done recently on the Egg...

http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2008/07/recipe-sage-and.html

http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2008/06/recipe-my-birth.html

I'm doing another one tonight. I'll post that soon.

A few pointers too...

1) Make sure you're using decent yeast that is within it's sell by date, and has been kept cold. Old yeast may still work, but may end up weak, and therefore not generate as much of a rise, leading to dense heavy bread.

2) Use the right types and mix of flour. Use bread flour, not all-purpose. Bread flour will form a better dough, which will lead to a lighter end product. If you're using a whole-wheat flour, don't use too much of it - I'll use 1 cup wheat in a 4 cup recipe. Wheat flours take longer to rise. A lot of cookbooks recommend running the dough cycle twice on a bread machine for whole-wheat breads.

3) Make sure you provide time for the dough to rise in a warm place. Once the dough comes out of the bread machine, put it someplace warm and covered so it doesn't dry out. Leave it there until it has about doubled in size. Then punch it down to remove air bubbles, and let it rise for another 45 minutes or so. Now it's ready to cook.

Hope this helps. If you post more details, people can give you more targeted advice.

-John

UnConundrum

Willie, as others have posted, there are many, many variables. We could offer more help if you post the full recipe and how you handle the dough once it comes out of the machine.

I never used a bread machine. I used to use a hobart mixer till I fell in love with the no-knead method. I've since created several recipes that you can find HERE Many are no-knead, many are not.

With the no-knead method, you can greatly increase the hydration. I often make 80% hydrated doughs. Most of the water evaporates from the dough when it bakes, resulting in a lighter final product.

Overdeveloping the gluten in the bread, too little yeast, not enough time rising and a high gluten flour can all result in a heavy bread...