How to make dough that works good for trout?

How can I make a high-rising loaf of bread-machine bread?

• I have a bread machine, and I use it fairly often because I love bread. But throughout my use of the machine (spanning several months and dozens of loaves), I've consistently had trouble getting dough to rise properly--it rises less than I'd like maybe 80% of the time, and about 40% of the time I end up with a brick-shaped brownie thing. I've tried several strategies, which I will detail below, to solve this problem; it's unclear whether any of them has worked, and I've come to suspect that my particular machine (an Oster EXPRESSBAKE 2lb, model #5834) just doesn't work very well. But I have no specific reason to point the finger at it (or any other cause), and I'm tired of trying to figure it out. What, Google, can I do differently to make my bread consistently rise high? If the answer is to buy a different bread machine, which one should I get? I've tried using box mixes; I've tried using recipes in the book that came with my machine; I've tried using many recipes in Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway; I've tried inventing recipes. I've tried making especially dry doughs and especially moist doughs. I've tried warming cold ingredients before using them; I've tried turning up the heat in my apartment, and I've tried leaving it alone. I've tried making bread overnight, and making it immediately. I've tried several varieties of yeast, including yeast mixes made by Fleischmann and Red Star that are meant especially for bread machines. I've tried adding a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten and a quarter teaspoon of granular lecithin per cup of flour, as suggested in The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints by Rehberg et al. I've tried making many types of bread, using several kinds of flour (but mainly bread flour and wheat flour); early on I switched away from the deadly stone-ground wheat. I've tried using bottled water instead of tapwater. I'm not at a high altitude--just in case it's helpful I'll tell you I live in a third-floor apartment in southeastern PA, somewhat west of Philadelphia. I've tried most of these strategies separately and together, and still my loaves pretty consistently do the 80%/40% thing described above, though sometimes they rise and then collapse, and sometimes they just don't rise. Rehberg and Conway (and my own mother) have said that loaves can sometimes hit the top of the machine, but I've never seen this in mine. I'd like to--it would be a novelty. I am willing to buy a new machine, but not without decent justification. If that's necessary, I'd like a 2lb machine, preferably with a "horizontal" pan, that costs less than $100--in other words, one like the one I have. Any bells and whistles are nice but mainly I just want a machine that consistently works well, and that doesn't force me to eat dense breads most of the time. Thanks for any help!

• Answer:

  Thanks for asking! I agree with colleague Pinkfreud that handmade, homemade bread is wonderful, however, I've used a bread machine quite successfully for the past 20 years. I'll be glad to share what little "secrets" there be with you. Bread was one of my very first cooking/baking loves. I experimented endlessly with recipes, grains, and additional ingredients. Twice a week bread baking was part of my normal routine. In my late 20's, however, due to a combination of conditions in my shoulders and hands, I found I could no longer knead bread by hand. I was bereft. Quite luckily, just a year or so later, bread machines were introduced. I probably bought the first one ever offered. I'm on my second one now. It has baked over 5,000 loaves, and and still bakes beautifully. I was also engaged as a technical writer to re-translate a bread machine manual into understandable English. An early Japanese bread machine manufacturer used instructions that attempted to explain the breadmaking process with terms like "gas squeeze out". Two ingredients exercise the most control in the bread machine rising process: Sugar and salt. Salt adds strength to gluten by slowing down the enzymes which catalyze the breakdown of proteins. "If you add too much [salt], water flows out of yeast cells by osmosis. Then nutrients are lost and production of carbon dioxide slows down." [1] Less CO2, less rising. Yeast attacks starch (from both flour and sugar), breaking it down into glucose. Sugar is more easily processed. The more simple sugar used, the more quickly the CO2 molecules are produced. It usually only takes a bit of experimentation to determine best proportions for your machine and location. It may require a recipe-by-recipe as well. Different ingredients have slightly different reactions. Pick one recipe to start, and go back to the original ingredients as shown. Bottled water is fine, but I think you'll do better with hot tap water. First, try reducing the amount of salt in the recipes by half. If satisfactory results are achieved, it can be as quick as one loaf away from perfection. The reduction of salt may be a bit too much. If the subsequent loaf rises too much, add half again to the next loaf (3/4 of original amount). Still not rising? Add sugar, 1/2 teaspoon for each successive loaf. Depending upon the machine, I know breadbakers who must double the amount of sugar for satisfactory rising. Temperature ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeast is very particular about temperature. Like Baby Bear, everything must be "just right" -- 80F - 120F. Never use any ingredient with a temperature higher than 120F. Yeast (a living microorganism) begins to die at 120F, which is why the dough stops rising as it is baked. Most breadmaker recipes recommend "hottest tap water". If too hot, this may be a contributing factor to poor rising. Dead yeast doesn't produce a chemical reaction. But... if too cool, the starting temperature of your water could cause the bread to rise more slowly, and therefore never reach its full potential. If using bottled water, be sure to warm it to 115F - 120F. A cooking thermometer would be an excellent investment. Moisture ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Moisture contributes to the speed of rising. Bread will rise more quickly in a humid atmosphere than a dry one. With a 2lb bread machine, you can increase moisture in the recipe, 1 teaspoon at a time for each successive loaf. Too much moisture and texture suffers, becoming brittle. It's best to initially experiment with only one ingredient at a time, so you know which one is having effect. Yeast ---------------------------------------------------------------------- As a very last resort, add more yeast. Take all ingredients back to original proportions, and increase yeast by 1/4 teaspoons until bread rises satisfactorily. Eventually, this WILL occur. I prefer Bread Machine Yeast. Once you've gotten the recipe to rise, you can play a bit with the salt - sugar - yeast proportions until you are pleased with the texture (size of the holes) created by the CO2 gas. Order of Ingredients ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Like some siblings, some bread ingredients shouldn't come into direct contact with others until absolutely necessary. I layer the ingredients in this order: Hot water Other liquid ingredients (including oil/butter) Flour Yeast Dry milk Sugar Salt Actually, I place the sugar, salt and yeast in different corners of the pan, separating them with dry milk. Some bread machines, including mine on the Quick Bread cycle, do not mix the ingredients easily in the initial few minutes of the mixing process. Poorly mixed ingredients can slow down the chemical reaction. I solve this by briefly "twirling" the bread pan back and forth by the handle, using a wrist motion, mixing the ingredients before fitting the pan into the machine. A bit of stirring with a wooden spoon will do as well. The dough should feel soft when you poke a finger at the dough ball being kneaded in the pan. It should pull away from the sides of the pan easily. If not, drizzle in a bit more moisture, and 1/2 tablespoon more oil/butter/fat. For better crust texture, let the bread stay in the machine 15 minutes after the baking cycle is finished. Just like handmade bread, lightly brush the surfaces of the loaf with milk. By the time you get to this step, your bread should be rising much more consistently. It's just a matter of understanding what each ingredient contributes to the process. :) For the inside story, you might like these "scientific" explanations of bread and yeast biochemistry. [1] Elementary Bread Science http://www.prosphora.org/page13.html [2] Biology of Yeast Cells http://home.earthlink.net/~ggda/biology_of_yeast_cells_simplified.htm My favorite bread machine recipe. Great for toast, sandwiches, anything. Maple Oatmeal Bread ------------------- 1 and 1/4 cups + 1 tablespoon very warm water 2-3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil 1/3 cup real maple syrup (no substitutes) 3 cups bread flour (unbleached) 1 cup quick cooking oats 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons dry milk powder 2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast After layering into pan, twirl ingredients together and bake in bread machine on Quick or Regular cycle. A proportion of whole wheat flour can be substituted for unbleached, however, will require adjustment of salt, syrup, and yeast. Add 1 tablespoon gluten if using whole wheat or graham flour. Whole oats may be substituted if using a Regular cycle with no changes, but Quick Oats are best for the Quick cycle. If substituting heavy rolled oats, add an additional tablespoon gluten, also. If you want to experiment with bread machines, check out the local thrift shops. Many people abandon this venture quickly. You can experiment with different models quite inexpensively. I love my "ancient" Hitatchi machine so well that I look for them at garage sales and thrift shops. The pan wears out first, and is much less expensive to buy an entire secondhand machine than the original replacement pan from the manufacturer. I do so hope this helps. If you have any questions about the information provided, please, feel free to ask for clarification. ---larre Answer Strategy ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal experience. In my divorce seven years ago, there was more contention over custody of the bread machine than the children.