Why did my bread come out so dense? When individuals begin to discover bread baking it is the most typical concern. On one hand, bread baking is so easy. Flour, water, salt, yeast. It truly is really simple to bake a loaf of bread. What’s difficult is to bake an excellent loaf in your home, and then do it like this every time.
Among the important things that frightens individuals most about bread baking is how irregular the finished loaves appear -in spite of following a recipe to the letter!
Everything in bread baking is linked, so if something changes in the routine it can toss the entire thing off. The outcome may not be a total catastrophe however the breads appearance might be somewhat less than what you had in your mind when you began to bake it!
Every bread baker has opened the oven to discover loaves that wind up misshapen, under-baked, under-proofed or flat. So don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this!
Why is my bread like a brick?
There isn’t one easy response and if your bread has a heavy, thick texture then there are a variety of possible factors for this. There are 5 primary factors that are the most likely reasons house bakers end up with dense bread:
#1 The choice of flour
The flour might not have enough protein which is a common problem that can lead to bread coming out flat, dense, or just not looking like it should.
The first thing you need to do is make sure your flour has enough protein in it for good gluten development. The way to know this is by checking the label on the packaging to see what percentage of its weight comes from protein (usually 10-14%). You’ll also want to look at the ingredients list because if there are any other proteins listed such as soy, corn, rice or oat then they will act as fillers and reduce the amount of quality wheat proteins available for baking purposes. Flour suitable for bread making will have between 11% and 13% protein content.
#2 Too much salt
The rate of yeast activity is controlled by salt, resulting in a slow and steady growth. This enables the yeast to produce its distinctive bread flavour.
The gluten structure of the dough is also strengthened by salt, which prevents trapped carbon dioxide bubbles from expanding too rapidly. Too much salt prevents the yeast from rising and gas to be retained, making your bread dense. You’ll notice too much salt in your bread when you taste it.
#3 Not kneading enough
Kneading agitates the gluten structure in the dough so that it can stretch and retain gas. Not kneading enough will result in a dough that doesn’t gather gas well, making it dense.
#4 Under proofing
Proofing is the last resting of a loaf of bread dough prior to it entering the oven. It’s the most fragile phase of bread baking. However you are required to stay close and let it rise totally. This will allow the dough to fill with gas, which is very important to remove dense bread issues.
For many loaves you can utilize the finger poke test to look for preparedness. Gently poke the dough with your fingertip leaving a little indent. If the imprint gradually sneaks back slowly, you are excellent to go.
Poke it, and there is no pushback, it is over-proofed. But if you poke and the dough bounces straight up and leaves little impression, it is under-proofed and requires more time.
#5 Over proofed
What can you do if your dough is over proofed? Regrettably, not a lot! The gluten is overstretched. The balloon has actually popped. However it may have a little energy left. You can attempt to bake it straight away and hope there’s adequate energy left for some oven spring.
It may have a bit denser crumb and not increase as high, however still taste fine.
#6 The yeast is dead
You might have eliminated the yeast by leaving the dough to rise in a location that was too hot, or the yeast was out of date. If making bread with a sourdough starter it might not be ready yet..
The bottom line is that heavy bread suggests the dough didn’t trap sufficient gas, or the yeast didn’t produce adequate gas. If there is no rise and the dough has been kept warm then the issue must be your yeast.
#7 The temperature of your kitchen was too cold
If your cooking area (or anywhere you are making bread) is too warm (above 75-80F) or a little cool ( below 65F), it might be affecting the proofing phase of your bread.
If it’s on the warm side and you wound up with a thick loaf, it’s most likely the bread over proofed, the yeast got too active and produced a lot of gas that the dough successfully popped like a balloon.
Too cold, and then the opposite may have occurred. The yeast didn’t get a possibility to end up being active sufficient and develop adequate gas to raise the dough. You must let it rise a little bit longer.
Preventing bread from being so dense
Learning more about dough, the appearance, the feel and the odor has to do with experience. Keep baking and quickly you will have a lot more instinctive sense simply by taking a look at the dough that it is ready to enter into the oven.
I assure this isn’t about making bread baking more complex or frightening. I enjoy making bread. It’s magic however it’s likewise a discovering procedure and like the majority of things that appear easy, it’s complex and requires time and practice to accomplish any level of consistency and proficiency.
Errors, like thick, brick-like loaves, are part of the procedure.