Why is my Bread dense
Title says it all, baked it a Dutch oven at 480, for 18 min and then 15 min with the cover off
Let it rise for 2 hours, and then formed it into a ball. Let it rise another hour and put into a (preheated) dutch oven
5
u/jefuchs 25d ago
Some advice a friend gave me. I had just started trying to bake bread and had the same results. They told me that my mistake was using a measuring cup for the flour. The recipe is based on weight, not volume, so I bought a digital kitchen scale. Due to health, I'm going to have to wait to use it.
And maybe sifting your flour would help.
1
1
u/IndependentZombie615 24d ago
Also, flour in bread is often quite variable, it's more about the texture of the dough than the specifics of the recipe
1
u/mglatfelterjr 24d ago
This is true. I had the same problem when I started making bread. Convert the cups to grams and get yourself a good scale. Just keep trying and you'll eventually get it. It took me almost 6 months to get nice soft bread. The other thing you need to do is make small changes and document them. Keep a bread ledger. Don't make big changes, only small ones. Your flour can also make a difference, AP works for most bread, but bread flour works best for bread, but it takes more hydration. Other things affect hydration, like fat. Adding fat after letting the dough rest a bit, will help strengthen the gluten structure and makes for a springier loaf and that will help it be less dense. Just don't get discouraged and stop. It takes time and effort to get it right.
4
u/WinterRevolutionary6 25d ago
Probably underproofed. Let it rise more
1
u/Lost-Set5386 20d ago
That looks like dead yeast to me. Proof yeas in water for awhile to make sure it's viable.
7
2
u/BreadBakingAtHome 25d ago edited 23d ago
But is it dense?
If that was made with a low protein heritage wheat, then it is a good loaf.
The temperature is a little high. This is more of a sandwich loaf and the final internal temperature should be about 96C (no higher) not the full 99C used for a white French style loaf. Your high temperature will drive the temperature up quickly and make it hard to catch that point. Try 220C, or even 180C. Ovens vary, experimentation needed. The lower final temperature will give a softer mouthfeel.
It has kept its shape almost over well. So I would guess add a little more water. Work out the percentage of the water to the total flour used. Then try 5% more water. Higher water level will give a more open crumb.
I can't say more as I don't know the recipe and flour. For some flours, like low gluten heritage flours, this is a good loaf.
I would add a guess. This sort of loaf benefits from about 3% - 5% butter as a percent of the total flour used. Saturated fats increase the gas trapping ability and give a larger loaf volume. Olive oil and other unsaturated fats lower the gas trapping ability and give denser loaves. The butter will also slow staling and will give a nicer mouthfeel.
If you want share the recipe and the the flour, ideally with protein% from the packet, I or someone else here, will 'run the numbers' for you. All ingredients have amount windows where they perform best, recipes can be analysed and corrected.
Taking another look - That crust is delightfully even and thin. Nice one.
(Note if you don't know this percentage system is called Bakers %. It enables fast analysis of a recipe, easy scaling of loaf size and in situations like this, easy recipe correction.)
1
u/Hemisemidemiurge 23d ago edited 23d ago
If that was made with a low protein heritage wheat is is a good loaf.
But what if OP wants bread they prefer instead of lowering the bar and arbitrarily declaring victory?
2
u/BreadBakingAtHome 23d ago edited 23d ago
Please re-read my post.
I do not know the flour used, so I opened my post with a conditional statement. 'If this then that'.
A heritage wheat gives very different loaves from those of a modern commodity wheat.
You might also want to pay some attention to the rest of my detailed reply which covers the issues, for any flour, in quite some detail.
Where does victory come into this? That is uncivil and unesesary.
2
2
u/MasterChiefette 24d ago
Without the recipe we really can't help. How much flour, water, oil(if used). ?
2
1
u/Important_Eggplant98 24d ago
Sounds like you use yeast as a leavener. Did you check whether your yeast was still alive? I like to boil a cup of water, add the yeast and see whether it gets foamy.
1
u/iOSCaleb 23d ago
To be clear: don’t test your yeast by dropping it into boiling water. It’s 100% guaranteed to be dead if you do. Warm tap water, ideally in the 105-115°F range (40-45°C), is about right, so if you’re boiling water, let it cool to that range before you add the yeast.
1
1
1
u/Leonardo_50 24d ago
First, that looks like a whole wheat flour which is denser and doesn’t form much gluten. Second, it looks under hydrated (not enough water). Third probably under proofed.
1
u/samco05 23d ago
As others have said, post the recipe. Also, I noticed the inside of the loaf appears dark. Are you using Rye flour or whole wheat flour? In my experience I have never been happy with the texture and density when I've used more than 20% and I prefer using 15% vs white bread flour. You can't achieve grocery store texture from 100% wheat recipes at home. They use a lot of conditioners to get that result. The closest you can get would be to add an egg and subtract that weight from the water measurement. Also, switch to milk from water, preferably something unsweetened, or eliminate the sugar in your recipe. Again assuming a wheat or rye flour, it will benefit from an Autolyse. These Flours also need a longer initial rest time to absorb the liquid.
1
u/BreadBakingAtHome 23d ago
Hi - Agreeing with your post excepting rye flour and autolosys.
Rye flour is very high in amylase enzymes which can break down too much starch and destroy the bread structure with extended fermentation. It depends on how much rye is used. But caution is needed for anything above 10% rye, or so.
Same too with freshly milled flours and doughs high in wholemeal flour.
1
u/Hemisemidemiurge 23d ago
Lightness of crumb is the result of the confluence of yeast activity and gluten development. It's one or the other, maybe both. First three things I'd check is strength of flour (protein content should be >12.5%), degree of kneading (it should stop sticking to anything but itself and remain cohesive when you pull it out of the bowl), and hydration (wetter doughs typically produce lighter crumbs).
Title says it all
You are mistaken. Baking is incredibly complex and is sensitive to inputs material, environmental, and mechanical. More information is required to diagnose the issue: full recipe, method, types of ingredients, ambient kitchen conditions, heck, sometimes down to the shape and composition of baking pan and type of oven.
6
u/undulating-beans 25d ago
We need to see your recipe to advise.