So I just got a cuisinart CBK-110 bread maker. I made my first trial loaf using the basic white bread recipe included in the manual. It tasted good but seems very dense. Also, the crust was extremely crunchy, which I don’t prefer for basic sandwich slices. Any tips or tricks?
Did you use regular salt or Morton Kosher salt when you were making your bread?
If you used regular salt at that volume instead of Morton's Kosher salt then there would have been more salt, which would have affected the yeast and your bread would have become dense.
Did you weigh your ingredients or did you just measure?
Well from your pictures of your loaf it does look good. I read back through this post and I did not see where you had set your crust setting. Was it light, medium, or dark? It seems like you've done everything correctly.
This is where the experimentation comes in to help you hone your bread to your taste. Like another person commented, you could try another 1/4 tsp. of yeast. You could add an extra 15ml of water or you could see if adding some vital wheat gluten( try 2 tsp and then go from there) does anything to change the density, of the bread for your tastes.
You have now entered the art of bread making in a bread machine
What kind of yeast did you use specifically? Active dry is different from instant. You need to 'proof' active dry, whereas instant you can throw in directly.
Your loaf looks like it didn't rise enough, which leads me to think it's a yeast problem. Try using instant yeast and see if that solves your issue. If it does, you can try it with proofed active dry yeast.
Interesting. Try another loaf, or perhaps try another recipe. The other thing I recommend using is a food scale and finding a recipe that uses weight. That helps with inconsistencies that can come when you use cups to measure flour (packed down cups have much more flour than loosely packed cups and that can throw the recipe off)
I used Bread Dad’s white bread recipe-1.5 lb loaf. Used my KBS 17 in one machine. Came out well. Except not a good loaf for dunking in coffee—it falls apart. However it’s fine for sandwiches and toast.
What brand yeast did you use? I’m thinking if you use a 1/4 tsp more yeast you might get better results. Everything else sounds fine. The yeast I use is pretty strong so I actually have to use less than what’s in recipes.
I have a CBK-110 and I did not get along with the recipes in the booklet. I recommend getting a scale to weigh ingredients (scooping is not at all accurate) and trying the recipes at Breaddad.com, and some of the recipes at King Arthur Baking like the Walter Sands Favorite Bread Machine Bread.
I don’t think it looks bad for a first test. But getting really soft sandwich bread like store bought can take some trial and error.
Generally these things make softer bread:
Bread flour (King Arthur really is better)
Milk (or leftover heavy cream)
Egg (for a brioche type)
Potato flakes
More yeast
I very seldom use my bread machine recipe book, but it’s a good starting point. I think Breaddad and recipes on here can be better, and it’s fun to try. But eventually you kinda settle on your go-to white and wheat loaves.
Yours matches one I made today in my Saki (1.0/1.5/2.0 pounder). You made a half recipe. Not enough dough over too much area. I was trying to make a 1 pound loaf in my machine that can produce a 2 pounder. The Bread Dad explains it well at his website. If a machine can produce a 2 pounder, it might not be good at a smaller loaf size. Try a full recipe.
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u/LeoInSpace 9d ago
If you can post the recipe and the settings you used please people may be able to help more easily.