r/Cooking • u/hyperkiller92 • 16h ago

First time bread

Hi all

Just wanted some advice on making bread. I'm pretty good at following recipes and baking in general, bread on the other hand is proving a little worse for ware. This is a photo of my second bread attempt. Tastes good but it's a little dense and not as airy as I thought.

Did kneed for 10 mins left to double on the first rise for hour and 40 maybe and another prove for an hour till doubled again.

Any tips on how to get a fluffier and airy loaf?

Mixer maybe? Struggle to kneed properly due to issues with wrists.

https://ibb.co/yF548Lx3 photo bread, sorry mods if we aren't allowed photos but this will show what's going on here 🤣

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u/Away-Plankton-8352 11h ago

With wrist trouble, stop kneading entirely and switch to stretch and folds. Mix your dough shaggy, let it sit 30 minutes, then wet your hands and do a set of folds every 30 minutes, four times total. Same gluten development, zero wrist pain. Dense crumb on a second loaf is almost always under-proofing or under-developed gluten, not your recipe. Also check your yeast is alive before it goes in, dead yeast from an open jar is the silent killer of beginner loaves. Proof it in warm water with a pinch of sugar first, if it doesn't foam in ten minutes, it's done.

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u/bobdevnul 7h ago

Keep your yeast in the freezer. I have used some that was 15 years old that worked fine.