The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #118597 Message #2567983
Posted By: CarolC
16-Feb-09 - 12:14 AM
Thread Name: BS: Bread maker problems
Subject: RE: BS: Bread maker problems
I've sorted out the problem of the shape and the crust on our machine bread. Immediately after the dough is shaken down (punched down) the second time, I take out the paddle, and I press the dough down with my fists until it's mostly flat on top. This gives it a perfect size and shape for sandwiches and toast, and there isn't a gaping hole in the bread from the paddle. I fixed the problem of the loaf drying out by putting it on the light crust setting, and making sure I take it out of the machine as soon as it beeps to tell me it's finished.
My bread from the machine has a perfect shape and it's a lot more moist and spongy than bread I bake in the oven. I should mention that our bread machine's bucket is rectangular as seen from the top rather than square, unlike a lot of other bread makers. This gives us a fairly normal shaped loaf, although it's not quite as long as most store bought bread. This picture shows the shape of the bucket. With the old machine I would just use the machine for the mixing, kneading, and rising, and I would bake it in the oven.
The bread machine I had before this one had the stupidly shaped bucket and it also produced a dry bread, so I think the type of machine probably makes a big difference along with the crust setting.