Any Home Bakers Here?

[DigMyChicks]

My attempt at Easter Cupcakes today. Taking them to a small gathering. I tried!!View attachment 1739198 View attachment 1739199

And a nice job you did!

 

[ronott1]

My attempt at Easter Cupcakes today. Taking them to a small gathering. I tried!!View attachment 1739198 View attachment 1739199

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/byc-10th-annual-ehal-contest-4-edible-easter.1296924/

Nice job!

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I dont know if its my breadmaker or just me. I made my first attempt at baking bread over the weekend. My yeast was really old so I used 2 packets thinking I'd be safe. I made the bread per instructions and it did rise in the machine....but...when it started to bake in the machine it sank. It was burnt by the end and tasted horribly dense. I dont know if its the bread maker or just the fact that the yeast was old. Ive only ever used the machine for making dough. Any advice? Dont worry it did not go to waste. I cut it up into treats for my chickens

 

[wyoDreamer]

If it fell during baking, I am going to guess that it it was rising for too long before baking started. A couple of questions for you:
Does your bread baker have different settings for baking? ie french, light, dark?

Is your elevation at or above 3000 feet above sea level? High altitude will make it rise faster and therefore it can sink during baking if it has over-risen.

What kind of yeast did you use? quick-rise, active dry, instant
You can check the strength of your yeast by putting a little bit in warm water with a pinch of sugar. Depending on how fast it starts to bubble will let you know how long it may need to rise.

 

[rjohns39]

And a nice job you did!

X2

 

[ronott1]

If it fell during baking, I am going to guess that it it was rising for too long before baking started. A couple of questions for you:
Does your bread baker have different settings for baking? ie french, light, dark?

Is your elevation at or above 3000 feet above sea level? High altitude will make it rise faster and therefore it can sink during baking if it has over-risen.

What kind of yeast did you use? quick-rise, active dry, instant
You can check the strength of your yeast by putting a little bit in warm water with a pinch of sugar. Depending on how fast it starts to bubble will let you know how long it may need to rise.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

If it fell during baking, I am going to guess that it it was rising for too long before baking started. A couple of questions for you:
Does your bread baker have different settings for baking? ie french, light, dark?

Is your elevation at or above 3000 feet above sea level? High altitude will make it rise faster and therefore it can sink during baking if it has over-risen.

What kind of yeast did you use? quick-rise, active dry, instant
You can check the strength of your yeast by putting a little bit in warm water with a pinch of sugar. Depending on how fast it starts to bubble will let you know how long it may need to rise.

It does have different settings. I selected whole wheat but there is a basic and a french setting. I used rapid rise yeast. It must have been too much yeast then. Not sure about our elevation. We're in northern indiana. Thanks for the tip on testing the strength. Im glad its just something I did and not the breadmakers fault. Any tips?

 

[jnicholes]

Had a successful time with my crawfish trap. It looks delicious.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Northern Indiana is probably around 800' above sea level - I am just guessing that you are close to what we are here in Northern WI. So high altitude was not an issue, lol.

I would try again with just the recommended amount of yeast and set it to basic bread. I believe the Whole Wheat setting will give it a longer rise time and a longer bake. At least mine did.

My whole wheat in the breadmaker was always a heavy, dark loaf unless I used the French cycle with Medium color. Whole wheat flour from the store is not much different than unbleached white flour, especially if you compare it to home ground whole wheat.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Northern Indiana is probably around 800' above sea level - I am just guessing that you are close to what we are here in Northern WI. So high altitude was not an issue, lol.

I would try again with just the recommended amount of yeast and set it to basic bread. I believe the Whole Wheat setting will give it a longer rise time and a longer bake. At least mine did.

My whole wheat in the breadmaker was always a heavy, dark loaf unless I used the French cycle with Medium color. Whole wheat flour from the store is not much different than unbleached white flour, especially if you compare it to home ground whole wheat.

Yea I figured it'd be some trial and error. I inherited it from my mother who never used it for bread because "it makes lousy bread". I'm guessing she tried once and this same thing happened. I'll have to try again. I can't justify trying right now though when I have a nasty loaf in the fridge waiting to consumed by chickens. I was just worried it was my machine. Now knowing that I have to play around with the buttons I feel a little better. I make fine bread without the machine and I worked for a bakery for many years so imagine my embarrassment when I couldn't make bread in something that does it for you