Bread Came Out Really Bad? What Did I Do Wrong?

[darkmatter]

sunny & the 5 egg layers :

So this is my second time making bread with this recipe: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/
The first time I made bread with this recipe it turned out well after two tries. Anyway, today I was making bread with this recipe and I did everthing I was suppose to do. The back of the yeast packet says, "Add 1/4 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of sugar" which I did. I ended up mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl (as the recipe says to do) and before I added the flour I started mixing the ingredients together and I noticed little clumps in it (almost like butter...) So I continued mixing and squished as many clumps as I could then I added the flower. It became VERY crumby and so I added a little bit of water. It worked and allowed me to continue. I continued making it and started to notice that it wasn't rising as I remembered my first batch rising. I still continued and when I took it out of the oven it didn't rise much at all! It came out pretty small/bad. Do you guys know where I could have gone wrong?

I do the pastry and bread in my house by hand. The wife does it by recipe and machine-----it doesn't always turn out. Each day is different with temp and humidity, plus the yeast may vary. I mix the yeast first with a little warm water and sugar/flour to proof it and get it going. I mix the ingredients by look and feel, plus the time will vary for the first and second rise. Mine doesn't always turn out the same, but it always turns out.
A story for you: When we were first married, I was fond of making cinnamon rolls. One day while I was at work, the wife decided to surprise me and make cinnamon rolls----she read the instructions to mix the yeast with warm water and thought if warm was good, hot was better--------I had hockey pucks for rolls that evening after work!!!!!!​

 

[bigmike&nan]

Old yeast, too warm water and drafty or cool kitchen temps are always the downfall of any bread or rolls I've had fail. I lived in San Francisco's Richmond District while in Chef School, an area not that far from the Beach - which might sound romantic, but you better like foggy and cold summer days to live in the Richmond. LOL. I always used my oven as a kitchen heater there.

My best advice is to get a plastic storage box at Target, nothing huge but one you could say keep a could sweaters in with one of those snap closed lids. Place a little vegetable oil in it and flop the dough around in the oil so it all is covered. Snap on the lid, lay a towel over the container and leave it on top of your oven (set at about 325). Man if that doesn't create the perfect yeast growth environment I don't know what will. When I make baguettes (I'm making them today) I use that container - it amazes me how the dough grows.

YEAST: I buy yeast in bulk at Costco or Sam's - I think a Red Star 2 lb bag is like $6.00 - yeah TWO POUNDS. I have an old Fleishman's jar I put some in and I keep the remainder of the bag in a zippered storage bag on the door of my freezer. Say a month or two after I refill the jar I take what is left of that yeast, mix it up with some warmed buttermilk and sugar and let it bloom like crazy, then flush it down our toilet to aide the septic tank keep a nice bacteria thing going. It really works. Beats buying RiddEx all the time (at $8.00 a box)... Then I just take some of the bag yeast and refill the jar. That bag will last a year or more and our septic system loves the yeast mixture...

Keep plugging away, it's always simple (stupid) stuff and once you get a system going you'll be a great baker...I'm gonna try making baguettes using this slightly different method (than I use).