I made bread for the first time yesterday. It was simple french bread, and it came out more dense and chewy?!


Question: I made bread for the first time yesterday!. It was simple french bread, and it came out more dense and chewy!?
!. !. !.than I expected!. Is this maybe from not letting the dough rise long enough!? I gave it about 2 hours and 15 minutes and it looked about double its size, but maybe I misjudged!. !. !.Www@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
You did two things wrong,
First, you overworked the dough during the kneeding process, I can tell that just from it being dense, cause you made alot of gleuten!.
Secondly, if you timed your rise then it did not rise enough, it should look like the dough is way to huge, then is should punch down properly!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Yummy!.!. You probably aren't used to the density of fresh breads if you've been eating store bought bread!.
French bread is rather a chewy dense bread!.

Here is a easy recipe for a lighter bread!. Prepare as follows!.!. its a bit nontraditional!.

add to big bowl 1 TBLS of yeast, 4 cup of flour can be mixed 3/1 with wheat flout if you like!. Mix together!. add one big TBLS of shortening and finger it through the flour and yeast!.
In a cup mix about 1 3/4 cup of warm water, 1 TBLS of sugar, and 1 1/2 teasp!. of salt!. Dissolve and stir!.
Add gradually and hand mix the water to the flour!. Keep working the water in!.!. the dough will be very sticky and you will be tempted to add more flour!. DONT!.!.!.!. once the dough has come together, dump it on the cabinet to knead it!. Knead until the dough becomes a good working dough!.!. will become a bit stiff but will still very soft!. You your judgment but about 10 minutes!.
Let rest 30 minutes!.!.!.!. knead if a few more times( 5-6 !? ) until the sticky isn't so bad!.
If making buns!.!. shape and add to cookie sheet!.!. or just put the dough on a cookie sheet whole!. Cover with slightly damp towel!. Let rise an hour/ it will double in size!. Bake for 20 minutes or so!.!. at a medium hot oven mine bakes at 375!.
Remove and let cool!. This is a very light fluffy bread and is so easy to make!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Did you let it rise twice!? I think you need to let the dough rise and then when you portion and shape the dough you let it rise again!. I could be wrong though!.Www@FoodAQ@Com





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