Why does my homemade bread crumble when I slice it?!
I make oatmeal, wheat bread that tastes delicious but it always crumbles when its sliced!. I add gluten and knead the bread for a longer length of time, which is supposed to help but it still crumbles!. I add eggs, milk, yeast, brown sugar, oil, white flour, and Bulgar which has been soaked or else cooked and cooled!. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong or why this bread would crumble!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
It's called the Window Pane Test!. The test determines when to stop kneading before the first rise!.
Start by pulling off a piece of dough about the size of a walnut!. Roll it between your hands for a few seconds to smooth it out!. Start gently pulling the dough apart!. From time to time, rotate the dough so you will be pulling on different sides evenly!.
As you stretch the dough, it should form a sheet, or film, that is thin enough that light can pass through it!. The dough shouldn't tear when you do this!.
For trouble shooting crumbly bread, I'm not seeing a problem right off with your ratios
I found this and some of the tips might help:
Switch flour!. If you are using whole wheat flour in your bread recipe, switch to white wheat flour which has more gluten and will hold your loaf together with fewer crumbs!. If you are using regular flour, switch to bread flour, which is finely milled and will give your bread better texture!.
Reduce the amount of flour in your bread recipe!. Too much flour can affect the dough consistency and cause the finished loaf to be crumbly!. Slowly reduce the amount of flour you mix in and use less flour when kneading!.
Knead your dough more thoroughly!. If you don't spend enough time kneading, the gluten will not have enough time to form, so spend some extra time on this important step!.
Allow your loaf to cool completely before cutting!. Cutting a loaf before it is completely cool can make your bread more crumbly!.
Watch your dough while it is rising!. Allowing your dough to rise more than double its size on the first rising can lead to crumbly bread!.
Soften your whole grain flour before mixing!. If you are making whole wheat bread, the gluten might be breaking where it encounters a piece of the whole grain!. Soften the flour with hot water before mixing to cook the whole grains down so that they mix more easily and you may experience less crumbly loaves!. Www@FoodAQ@Com
Start by pulling off a piece of dough about the size of a walnut!. Roll it between your hands for a few seconds to smooth it out!. Start gently pulling the dough apart!. From time to time, rotate the dough so you will be pulling on different sides evenly!.
As you stretch the dough, it should form a sheet, or film, that is thin enough that light can pass through it!. The dough shouldn't tear when you do this!.
For trouble shooting crumbly bread, I'm not seeing a problem right off with your ratios
I found this and some of the tips might help:
Switch flour!. If you are using whole wheat flour in your bread recipe, switch to white wheat flour which has more gluten and will hold your loaf together with fewer crumbs!. If you are using regular flour, switch to bread flour, which is finely milled and will give your bread better texture!.
Reduce the amount of flour in your bread recipe!. Too much flour can affect the dough consistency and cause the finished loaf to be crumbly!. Slowly reduce the amount of flour you mix in and use less flour when kneading!.
Knead your dough more thoroughly!. If you don't spend enough time kneading, the gluten will not have enough time to form, so spend some extra time on this important step!.
Allow your loaf to cool completely before cutting!. Cutting a loaf before it is completely cool can make your bread more crumbly!.
Watch your dough while it is rising!. Allowing your dough to rise more than double its size on the first rising can lead to crumbly bread!.
Soften your whole grain flour before mixing!. If you are making whole wheat bread, the gluten might be breaking where it encounters a piece of the whole grain!. Soften the flour with hot water before mixing to cook the whole grains down so that they mix more easily and you may experience less crumbly loaves!. Www@FoodAQ@Com
White flour and gluten are the two ingredients that will give your loaf strength and stop crumbling, while oatmeal, bulgar and oil will have the opposite affect!. It could be recipe balance ie too high a proportion of the latter to the amount of flour/gluten!. Dough temperature can also have an effect on dough development!. Try to keep finished temp to around 28 Celsius!. Do you do the stretch test to check when developed!? Www@FoodAQ@Com
Hey 200, looking at what you have listed, and I am sorry to say something is botherring me, I can't put my finger on it!. There seems to be something missing!. I can only suggest you back to the very original recipe and check the ratio your using for each ingredient!. We can suggest things till our faces go blue, but without knowing exactly I am stumped, does the recipe require any liquids like water!?!.
ChrisWww@FoodAQ@Com
ChrisWww@FoodAQ@Com
You could be adding too much flour when you are kneading the dough!. It should remain slightly tacky and elastic!. You could be over rising the bread as well!. If you are using vital wheat gluten, add about 1/3 c to 1/2 c for every 2 loaf recipe!. Hope this helps!. =]Www@FoodAQ@Com
Could you edit your post to tell me what type of knife you use to slice it!? I have a couple theories but I don't want to elaborate until I know what you use to slice it with!. =)Www@FoodAQ@Com
Mmmm Bread
Om Nom Nom Nom Nom NomWww@FoodAQ@Com
Om Nom Nom Nom Nom NomWww@FoodAQ@Com