Kitchen Tips: Solving Bread Problems

Kitchen Tips: Bread Making

Problems That Can Arise When Baking Bread

Problem	Cause
Poor volume	too much salt too little yeast too little liquid weak flour under or over mixing oven too hot
Too much volume	too little salt too much yeast too much dough in pan over-proofed
Poor shape	too much liquid flour too weak improper molding improper fermentation or proofing too much oven steam
Split or burst crust	over-mixing under-fermented dough improper molding seam not on bottom uneven oven heat oven too hot or insufficient steam
Too dense	too much salt too little liquid too little yeast under-fermented under-proofed
Too coarse	too much yeast too much liquid incorrect mixing time improper fermentation over-proofed pan too large
Poor texture or crumbly	flour too weak too little salt fermentation time too long or short
Crust too dark	too much sugar or milk under-fermented oven temperature too high baking time too long insufficient steam at beginning of baking
Crust too pale	too little sugar or milk over-fermented over-proofed oven temperature too low baking time too short too much steam in oven
Crust too thick	too little sugar or fat improper fermentation baked too long or wrong temperature too little steam
Blisters on crust	too much liquid improper fermentation improper shaping of loaf
Flat taste	too little salt
Poor flavor	inferior, spoiled or rancid ingredients under or over-fermented