Trouble Shooting

As promised, and despite not receiving any questions on problems, I have decided to post a troubleshooting section as part of my 'associated ramblings'. Today I made my usual baps, so there isn't any point posting about those again, but these have taken some time to perfect, especially the overnight technique, which suffered from large air spaces in the rolls for a time. This was most probably caused by over rising on the first rise, as decreasing the amount of yeast I use over time seems to have sorted the problem (I now use less than half of what I started with).

This could also be associated with a problem that plagued my focaccia for a time. Here I found that the crust would often detach from the body of the bread in baking, making a loaf that looked like it had risen incredibly, but which just had a big airspace in the middle. I think this was caused by drying out of the dough during rising as I wasn't keeping it as well covered as I should have done. This is especially a problem with overnight rising as it is over a longer period of time, so covering with oiled cling film at all times is a must. Oiled film serves two purposes, it stops the film sticking to the dough, but it also creates a more perfect seal around the container that the dough is in; further preventing drying out.

Other problems are generally associated with over or under baking or proportions of ingredients and can be resolved with a little experimentation. Longer baking times produce a harder and thicker crust; shorter a softer crust. More water can make the dough difficult to work with, but also provides a looser texture to the crumb and a softer consistency (milk is good for softening the crumb too).

The longer the rising time the better in most cases. To this end amounts of yeast should be adjusted to the conditions normally found in your house to produce a rising speed that is appropriate to your schedule and, secondly, the bread type (more yeast, quicker rising, obviously). It is never going to make a bread that is inedible (unless you really put a lot in), so make the yeast work for you.

Well I hope that has covered a few of the most common problems/complaints, if you have any more then this is probably the place to leave them and I shall endeavour to resolve them.

Back to business.