Bread Maker - flour/yeast issues
Discussion
I find Carr's Strong Wholemeal to be the only wholemeal to produce reproducible results. White flour is less of a problem - little recent experience with granary because I value my tooth fillings! All that being as it may, results do vary for unidentifiable reasons. I have found Allinson's yeast to be better than Hovis, though.
ETA mine's Panasonic too.
ETA mine's Panasonic too.
Edited by motco on Thursday 7th February 17:40
The brand of flour makes a massive difference in ours. If MrsFF can't get the stuff she usually uses (Allinsons, I think) and buys another wholemeal flour, the loaf falls completely flat and ends up really dense and not particularly nice to eat (although the birds seem to like it).
She's certain it's not the yeast. (I'm not in a position to argue...)
So I'd say find a flour/yeast combination which works and don't substitute either if you want good loaves every time.
She's certain it's not the yeast. (I'm not in a position to argue...)
So I'd say find a flour/yeast combination which works and don't substitute either if you want good loaves every time.
We've had exactly same last few weeks
Panasonic SD253 has been going strong for years then loaves don't seem to rise properly leaving slightly sunken top
I thought it was due to kitchen being pretty cold at night (13degrees sometimes in the morning) but when it got warmer still had the problem
Never tried ready mix - will give it a go.
Panasonic SD253 has been going strong for years then loaves don't seem to rise properly leaving slightly sunken top
I thought it was due to kitchen being pretty cold at night (13degrees sometimes in the morning) but when it got warmer still had the problem
Never tried ready mix - will give it a go.
We've had similar problems with our Panasonic. We're using Hovis wholemeal and Lidl white (50/50) and also having the same problem on 100% white. After some discussion along the lines of "didn't we have this problem last year" we've moved the breadmaker out of the unheated kitchen and so far we've had well risen 100% white and 50/50 loaves.
I don't see how it can be the yeast. Provided it's in date, yeast is yeast.
However there is massive variance in flours, and somewhere in the back of my mind I recall hearing that wheat crops last year had a lower gluten content than previously due to the poor summer, and essentially being harvested unripe.
However there is massive variance in flours, and somewhere in the back of my mind I recall hearing that wheat crops last year had a lower gluten content than previously due to the poor summer, and essentially being harvested unripe.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
We had a similar problem a few years back. Panasonic said our machine was knacked, so we bought a new one. Which was exactly the same.So we spoke to the Pana cooking helpline and they explained it was flour quality. They recommended two particular flours to blend and we had no more problems.
Mobile Chicane said:
I don't see how it can be the yeast. Provided it's in date, yeast is yeast.
However there is massive variance in flours, and somewhere in the back of my mind I recall hearing that wheat crops last year had a lower gluten content than previously due to the poor summer, and essentially being harvested unripe.
This makes the most sense to me.However there is massive variance in flours, and somewhere in the back of my mind I recall hearing that wheat crops last year had a lower gluten content than previously due to the poor summer, and essentially being harvested unripe.
I wish this thread had been posted a week or so ago.
My loaves weren't rising properly, either. I tried changing the yeast, increasing the white/wholemeal flour ratio, a different dough improver, and different brands of flour - all to no avail.
In the end, I became convinced that the breadmaker (a five-year old Panasonic) was faulty, so bought a brand new one. The bread was still stodgy
Changing to one of the "big name" brands of flour instead of different supermarket own brands did the trick - "proper" bread again
My loaves weren't rising properly, either. I tried changing the yeast, increasing the white/wholemeal flour ratio, a different dough improver, and different brands of flour - all to no avail.
In the end, I became convinced that the breadmaker (a five-year old Panasonic) was faulty, so bought a brand new one. The bread was still stodgy
Changing to one of the "big name" brands of flour instead of different supermarket own brands did the trick - "proper" bread again
Mobile Chicane said:
I don't see how it can be the yeast. Provided it's in date, yeast is yeast.
However there is massive variance in flours, and somewhere in the back of my mind I recall hearing that wheat crops last year had a lower gluten content than previously due to the poor summer, and essentially being harvested unripe.
If the yeast has been open a while (& especially if it's not been kept in the fridge) it might not work well — even if it's 'in date'.However there is massive variance in flours, and somewhere in the back of my mind I recall hearing that wheat crops last year had a lower gluten content than previously due to the poor summer, and essentially being harvested unripe.
With our Panasonic SD-ZB2502, I get different results with different flours, which I have put down to gluten levels — but higher protein flours don't always seem to give the best results, so it's not just a simple case of more protein = better rise.
I've also found that some flours need exactly the amount of water the Panasonic recipe book says but some need a small amount (5-10ml) more or less than the standard recipe.
Like others on here, I've been struggling with slightly sunken tops for the last few weeks. Perfectly palatable bread — just doesn't look as pretty. The recipe tweaking continues.......
Yes, very interesting blog. I also 'stocked up' on the Hovis Granary flour when it was on special offer a few weeks ago & have been using it in my bread mixes (with strong white) ever since.....
I'm doing a dough mix (50% Hovis Granary flour) this afternoon to make some rolls, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. Too late today for the lemon juice trick though.....
I'm doing a dough mix (50% Hovis Granary flour) this afternoon to make some rolls, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. Too late today for the lemon juice trick though.....
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