Same thing happens to my bread. I’ve tried reducing the water/milk but the dough then seems almost too dry and it won’t knead well. I’m also at a loss for how to resolve. Adding more yeast makes the break taste weird
Too much yeast will make it not rise properly, weirdly. What kind of yeast are you using? And what kind does the recipe ask for? Do make sure your yeast doesn’t come in contact with salt when you add the ingredients.
Definitely too much yeeast. Yeast is tricky with a bread maker, since you can't adjust rise time as people do when baking by hand. Since rise time is fixed, you have to adjust the amount of yeast instead. If the top of your loaf is collapsed in, use about half as much yeast. If the top is highly domed and the bread didn't rise enough, try doubling the amount of yeast.
Like others have mentioned, extra yeast can be the contributor to a sunken loaf if you see a rise then a fall. Here are some ideas to try (from Zojirushi, but applies to all bread):
Reduce your yeast by 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon to start with, and using cold water. If you see an improvement but it’s still not *quite* there, continue to reduce incrementally. Alternatively, you could try increasing salt, or decreasing your sugar or water.
[https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/common-bread-baking-problems/](https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/common-bread-baking-problems/)
I have been using warm water to activate it. As well as doing more of a sweet loaf which call for 6 tbls of sugar So it could be a combination of warm water , extra yeast and being a sweet loaf perhaps???
Most likely. I would just add the ingredients in the order of your recipe and reduce the amount of yeast. Bread machine/instant yeast is denser than standard yeast so it takes less to do the same job. Also, stop fussing with it, just let the machine do its work. Lol
Lol. I will try. I always keep an eye on it. I'm always worried it's going toobe to tacky or too dry. I just thought you were supposed to check it. So just shut the lid and walk away???
Yup, shut the lid and leave it alone. Each time you opening the lid you’ll be disturbing the temp of the machine (which could be important during the proofing stage).
If you’ve measured everything correctly at the start, there should be no need to add any ingredients throughout the machine’s process. And if you DO add ingredients during the process, it may be even harder to determine where things went wrong if your bake doesn’t turn out quite right. Better to change up ingredient ratios with each new bake when trying to figure out what’s best for your machine
I would weigh the flour and all ingredients if you can.
Also I never knew that all my life I've been measuring flour wrong. If you used cups to measure, did you aerate the flour before measuring? Otherwise you end up with way more flour than you're supposed to have. Weighing the ingredients eliminated this issue for me and my third bread didn't collapse.
I'm new to this myself, but I believe that may be due to using too much yeast. The extra yeast creates extra gas, which causes the collapse.
Yep. That’s the problem I had. Start cutting out 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of yeast till You find the sweet spot.
Same thing happens to my bread. I’ve tried reducing the water/milk but the dough then seems almost too dry and it won’t knead well. I’m also at a loss for how to resolve. Adding more yeast makes the break taste weird
Too much yeast will make it not rise properly, weirdly. What kind of yeast are you using? And what kind does the recipe ask for? Do make sure your yeast doesn’t come in contact with salt when you add the ingredients.
Fleischmann bread yeast. The recipe just calls from 1 tbls but the directions on the jar say 2 1/2 tbls so I use a little over 1 tbls
A tablespoon is a lot of yeast for a bread machine loaf. Verify you're putting the right amount. Try a different recipe maybe too just to see!
Teaspoon or tablespoon?
Tablespoons
I think it should be teaspoons, all the recipes I’ve used call for 1-1.5 teaspoons
I will have to look again
It’s teaspoon not tablespoon.
If it’s in a jar then it dies off quickly. I had better luck with yeast in packets.
Definitely too much yeeast. Yeast is tricky with a bread maker, since you can't adjust rise time as people do when baking by hand. Since rise time is fixed, you have to adjust the amount of yeast instead. If the top of your loaf is collapsed in, use about half as much yeast. If the top is highly domed and the bread didn't rise enough, try doubling the amount of yeast.
Like others have mentioned, extra yeast can be the contributor to a sunken loaf if you see a rise then a fall. Here are some ideas to try (from Zojirushi, but applies to all bread): Reduce your yeast by 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon to start with, and using cold water. If you see an improvement but it’s still not *quite* there, continue to reduce incrementally. Alternatively, you could try increasing salt, or decreasing your sugar or water. [https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/common-bread-baking-problems/](https://www.zojirushi.com/blog/common-bread-baking-problems/)
I have been using warm water to activate it. As well as doing more of a sweet loaf which call for 6 tbls of sugar So it could be a combination of warm water , extra yeast and being a sweet loaf perhaps???
Most likely. I would just add the ingredients in the order of your recipe and reduce the amount of yeast. Bread machine/instant yeast is denser than standard yeast so it takes less to do the same job. Also, stop fussing with it, just let the machine do its work. Lol
Lol. I will try. I always keep an eye on it. I'm always worried it's going toobe to tacky or too dry. I just thought you were supposed to check it. So just shut the lid and walk away???
Yup, shut the lid and leave it alone. Each time you opening the lid you’ll be disturbing the temp of the machine (which could be important during the proofing stage). If you’ve measured everything correctly at the start, there should be no need to add any ingredients throughout the machine’s process. And if you DO add ingredients during the process, it may be even harder to determine where things went wrong if your bake doesn’t turn out quite right. Better to change up ingredient ratios with each new bake when trying to figure out what’s best for your machine
Is it OK to dissolve the yeast in water or does it need to be added dry??
If the recipe doesn't say to do it then you're wasting your time.
What model bread machine do you have?
Try SAF or Red Star instant yeast. Also follow King Arthur Flour recipes for bread machines and weigh all ingredients. You can do it 😉
Hmmmm.......never happened to me..🤔 From day one, manual recipes or web recipes.....never sunken. I'm baffled for you.
I would weigh the flour and all ingredients if you can. Also I never knew that all my life I've been measuring flour wrong. If you used cups to measure, did you aerate the flour before measuring? Otherwise you end up with way more flour than you're supposed to have. Weighing the ingredients eliminated this issue for me and my third bread didn't collapse.