Kneading and making bread dough without bread machines is time-consuming and frustrating. Bread machines are like saviors for the ones who love to make loaves of breads. It saves your time and physical energy that went out in manual kneading, mixing, and waiting for bake time. When a bread machine offers ease, people also complain about bread collapsing. Many people experience frequent bread collapsing made in bread makers. Before fixing this problem, you need to understand the reasons behind bread collapsing in a bread maker.
Reasons of bread collapsing in the bread maker
Here are the few reasons for bread collapsing in a bread maker that you must overcome and understand.
1. More water content in the dough
One of the main causes of bread collapsing in a bread maker is the more water content in the dough. Too much dough will cause the crumb to shrink down upon cooling. If you are making bread in a bread maker, your loaf will quickly get ready. And for a quickly made loaf, you need dry dough instead of wet. Well-hydrated flour is essential for making stable dough. Too damp or too dry dough can cause your bread to collapse.
2. Not enough kneading time
Proper kneading of dough is necessary to eliminate the excess air from air pockets. If your dough is not mature enough, it can easily collapse in beard maker. Without proper kneading, the dough’s gluten structure will be weak and will have air pockets through the crumb.
Kneading helps in creating gluten mesh. But if the gluten mesh is not evenly spread, it will not have the capacity to hold gases. As a result, your bread will collapse even after rising.
3. Less fermentation time
A good loaf requires plenty of time for water soaking in gluten. Insufficient fermentation time will decrease the strength of gluten, which results in bread collapsing. If no proper fermentation time is provided to loaf, then it will not resist collapsing.
4. Wrong yeast type and condition
Yeast is one of the key factors that help get well-fermented dough for loaves of bread. But if you are using wrong type of yeast, it will cause bread to collapse. Instead of instant yeast, if you are using active dry yeast, it may not be suitable for your dough making.
Besides the wrong yeast type, if you use rotten yeast, it will also damage your bread and ultimately cause it to collapse. Too old yeast can also destroy your dough.
5. Too much yeast
If your bread collapses after following all the precautionary measures and proper procedures to make bread, then there could be another reason for this. Adding too much yeast into your dough will also cause its collapse. However, it helps in the quick rising of bread dough, but after that, it will ultimately flatten because of a massive quantity of yeast.
More yeast will consume the sugar content in the dough, which leads to the creation of air bubbles. And too many air bubbles will create too much gas that is not good for dough and make it flattens at the end.
6. Selection of wrong flour
Selection of the wrong flour type is another cause of bread collapsing in the bread maker. The protein content in your flour has gluten that helps in dough making. If your flour has low protein content, you will get a weak gluten mesh. Any flour with a good amount of starch and protein content is mandatory for a good bread product.
Tips to keep your bread maker bread safe from collapsing
Making bread in a bread maker is always fun, and you get nicely baked and risen bread as the end product. After knowing the reasons for your bread collapsing, you may follow some valuable tips to keep your bread safe from collapsing.
Maintain adequate water content in the dough
Maintaining good water content in the dough would be very helpful. Avoid adding too much water. But if you feel your dough is too wet, add some flour to it. Try to decrease water by one to two tablespoons next time you prepare your dough. If your dough is too dry, you can also add a tablespoon of water. All you have to do is to keep your dough well hydrated.
Give more time for kneading
Keep kneading your dough until you get finely meshed gluten dough. Do a windowpane test to check your dough. Take a tiny amount of dough in your fingers, and if you see a light shine through it and it does not break, then you have a fine gluten mesh. But if your dough is not like that, give more time for kneading.
More fermentation time
Give your dough a little more time for fermentation. You can add extra step for autolysis to allow the gluten to settle down properly. Extended fermentation of dough will have more organic acids and ethanol. It will strengthen your gluten and resist against collapsing.
Choose perfect yeast quantity and type
The right type of yeast and its quantity helps create good stable dough. If you were adding more yeast previously, then decrease its amount now ¼ to ½ teaspoons. Check your yeast expiry before adding it to your dough. Add fresh and instant yeast to avoid bread collapsing.
Select the right flour
Choose the suitable flour for good gluten content. Flours having maximum protein content offer more gluten. 11-14% protein content is recommended for the flour you will use in bread making.
FAQs
1. Why does the top of my bread collapse in a bread machine?
While making your dough, if you add too much yeast into it, the top of your bread will collapse in a bread maker. It happens because too much yeast causes more gas production during the baking cycle. The gas bubbles will cause the dough to rise, and if gas bubbles are present in massive amounts, they will collapse your bread top.
2. How to keep the bread from sinking in the middle?
If your bread sinks in the middle of the making process always then do not over-mix your batter. It can create more air pockets that will lead to bread collapse. Besides this, if too much moisture is present in your bread after baking, then it will immediately collapse down after getting cold. Bake it for a longer time to avoid too much moisture prevalence.
3. How do you keep your bread from collapsing?
You can keep your bread safe from collapsing and ending up in getting nicely risen bread by:
- Using good quality flour
- Choosing the right quantity and type of yeast
- Giving proper kneading and fermentation time to the dough
- Keeping a moderate water content in the dough
Leave a Reply