Sharon,
You inspired me with your bread machine glow; I bought one weekend before
last. The poor thing has hardly had time to cool down! So far, I've made
a couple of mixes, but mostly whole wheat bread. I've been fiddling with
the ww recipe in the machine's booklet, and finally found something that
REALLY makes a difference: vital gluten. The box of v. gluten says it's
not the same thing as regular gluten flour, that it's much "purer" or
stronger (but I think I'll try the other, too, and just use a little more).
The booklet calls for one tablespoon per cup of whole wheat flour. It
makes the finished bread much lighter, and I haven't had a loaf collapse
since then, although I haven't played around as much with the yeast since
that point, either. The booklet says the reasons for collapse are because
you've added too much yeast or there's too much liquid for the amount of
flour. I've added slightly rounded spoons of yeast (although the book says
always measure *exactly*) without any more collapses. I must say, however,
even the very flattest loaf was quite tasty, and I had the option of using
it as a steppingstone in my garden if we didn't eat it before it got stale!
Jane
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>The recipes that came with my particular maker (Black and Decker) all call
>for 3 tsp. of yeast. On occasion my loaves have started to collapse and I
>wonder if I should be using the standard '1 envelope' (2 1/4 tsp) measure
>of yeast instead, on the understanding they are rising too fast. Has
>anyone else experimented with yeast measurements?
>
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Jane Smith
mjsmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Special Collections, Pickler Memorial Library
Truman State University (formerly NMSU)
Kirksville, Missouri USA
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