Causes of Inferior Bread

Lack of gluten develpment - Poor gluten development is more often the problem than is underproofing when the complaint is that the loaf is too heavy or the crumb is too dense. Be sure to knead the dough until it passes the Windowpane Test. The purpose of kneading any dough is to develop gluten, and incorporate micro bubbles into the mass of the dough which will inflate during proofing and baking. The more a dough is kneaded, the tighter and more regular a baked loaf's crumb will become. Sandwich breads are kneaded more. Really wet doughs, like a rustic French miche (sourdough round), are hardly kneaded at all.

Too much flour - makes a coarse textured bread with small volume and dry crumb. Too stiff a dough rises very slowly and therefore often is not allowed to rise sufficiently. Most bread doughs should be soft and tacky after mixing in the flour, as opposed to being sticky where the dough sticks to your hand as you touch it and pull your hand away. As the dough is kneaded it becomes more supple. See Bakers Math (Dough Hydration).

Over-proofing - Too long rising during the final proofing stage gives a very porous loaf with little flavor, a pale crust and a porous crumb with broken, irregular cells. This bread crumbles badly. Touch the side of the bread. If your finger leaves a slight indent, it is ready for the oven. If the dough springs back, let the dough rise a little longer. If the dough leaves a large indent and feels soft, it is overproofed. See Proofing Test below.

Under-proofing - Not rising long enough during the final proofing stage gives a bread of dark crust which has blisters just under the crust. The loaf is small and flat. It browns easily in the oven. Such dough is said to be green. The one case in which you want to under-proof is pizza dough and most other flatbreads--these seem to turn out best when under-proofed.

Proofing Test: The most common method is 'finger poking.' Take (the pad of) your index finger and indent the loaf about 1/2 inch. If the indentation rises back immediately, the dough is underproofed. If it springs back somewhat, but still leaves an indentation, it's probably fully proofed. BUT, if the imprint remains without springing back, the dough is overproofed.

Too cool an oven - Bread will continue to rise too long if the oven temperature is too low. The result is bread that is very porous in the center and upper part of the loaf. Bread tends to dry out.

Too hot an oven - The dough crusts over immediately and can not continue to rise the first ten or fifteen minutes it is in the oven, or the crust may break as it is forced unusually on one side more than the other. The crust becomes very brown while the center is underdone. Oven temperature should be 425 - 450° F for lean doughs such as French bread and 375° F. for richer doughs containing eggs and/or sugar.

Mold - Bread wrapped while hot molds quickly. Containers used for storing bread should be washed and aired frequently, and immediately if mold is found.