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Since yeast is no longer available here in sachets I have found my loaves are about 2/3 the size that they were and HEAVY. Anyone else found this? However, the last loaf I made was perfect - large and light. I put TWICE the recommended yeast in the mix and that solved the problem. However, it's a bit off that we have to do that. I must complain to Edmonds.

I had the same problem Faye. Will double the yeast.

We have 2 breadmakers, & DH insists on using yeast with improvers,..whereas I say plain yeast granules must be better. More of them per measurement = better rising.

Sometimes one breadmaker makes a better loaf than the other one,.. & we keep saying it must be the breadmaker, but I'll tell him that you have doubled the yeast amounts.

It's just gotta get better then

Thank you! That explains it. I thought my yeast must have been stale. I will double up too.

I found that Edmonds have now started reselling the original yeast in a sachet. Yesterday I dug out my old breadmaker which I have hardly used since having so much strife with yeast in a jar and voila perfect bread again. Light, fluffy and full-sized.

I suspect the Edmonds recipe for hot cross buns that has featured lately on CloseUp, also failed because of the yeast.

Probly spot on with that assessment Faye. Has anyone noticed that some of the supermarket Hot cross buns taste strongly of too much baking soda too. I reckon they have had trouble with their rising agents as well. In fact many of the commercially produced buns in supermarkets look as if they have been sat on and squashed flat. Perhaps they never rose in the first place? i got some from a small privately owned bakery this year, and they are really lovely.

We do so love your honey/oatmeal bread, it truly does taste like a nice sweet porrige but not too sweet as to be desert bread, just nice, thank you.

janann wrote:

QUOTE:
Here is the bread that I made for Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorites

Honey Oatmeal Bread

2 1-/2 teaspoons dry granulated yeast
2 cups bread flour
1 cup oatmeal ( I used th quick cooking)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1 Tablespoon vegetabl or canola oil
1 cup water

Place ingredients into bread machine according to your bread machine's instructions. LIGHT crust setting 1.5 pounds loaf.

Thanks again for another handy tip. In the end, 'cause ours only makes a 2 cup flour loaf we halved the oatmeal and to accommodate the 1/4 cup of honey, reduced the water by 1/4 cup. If we boiled the water & added it to the 1/2 cup of oatmeal then put everything into the machine at the same time, it turned out a smoother textured loaf, otherwise we added it at the beeps, towards the end of the final kneading cycle.

Also using an egg makes for a more moist texture to help it last a couple of days but we had to reduce the water again by 1/4 a cup, so ended up using only 1/2 c actual water (used potato cooking water for another texture). We cut the salt down to 1/2 tsp if the potatoes weren't cooked in salted water otherwise used none at all.

By adding a Tb of buttermilk powder for each cup of flour, improves texture.

As for flour, we used half wholemeal flour because it's supposed to be healthier and the wholemeal loaves seem to keep better as well. But I have to say nothing keeps well in the humid or damp so mould comes unless sealed in a good plastic wrap & kept in the fridge.
Got some oat-bread recipes here too: http://www.breadmachinemagic.com/
janann wrote:

QUOTE:
According to the directions, the oatmeal was supposed to have been mixed into the dough with just a little sprinkling oats on top during the second rising.

You can also use the dough cycle (if your machine has one) and then you remove the dough from the machine, place in a greased loaf pan, let rise approximately 30-45 minutes in a warm place until doubled. Sprinkle top of loaf with a small amount of oats, then bake in an oven preheated to 374°F (190.0°C) for 35-45 mins until golden.

With the quick cook oats, you can add them at the beeps, so you still get that texture. The old-fashioned oatmeal you can bung into the machine along with all the other ingredients & the kneading will smooth it out so it's got a less coarse texture.

AnnieM wrote:

QUOTE:
Goodmorning LJ. If you type bread machine recipes into Google you will find hundreds of them. Here is one to get you started
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/bakery/index.htm
I have quite a few bread books and if you are in NZ then the Allison Holst book covers a lot of different breads, however I am sure you will find plenty on the net.

Thank you for this helpful link!

jj- you're welcome for the recipe. Since I started making bread again on a regular basis, I have been making it at least every couple of days. I decided that I wanted a bread with less than 50 ingredients instead of the commercial kinds.