What to Do If Your Homemade Bread Does Not Rise or is Too Crumby

Baking bread is a learned art. The right proportions of flour, yeast, measuring, kneading, proofing, and right temperatures make the difference.

Reader Contribution by Lois Hoffman
Published on January 28, 2022
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by fancycrave1 | Pixabay
Baking that perfect loaf of bread is a science all its own.

Bread feeds the body and the soul. There is something about kneading the dough, watching it rise, and anticipating that aroma when it comes out of the oven. But there is a knack to baking that perfect loaf. There is nothing quite like the success of seeing that golden brown, mounded loaf cooling — or the frustration of a fallen, crumby loaf after you have put so much effort into it.

Baking bread is a learned art and perfection comes with time. There are many things that affect how crumby (literally) a loaf is or how high it rises. It requires the right proportions of flour, yeast, measuring, kneading, proofing, and right temperatures for the different stages.

Loaf is Too Crumby

Bread is supposed to have crumbs, but sometimes homemade loaves have way too many. Bread baking is a science and there are many reasons for excess crumbs.

Not enough gluten. Gluten is a combination of two different proteins found in grains. They are essential in traditional breads, giving bread its elasticity, helps maintain its shape and produces the crumb or texture. If there is not enough gluten, the crumb will not come out as expected.

Different flours have different amounts of gluten, with white having considerably more than whole wheat. Bread flour is designed to have the right amount for producing a quality loaf of bread. All-purpose flour will yield more crumbs if the gluten content is not adjusted. It is best to use recipes designed for the particular flour you are using or add gluten at a rate of one tablespoon for each cup of flour.

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