So I made Bread for the first time.....

Not exactly how it's airy and crumbly at the same time but that usually means that you used either the wrong type of flour or too much yeast if the bread is too airy. My wife makes bread almost daily but not loaves of bread. She makes traditional bread from her home country. She will use the bread maker to mix the ingredients and let it sit and rise. Then take it out and make sticks, loaves, etc... and cook in the oven. Speaking of the oven, if you have convection (hot air blowing) oven use it when baking just watch the time it takes (it should be about 30% quicker!) to cook. It tastes much better that way. Keep trying and tweak the recipe to your own taste. Practice makes perfect! Thanks, Zelo

I suspect that you may have used the wrong kind of flour. Wheat flour varies in the amount of gluten it contains. Flour with a lot of gluten is called 'strong' or marked 'bread flour'. Bread needs a 'strong' flour because the gluten holds the bubbles of the carbon dioxide which the yeast produces and, when it is baked, this is what makes it spongy and bread-like rather than crumbly and cake-like. Depending on where you live, it is sometimes quite difficult to find the right kind of flour. In the UK, flour that is marked 'plain flour' is suitable for cakes and so on but does NOT make good bread. In the USA, flour that is marked 'all-purpose' does make a reasonable bread but it is better if you can find one that is marked 'bread flour'. When making bread, the gluten has to be 'developed' by kneading. When you make bread by hand, this is quite hard (but not unpleasant) work which takes at least five minutes of working the dough - pressing, folding and pressing again - with hard wrist pressure. This mixes the gluten with the water and stretches it repeatedly so that it becomes elastic. Many people find bread-making very therapeutic and vent any anger and frustration on the dough! Once the dough is kneaded well, it should be covered and left in a warm place to rise. This allows the yeast to grow and produce little gas bubbles which are held by the gluten (gluten is elastic, like bubble-gum!). After about half an hour (if your dough is warm enough) the ball of dough should have doubled in size and the bubbles inside it will be quite large - too large, if you want a good, even textured bread - so it must have a second kneading session to break down the large bubbles into smaller ones. This may be about two or three minutes. After this, the bread is formed into loaves or rolls, placed in whatever tins or baking sheets you are using and allowed to rest in a warm place for a little longer (while you heat the oven). Finally, brush the top of the bread with a little milk or egg (to give a shiny finish) and, if you are garnishing with sesame or other seeds, they are scattered over just before the bread goes in the oven. Bread needs quite a hot oven (400 F or 200 C) and, if you want a crusty bread, place a small bowl of water in the bottom of the oven (or flick a little water into the oven just before putting the bread in). Rolls take about 10 or 15 minutes; a loaf takes rather longer - 20 to 25 minutes, depending on size. You can tell when the bread is done by knocking with one's knuckle on the base of the loaf or roll. If the sound is hollow, then it is ready. If it is dull, then give the bread a few minutes longer.

Did you use the mixer or you use knead the bread? It is what came out when I made homemade bread the first time when I didn't have a mixer, I just kneaded on my own and obviously I didn't knead it hard and long enough. I think mixer is a good help.

Hi, I never tried to make a bread before,so far, I only tried to make some simple cake and cookies. Sometimes the results are good,but sometimes, they turn out hard. I am still in the midst of learning how to bake. I hardly bake at home. Actually my family love to eat bread and i might consider try making my own homemade bread one day.

im sorry but ive never made bread before so i have no idea what happened. i would love to have a go at making bread and i love the smell. i would try a different recipe and see if its any better. i know alot of people cheat and use a bread maker but i think i would do it by hand and cook it in the oven

I think it might be because the dough have nnot settle yet. When you make the dough, it will rise up on its own and we have to wait until the dough have settle and not rising again. When it is not totally settle, it will try to raise a lot during baking thus it will leave a lot of air pocket in your bread.

The only thing is just change the ratio of water in the batter and add a pinch of baking soda, I hope next time it will be better. In the first trial if it was tasting good then, congratulations on your effort.