Why Homemade Bread Turns Out Dense and Crumbly

Question

Hi there! I have been on a bread journey for some time now, and my loaves no longer can be used for self-defense, however, they are still denser and more crumbly than I would like. Ideally, my finished product is soft, pillows, stretchy, etc. I have adjusted the amounts of wet and dry, tried many different temperatures and moisture levels for proofing...I am just at a loss. The loaves slice, but unless you toast it, the slices just kind of fall apart. My current recipe/process is:
2 cups warm water, using thermometer, measure less than 110 degrees
.5 cup white sugar
2 packets active dry yeast
1 cup butter, melted
.5 tsp salt
5-6 cups AP flour
Add sugar to warm water, stir until dissolved. Add yeast, stir, let sit 5 minutes. Attach dough hook, with mixer on low, add one cup flour and a drizzle butter. Add salt. Alternate flour and butter until all wet and dry are added. I do this slowly so the dough ends up being kneaded about 8 minutes. I mix on medium low an additional 2-3 minutes. Transfer to greased container and let rise until doubled. Tip out, shape, place in loaf pans, and allow to rise another 30 or so minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Although it has taken as long as 35 minutes.
What am I doing wrong?

Chris Kimball · Accepted Answer

Hi,
There's a few things going on here causing the issues. For starters, You'll want to use bread flour, not AP flour, for the best gluten development. The higher the flour's protein level, the stronger the gluten will be, which is important considering the high amount of fat and sugar in the recipe. Both those ingredients tenderize and weaken gluten (leading to that dense, crumbly texture). Arguably, I'd cut back on the sugar by 1/2 to 1/4 cup to start. I'd also likely cut back on the yeast--2 packets of yeast is roughly 4 1/2 tablespoons, which is a lot for that volume of flour. Try about 4 teaspoons (1 1/2 packets) and see how it goes. The slower the rise, the more controlled the gluten development will be (doughs without a sturdy structure can collapse upon themselves when baked, causing a dense texture.) And lastly, I would push kneading longer to further enhance gluten development. Eight to 10 minutes sounds a little short for a dough this rich (and that you're adding ingredients along the way, which affects kneading time). Properly kneaded dough should be smooth and glossy and ideally, reaches "windowpane" stage. You can take a small piece of the dough and (carefully) stretch it out thin enough to see through.
Lastly, that salt volume seems really low! Salt helps strengthen gluten, much less improves flavor (salt's role is crucial beyond just the bread's flavor). If using table salt, The general rule of thumb is roughly 1/4 teaspoon per each 1 cup of flour. So 5 cups of flour would take 2 1/4 teaspoons of table salt.
Good luck!

Why Homemade Bread Turns Out Dense and Crumbly

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