Fresh from the oven

[Ron Evers]

I made fruit bread today & it took all afternoon to rise. The preservatives on the three kinds of raisins, the currents or the mixed peel must have inhibited the yeast.

[B_BQ]

The bread looks really good Ron. I wonder too why it took so long to rise. I'm not a bread maker, although I have attempted it on a few occasions, with limited success.
I am tempted to try again though, as when I was in the supermarket the other day the Ciabatta bread looked so delicious - crunchy and chewy! But at $4.99 per loaf I'm not about to buy it, as I would probably have to throw 2/3rds of it away!
Maybe you would experiment for me, and post a successful recipe!
~BBQ

[Katherine]

It might be that you needed to add a bit of gluten. Or also, it may be that your yeast is getting a little old and tired, but you make enough homemade bread Ron, that I doubt its your yeast. Its probably fresh enough. When my bread is not rising I suspect its the lack of gluten in the flour I am using.

Kat

[Ron Evers]

It might be that you needed to add a bit of gluten. Or also, it may be that your yeast is getting a little old and tired, but you make enough homemade bread Ron, that I doubt its your yeast. Its probably fresh enough. When my bread is not rising I suspect its the lack of gluten in the flour I am using.

Kat

You may be on to something re the flour as this was a new bag from Giant Tiger that we have never used before. However, I have always had fruit bread rise slow but this was reticules. If it is a lack of gluten it should be good for cakes & pastry.

[Trailblaze1]

Oh isn't this just so annoying! I would make breakfast bread-pudding from this and start over with the breads.
I usually rinse my dried fruit with hot boiling water, then pat it dry between towels before adding to any recipe. I just don't trust where it's been stored before packaging.

It prolly tastes delish though. Will you try it and let us know?

[bluebird]

When my bread is not rising I suspect its the lack of gluten in the flour I am using.

Well that is very odd to read. As I can't eat gluten (I'm celiac) I make my bread completely gluten free and it rises just fine. In fact, sometimes it rises too much if I don't keep a close eye on it!

The only time I've had a problem with bread not rising properly was due to the yeast being past its prime. But I'm sure there are other things that could affect it, but I just can't see how it could be gluten..

[Ron Evers]

It is very tasty but best toasted.

[Sheikea]

Wow those certainly look yummy.I think you bake way more then me Ron,and believe me I bake alot..LOL..

[Katherine]

I dont often do this but the answer re gluten is in this paragraph off a bread site

Flour provides the structure for the product. The gluten, or protein, in flour, combines to form a web that traps air bubbles and sets. Starch in flour sets as it heats to add to and support the structure. In yeast breads, we want a lot of gluten formation, since it forms a stretchy web that traps carbon dioxide and steam during baking, to give bread its texture (also known as 'crumb'). Fats and sugars help prevent gluten formation. There is some simple sugar available in flour, which feeds the yeast. So if you have a bread recipe with no sugar source, that's okay - the yeast will have enough to 'eat' from the flour. The rising times will just be longer.

Bread flour is high protein flour, and produces bread that has a higher volume because it contains more stretchy gluten. Loaves made with bread flour rest for 10-15 minutes after rising before shaping the loaves so the gluten relaxes a bit and the dough is easier to work. All-purpose flour works just fine for most breads. Whole grain flours do not have as much gluten because there are other ingredients like the bran and germ which get between the gluten molecules. Whole grain flours are usually combined with bread or all-purpose flour to make a better crumb.

So it depends on the amount of gluten in the flour. If Ron happened to buy a flour with low natural gluten, it might not rise all that well. All you need to make bread is glutenous flour, yeast water and salt. If either the gluten or yeast is low or poor it doesnt rise very well.

kat

[bluebird]

Well I guess then that I've just been imagining that my gluten free bread has been rising all these years. Go figure eh?

I'm making some today. No gluten...notta.