Avoca brown bread - Where am i going wrong ???

greengirl31

Hi All,
I’m hoping someone can help me with this.I use the following Avoca brown bread recipe always with mixed results..

200g white flour
300g course brown flour
3 tbs of bran
2 heaped tsp baking powder
1 level tsp salt
1 dessertspoon of treacle
600-900 milk

I can never seem to get it spot on and I’ve been making it for a while- it ends up either too dry or too wet or the crust is like a rock. I use the same flour and I measure everything usually using about the 600ml of milk. I mix it up in a K-Mix and cook it for the 20 mins @ 200 and another hour @ 170 as stated in the recipe. (I’ve a fan oven so should I change the temp slightly ??)

The very odd time it’s worked it’s been lovely but it seems so hit and miss … Does anyone have any trouble shooting ideas ??

Thanks in advance

The Hill Billy

Posting in the wrong forum for a start.
I'll move this to Cakes & Bakes for you.

tHB

uberalex

Is this the recipe?

bbcgoodfood(dot)com/recipes/1096635/avoca-cafe-brown-bread

(sorry, apparently I can't post urls because of some policy about me being a 'bot)


The most obvious things:
1) sift your ingredients to make sure they are evenly distributed
2) make sure your baking powder is fresh -- it goes off
3) make sure everything is dry before you put it together, humidity and temperature could be an issue
4) you would normally drop the temp somewhat for a fan oven
5) hard crust usually means not enough liquid or too hot an oven. If the middle is wet but the outsides hard might be the same issue.
6) the mixing from your k-mix might be inconsistent.

phormium

I'd mix that by hand, well with a spoon or spatula I mean, Kmix is a bit of overkill and might not be helping it.

I bake similar sort of recipe in fan oven and use same temperatures, are you wrapping the baked loaf in a tea towel or something to help soften the crust?

greengirl31

Hi folks, thanks for the replies ...

Yes the baking powder is fresh - it wasn't bought this week but it's not sitting in the press for months !! I hand mix the dry ingredients and then use the Kmix on a very low speed when I add the liquid ... I had been mixing it by hand but thought the Kmix might do a better job (and save my poor arm :P))
I take it out of the tin as soon as it's out of the oven and let it cool on the rack covered by the tea towel.
I might try to lower the oven temp but bake for longer ??

uberalex

greengirl31 wrote: »

Hi folks, thanks for the replies ...
Yes the baking powder is fresh - it wasn't bought this week but it's not sitting in the press for months !! I hand mix the dry ingredients and then use the Kmix on a very low speed when I add the liquid ... I had been mixing it by hand but thought the Kmix might do a better job (and save my poor arm :P))

If it were me I would ditch the k-mix altogether. Did you sift the dry ingredients together?

I take it out of the tin as soon as it's out of the oven and let it cool on the rack covered by the tea towel.

I might try to lower the oven temp but bake for longer ??

consider getting an oven thermometer. I don't think it would need longer, or not much. Breads can be very temperamental based on humidity though.

sdp

I make a similar treacle and walnut bread, and its a very soft batter, I mix it very lightly by hand, only takes a couple of seconds, and pour into tin, maybe your over mixing it? or not enough liquid? i see in your recipe its says 600/to900ml same, stay away from mixer