The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (2024)

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Breadmaking doesn't have to be scary — even though mistakes are easy to come by. Here are the 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making and how to avoid them.

By Gemma Stafford | | 133

Last updated on April 19, 2020

The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (1)

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Hi Bold Bakers!

I have heard from a lot of you that you would love to do more bread making in 2020! All sorts of doughs from sourdough, to No-Knead doughs to basic bread doughs. I’m all in, but first I thought it’s important we cover the ‘7 most Common Breadmaking Mistakes You’re Probably Making’ so you don’t do them going forward! Then you’ll be ready to make my Artisanal Whole Wheat Bread for beginners, my Cinnamon Raisin Bread, and even my World’s Simplest Sourdough Bread recipe.

1. Failing to Weigh Your Ingredients Accurately

For absolute accuracy use a scale to weigh your ingredients in grams or ounces. Yes, you can use cups, however, cup measurements aren’t as precise and can vary throwing off your dough. This is the reason that in bakeries and restaurants we exclusively use a scale for measuring. If you need one, you can find a scale on Amazon!

2. Mistakenly Adding Salt DIRECTLY on top of Yeast

Yeast will be killed if salt lays DIRECTLY on top of it. Don’t worry, I just mean that when adding the yeast and salt add them on opposite sides of the bowl. Give then individually a little mix into the flour and THEN you can mix it all together (See video below for example!).

[ Ready to try a simple bread recipe? Make my Crazy Dough — it can be turned into so many different kinds of bread! ]

3. Incorrectly Adding Too Much Liquid

Unless specified in the recipe, when making bread add JUST enough water to form a ball of dough that cleans the bottom of the bowl (See video below for a visual). Although recipes give you a specific amount of liquid you might not need it all OR you might even need a little extra. That is perfectly normal. Add your liquid slowly until you see your dough come together.

The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (2)

4. Not Covering Up Your Dough At All Stages of Breadmaking

Fun fact: Dough and air are not best friends! Quite the opposite, actually. We don’t want the dough to be left uncovered for long periods of time at any stage of the breadmaking process.

Air coming in contact with your dough will cause a skin will form. If a skin develops, it’s really hard for your dough to rise sufficiently. Think of the skin as a jacket actually holding back your dough from proofing underneath it.

A Solution? Cling wrap the dough then place a clean kitchen towel over that. Now you are all good.

5. Inadequately Proofing Your Dough

Proofing is an important step in the breadmaking process. This stage ensures your dough will rise to its full potential and that your crumb will be formed correctly.

A telltale sign of over-proofing would be a flatter dough coming out of the oven. Another way to tell if your dough has been over-proofedis that your dough sticks to the cling wrap and will drag your dough when you try and remove it.

How to make sure you don’t over-proof your dough? Using your finger, push into the side of your formed bread loaf. If the bread springs back fast and your indentation disappears then it needs to proof for longer. When your dough gets to the stage where your indentation disappears much slower then your bread is adequately proofed (See video below for a demonstration of this technique).

6. Failure to Create Steam in the Oven

Steam is a very important element when baking bread and shouldn’t be overlooked because it is an extra step. Steam in the oven while baking creates a flexible and chewy crust. Also, shine in my opinion. You can easily create steam in a domestic oven at home.

Here are 2 solutions: Place a shallow baking pan with some hot water on the bottom rack of your oven during the preheating. Leave it in there for roughly 20-25 minutes or so for the initial stage of baking. Then you can remove it so you will form a thick crust.

Alternatively, once your dough is in the oven, immediately spray the dough and interior of the oven with a spray bottle of water OR you can splash of water using a little cup.

7. Don’t Let the Heat Escape During Baking

If the door is open within the first 20 minutes of baking, it won’t allow for “oven spring.” Oven spring is the first rise of the bread in the oven and it’s incredibly important. Please keep that oven door closed and the heat in. Also, allowing heat to escape will result in a soft crust. This is a must in breadmaking.

The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (3)

Tips and Tricks for Breadmaking at Home:

  • Be mindful when switching up flours from the original recipe:
    • If a bread recipe calls for a particular flour, but you want to use a replacement flour, be mindful of your liquid measurements
    • For instance, bread flour could be replaced for all-purpose flour, but since bread flour absorbs more liquid than all-purpose you would need more liquid
    • I would not recommend substituting a 1 to 1 ratio of whole wheat flour to all-purpose flour. Completely replacing all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour will result in a heavy and dense bread. However, feel free to do half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose
  • Treat bread dough like a living thing: keep it warm and covered:
    • The yeast in the dough is a living organism and should be treated as such with warmth, food (sugar), liquid, and cared for
    • Therefore, the dough is happiest in a warm environment and it should be covered (cling wrap and kitchen towel ‘blanket’) and protected from drafty air
  • Take notes as you bake your bread:
    • Pay attention and write down how you do your steps in bread making because it will help improve how you make bread the next time
    • Good notes could include proofing time, steaming method, baking temps/times, etc.
  • Understand the type of yeast you’re using:
    • Active dry vs. instant yeast
      • Active dry yeast requires that you bloom the yeast in a warm liquid before you mix in your dry ingredients
      • Instant yeast does not need to be activated, instead, it is incorporated into the dry ingredients when mixing the dough
  • Score dough at an angle before you bake:
    • Scoring controls the direction in which your bread will rise during “oven spring”
    • These slits allow for the release of heat through the top of the bread so it doesn’t burst through the bottom/sides
  • When to take out your bread:
    • The bread should be a deep golden brown color
    • A good test would be to tap the bottom — if it sounds hollow, it’s done.

Don’t forget to followBigger Bolder Baking on Pinterest!

Make Some Bread!

Artisanal Whole Wheat Bread Recipe (No-Knead, Beginner's Bread)
The Last Sourdough Starter Guide You’ll Ever Need
Perfectly Crusty Sourdough Bread For Beginners
Hearty No-Yeast Bread
Crazy Dough: One Easy Bread Recipe with Endless Variations
Best-Ever Pizza Dough Recipe (No Knead)
Homemade Soft Pretzels (No Knead, No Machine Recipe)
How to Make Waterford Blaas (Authentic Irish Rolls Recipe)

Watch The Recipe Video!

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133 Comments

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (13)

Laura

4 years ago

Having a hard time reading it because your tips video, comment and share ribbon are blocking the text. Having a way to hide that would be awesome, but I couldn’t find it.

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (14)

Alejandra Lopez

4 years ago

Hi, thanks for all the helpful tips. I have a question, I made a bread called in Spanish Rosca. Using 2 different recipes I found, I used the scale to measure everything. After I let the dough proof I started to knead it and shape it but the dough felt hard and wouldn’t shape. Reminded me of play dough lol. I don’t understand what I did wrong if I followed the recipe. It took me 3 times to finally get it right. But still don’t know what went wrong and this is why I am super excited to know you’llRead more »

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (15)

Tania

4 years ago

Hi Gemma, just confirming I’ve got the instructions correct. I put a pan of water in the oven with my bread for steaming, I don’t open the oven for the first 20 minutes but then at around 25 minutes its okay to open the oven to take the water out? Thanks for all of your great work.

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (16)

jacintacarey

4 years ago

Why is my irish s bread so crumbly

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (17)

Bev Colfry

4 years ago

Thanks for the tips. Love your site, videos and teaching style❣️

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (18)

Josephine

4 years ago

These are wonderful tips Gemma. Thank you so much.

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (19)

Cindi Blackwell

2 years ago

Gemma, if using a dutch oven should I preheat and should I use parchment paper

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (20)

Gifty

1 month ago

Thank you very much for pointing out this, I have been able to identify my mistakes

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (21)

Karen D'Agostino

1 year ago

I have struggled to make a good Ciabatta bread but your recipe has changed all that! absolutely delicious and I am amazed how long the bread stayed fresh. Going to try the wheat bread next. THANK YOU! great tips

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (22)

Maryann5002

1 year ago

Hi Gemma, first of all thank you for all your advise. I live in Malta (a tiny island in the Mediterranean) and most common flour found here is a type called “00”. Can I use this this same way as plain or all purpose flour please.

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Meet Gemma

The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (25)

About Us

Meet Gemma

Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, a cookbook author, and the creator of Bigger Bolder Baking. I want to help you bake with confidence anytime, anywhere with my trusted and tested recipes and baking tips. You may have seen one of my 500+ videos on YouTube & TikTok or as a guest judge on Nailed It! on Netflix or the Best Baker in America on Food Network. No matter your skills, my Bold Baking Team & I want to be your #1 go-to baking authority.

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The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (26)

The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making (2024)

FAQs

The 7 Common Breadmaking Mistakes You're Probably Making? ›

It consists of a series of steps including mixing, fermentation, makeup, proofing, baking, cooling, slicing and packaging. Due to their critical role, these processes must be carefully operated to meet pre-set conditions and specifications.

What are the 7 common bread making mistakes and how do you prevent them? ›

Bread Baking Mistakes Everyone Makes
  1. Using the wrong type of flour. Africa Studio/Shutterstock. ...
  2. Not measuring your ingredients precisely. ...
  3. Forgetting to add salt. ...
  4. Using the wrong type of yeast. ...
  5. Using dead yeast or killing it yourself. ...
  6. Adding too much water too quickly. ...
  7. Only using a stand mixer. ...
  8. Over or under-kneading the dough.
Aug 21, 2023

What are the 7 stages of bread making? ›

It consists of a series of steps including mixing, fermentation, makeup, proofing, baking, cooling, slicing and packaging. Due to their critical role, these processes must be carefully operated to meet pre-set conditions and specifications.

What are the common faults in bread making? ›

Common bread faults include poor volume control, poor shape, thick or thin crust, dense or open crumb, and off flavors. The causes of different faults are explained, such as too much or little yeast, salt, liquid, or improper fermentation/baking steps.

What is the most common mistake when making quick breads? ›

The top mistakes you're making when you bake bread
  1. You're measuring incorrectly. ...
  2. Your yeast is old. ...
  3. You're using low-protein flour. ...
  4. You're using too much flour (or water) ...
  5. Your oven isn't hot enough.
Apr 15, 2020

What ruins bread? ›

Too much flour and not enough water can cause crumbly bread – people often do this if the dough is too sticky and they add more flour rather than kneading through it. Other culprits can be overproving or not kneading enough – the things you need to do to get a good structure.

How can I make my bread lighter and fluffy? ›

All it takes is a small amount of dough enhancer per loaf to create a much lighter and fluffier result. Using a dough enhancer like Vital Wheat Gluten works to improve the texture and elasticity of the dough and elongate the strands of gluten. Doing so allows more room for the gas in the dough to develop and rise.

How do you fix failed bread? ›

Reuse in another dish. For the dry parts of the bread, they're usually made into bread crumbs or used in some kind of pudding. As for gummy bread, I wonder if you can use it like a panade and mix it with ground meat.

What could go wrong when making bread? ›

Check the liquid added to the dough is not over 37°C or it may kill off some of the yeast, similarly check the yeast is not too old or stale and inactive. Check that you haven't added too much sugar or salt as both common mistakes may stop the yeast from working properly.

Why is my homemade bread so chewy? ›

The flour you used may have contained too much protein. Protein is one of the ingredients that help yeast bread brown. Use bread flour that is purchased at a grocery store or a national brand of all-purpose flour.

Why is my homemade bread dry the next day? ›

Since no preservatives are used in home baking, baked products tend to dry out quickly and should be consumed in 1 to 2 days. Do not refrigerate. Refrigeration pulls moisture from bread, which speeds up the staling process and causes bread to dry out.

Why is my homemade bread so dense? ›

Too Much Flour

Even if you select the correct flour, if you overdo it your bread will come out heavy and dense. The addition of too excessive flour in the dough is a common error, particularly for those who are new and don't know how it is what bread dough ought to look like.

What are the 7 main ingredients in quick breads and what are their functions? ›

  • Flour. Gives baked goods- Structure.
  • Liquids/Milk. Gives baked goods-Moisture & helps combine ingredients.
  • Chemical Leavening Agents (baking soda, powder) Make quick breads quick- Produces carbon dioxide, leavens baked product.
  • Fat. Gives baked goods-Flavor, tenderness.
  • Eggs. ...
  • Salt. ...
  • Sugar. ...
  • Shortening.

What are some common mistakes people make when preparing dough and how can they be avoided? ›

Common Baking Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
  1. Baking at the wrong temperature. ...
  2. Not measuring ingredients. ...
  3. Checking on your items too frequently. ...
  4. Your ingredients are at the wrong temperature. ...
  5. Your dough isn't rising. ...
  6. Nothing is baking evenly. ...
  7. Your dough or batter is too tough. ...
  8. Wrap Up.

What are the common yeast bread issue faults and their solution? ›

POOR RETARDING
Possible CausePossible Solution
Dough dried out in fridgeUse the trolley cover
Dough temperature too highReduce dough temperature
Fridge temperature too highEnsure fridge temperature is between 3°C - 5°C
Dough left in fridge for too longReduce refrigeration time

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