Responding to: Cdluria@aol.com
ow> Our "Trillium" produces quite a coarse-grained bread -- no matter what
ow> recipes we seem to use. Our basic cycle takes about 2 hours 35
ow> minutes. The texture is not unpleasant, and the bread rises to its full
ow> size, as it is supposed to, but once in a while it would be nice to
ow> produce a finer grained bread.
Shortening is called that because it causes the strands of gluten to
shorten, producing a finer grained bread.
If you want to turn a coarse grained bread into a fine grained bread,
add shortening: butter (also adds a buttery taste) or oil (corn oil adds
the least taste).
Try 1 or 2 tablespoons of corn oil as a test. You may have to reduce the
amount of other liquid as well. I have used as much as 6 tablespoons of
corn oil on a 1 1/2 lb loaf (very, very fine grained bread).
Note that the addition of shortening often also affects the nature of
the crust.
Joel