Karen Wheless wrote:
>I've been having a lot of trouble lately with my bread, which I think has
>been caused by humidity. Yesterday I started a loaf in my bread machine,
>and the dough appeared to be fine after the initial kneading. It felt
>firm and not at all sticky, and formed a nice dough ball. However, after
>the second kneading cycle and part of the second rise (about 2 hours later)
>I checked on the dough and it had completely changed. It was more like a
>batter, very sticky and like a thick liquid. I started kneading, and had
>to add nearly a cup of flour to get back to the proper consistency. And
>even then, the dough barely rose at all, I tried baking it in the oven but
>it came out heavy and dense.
Humidity does affect the process with ABMs. I've noticed that some recipes
are more susceptible than others to absorbing moisture from the air. For me
it's been sufficient to simply withhold 1-2 T liquid. I don't worry if the
dough is softer than normal and even a bit sticky.
However, I've only had it go all the way to a batter twice, once with a
potato/sour cream bread I made (which is why I mention it is somewhat
recipe-dependent, because it doesn't happen with ordinary white bread). The
other time I got a too-liquid batter was when I tried a store brand of
flour; it had nothing to do with the humidity. However, that might be a
clue. Perhaps changing the brand of flour would help.
Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!