How to make soft bread without buying pre-made dough?

[Lacey]

Anytime I make any kind of bread dough whether it is for loaves, rolls, even cinnamon rolls, after I cook it, the product comes out of the oven hard as a rock. My chickens won't even eat it. After a few of these disasters I have quit making bread and just buy the dough already made. I use the exact same recipes that my family has used forever and they can get them to turn out delicious. Any suggestions?

 

[True2marie]

There are several reasons why baked bread comes out hard. Here are the ones I know:

Yeast is inactive. Check the expiration date on your yeast and see if it has passed. This may be the main reason why nothing you bake comes out soft.

Your dough is under worked or over worked. Both of these mishaps cause the structure of your dough to be inept. The result - hard or lumpy bread.

Your dough is under risen. If your dough doesn't rise properly, the final product will be dense. Be sure to follow this part of the recipe to the 't' and not take a shortcut due to impatience.

Hope this helps!

 

[Lacey]

Thanks so much for that information. Now is the perfect time to try a loaf of bread with the weather cold and Christmas is over. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[cmckinney01]

Anytime I make any kind of bread dough whether it is for loaves, rolls, even cinnamon rolls, after I cook it, the product comes out of the oven hard as a rock. My chickens won't even eat it. After a few of these disasters I have quit making bread and just buy the dough already made. I use the exact same recipes that my family has used forever and they can get them to turn out delicious. Any suggestions?

Maybe your oven is the culprit. Try taking the bread out of the oven three to five minutes earlier than the recipe calls for.
Sometimes, ovens are actually hotter or cooler than what the temperature says.