Baking homemade bread is a skill that has big payoffs in the kitchen. When your loaf turns out too crumbly, here's make it less so.
Instructions
1. Switch flour. If you are using whole wheat flour in your bread recipe, switch to white wheat flour which has more gluten and will hold your loaf together with fewer crumbs. If you are using regular flour, switch to bread flour, which is finely milled and will give your bread better texture.
2. Reduce the amount of flour in your bread recipe. Too much flour can affect the dough consistency and cause the finished loaf to be crumbly. Slowly reduce the amount of flour you mix in and use less flour when kneading.
3. Knead your dough more thoroughly. If you don't spend enough time kneading, the gluten will not have enough time to form, so spend some extra time on this important step.
4. Allow your loaf to cool completely before cutting. Cutting a loaf before it is completely cool can make your bread more crumbly.
5. Watch your dough while it is rising. Allowing your dough to rise more than double its size on the first rising can lead to crumbly bread.
6. Soften your whole grain flour before mixing. If you are making whole wheat bread, the gluten might be breaking where it encounters a piece of the whole grain. Soften the flour with hot water before mixing to cook the whole grains down so that they mix more easily and you may experience less crumbly loaves.
Tags: your bread, your dough, your loaf, amount flour, before mixing