Bread making in machine problems
 

My Black & Decker has a handy trouble shooting guide. For a problem like yours one can try any of the following:

Decrease liquid by 2 T
Increase salt by 1/4 t
Decrease yeast by 1/4 t

After trying this with one adjustment if that doesn't work try 2 adjustments at the same time.

How do you store your flour? Outside humidity can absorb into the flour requiring you to use less flour. I see you are in the desert but are you having a "rainy" spell right now? Just a thought. Good luck. I love my bread machine.

I have the same problem. And I have had several bread machines and have had this problem with them all. So I make my bread dough in the machine on the dough setting. Then put it in my pans let it rise the second time and bake it. There is still nothing like bread that comes out of the oven. The hard part is done by my bread machine and that is mixing and the first rising.

First of all, I totally agree, it's the best machine as far as I'm concerned. I've had numerous others and two of these and will never buy another brand. I have the best luck with it and it does so much more than bread. First of all make sure you are layering the ingredients in the pan in the order of the book. Wet first, then all dry with yeast on top. Make sure your yeast is good. You can always proof your yeast before putting it in the machine just in case your temp isn't right for that part of the process. This machine heats up the liquid to the right temp for the yeast. King Arther web site has lots of tips and recipes for this machine. I hope it gets better. Also try using the Better for Bread Flour or King Arthur's flour, it has the right amount of gluten in it to make it better.

I've gone through several bread machines and I've had the best results when mixing
the dough in the machine then remove it, shape it and put it in a loaf pan.
Let rise and bake in the regular oven.

I can't offer any help but just today I baked bread in my new bread machine that I got for Christmas. YUMMMY

Thanks Tammy, have not tried this yet but may do so.

I appreciate your tips, will try that too.

I do follow the rules when loading the ingredients and I use King Arthur's bread flour...also the fresh bulk bread flour from Winco....I tell my hubby that "I will keep failing until I succeed"... thanks for responding.

I can't offer any solutions, but if you are using King Arthur products, call their bakers hotline and they will help you figure it out.

I have to use 2 T less liquid in mine. I watch and if the dough is too dry due to low humidity etc., I then add the water back in a teaspoon at a time, but most of the time I don't add anything back in. My one breadmaker is a square baker pan and it makes more crust than we like so I use it for a dough machine and first rise then bake it in the oven after the second rise. The other one I bought from a friend has a regular loaf baking pan, but I have to watch it when it shapes it for the second rise it does not do a good job so I have to help it along, so the loaf isn't skinny on one end and fat on the other. I also find I have to add more yeast to the bread dough, so use a combination of bread yeast and regular yeast. You just have to play with it. I am going to try a little more salt in my next loaf as while my crust doesn't fall in, it is pebbly and not smooth as I would like it to be. Bread tastes good and it seems to happen whether I do it in the bread machine or in the oven.

I use both recipes from scratch as well as some mixes. We like the Royal Hawiaian (sp) bread with just a light sweet taste to it. Hubby dearly loves that one. I have also made hamburger buns using the dough feature, but am not impressed with the recipe I have for them. They sure don't stay fresh over a day it seems, and I hate stale bread whether it is bought or homemade.

It might be nice if we all shared our bread recipes in the recipe section, we might get some new ideas, how about it?

I use only King Arthur flour, but I also add two tsp. of vital wheat glutin from the grocery store. It solved my problems.

I love the Z bread machine! I agree that it sounds like a thermometer problem. Just do what the others suggested: use the kneading portion of the bread making and then finish in the regular oven in one or two loaf pans. There is NOTHING in the world that smells like homemade bread. Hope you solve your problem.

I no longer use a bread machine,tho both of mine worked fine.

The crust on loaves from either machine made a harder crust than I liked.

A friend said to use the end of a stick of butter,rub it over the crust lightly,then cover with a clean towel,when bread came out of bread maker.Made it perfect !

I can't bake a decent loaf in my bread machine either. So I let the machine do the mixing and first raising, then I put in a regular loaf pan for baking.

Sounds like you maybe needs to decrease the liquid a little.

I know my Zojirushi heats my water but I warm it first before putting in the pan. Also add my butter to the water. Usually your type problem arises when flour or yeast isn't fresh. Check after it mixes a few minutes and you will know if you need to add or reduce flour or water. Good luck!

I have your same machine. Try the machine on another setting. For instance, if you're making wheat bread usually, bake a loaf of French bread or make rolls or pizza dough = really anything that uses totally different settings. Occasionally I have to do this to get the computer in my machine to reset itself. It's not a bad deal to have a new type of bread on occasion and it has solved all my problems with my machine. My machine just seems to get tired of making the same old recipe all the time and forces me to do something different. Then it happily goes back to making my favorite perfectly.

Have you by chance switched types of yeast, i.e. from active dry yeast to bread machine yeast (fast acting or instant)? Instant rises faster and so it's possible it could be rising too much and collapsing.