Bread Baking Books

Why does my bread dough never rise properly?

Every time I follow a bread recipe closely, it never turns out quite right! My dough never rises like the books say it should, even when I follow the directions precisely. I don't have a bread machine, I'm using a basic elec. oven. The dough always stays kind of tough, even flaky sometimes, never yellowy or elastic. And once it's baked, the bread is usually so dense and lumpy, lol. What am I doing wrong?
Yes, I use the exact amt specified in the various recipes I've tried.
These were great- thanks to everyone! I think it may be a combo- not kneading enough, too cool, and a lot of noise (I have a 2 year old, enough said!). I'll keep working at it! Thanks again!

* Your yeast might be old or was not properly activated. If so, either buy new yeast or when activating it try adding some sugar to it. It should be foamy and smell distinctly of yeast before using it.
* You might not be kneading your dough enough. You need to develop the gluten in dough in order to give it that elasticity. To do that, you need to knead it until it's smooth--this is how you know the dough is ready. Sometimes that can take up to 15-20 minutes.

Preparing the Hearth for Baking from Peter Reinhart


[simpleaffiliate source="amazon" results="5"]bread baking books[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="clickbank" results="2"]bread baking books[/simpleaffiliate]