# Crumbly bakery



## AmineF (Jul 15, 2018)

Hello everybody. I want to ask a question. I like cooking, but inexperienced in bakery. My mom like to make bakery, yet everything she does have the same problem: its crumbly. The breads, cakes, croisssants, buns anything like she make always end up crumbly (nobody want a bread to fall appart in pieces while you cut it). I would like to know all the possible reasons wich cause this.


Thanks in advance


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## CakePoet (Jul 15, 2018)

Too little  kneading and also maybe too much flour. That is most often the reason it crumbles.


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## JustJoel (Jul 15, 2018)

If your mom is making bread that’s crumbly, have her try a recipe with tangzhan. You basically make a water roux using a bit of the flour and some of the liquid, at about a 1:5 ratio. So 25 grams of flour and 125 grams of water, whisked over medium low heat until it thickens. Then proceed with the recipe as written. Google “Japanese milk bread” if you’d like a more detailed explanation or specific recipes.

The tangzhan has the added benefit of keeping the bread from staling for a longer shelf life!

Good luck!


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## CakePoet (Jul 15, 2018)

Yes, Scalding flour is a good way of making bread less crumbly and give it a longer shelf life.


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## GotGarlic (Jul 15, 2018)

I think there's something else going on if *everything* she bakes comes out crumbly. Breads, cakes and croissants are made very differently. Has she checked to make sure the temperature of the oven is correct? Things might be overbaked and dry. Where did she get the recipes she's using?


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## Mad Cook (Jul 15, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> I think there's something else going on if *everything* she bakes comes out crumbly. Breads, cakes and croissants are made very differently. Has she checked to make sure the temperature of the oven is correct? Things might be overbaked and dry. Where did she get the recipes she's using?


 Perhaps the oven controls aren't registering the right temperature. You can buy oven thermometers to check this and allow you to "tweak" the settings.

The other thing that occurs to me is whether the mixture is too dry. Flour and other dry ingredients can vary widely in the amount of liquid they can absorb even if you use the same brand every time.


And Cake Poet is right - insufficient kneading can make bread crumbly. I hmake a lot of bread and I reckon on 10 minutes kneading by hand or 5 minutes in the electric mixer followed by a little kneading by hand (This last only because I enjoy doing it )


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## tenspeed (Jul 16, 2018)

Mad Cook said:


> The other thing that occurs to me is whether the mixture is too dry. Flour and other dry ingredients can vary widely in the amount of liquid they can absorb even if you use the same brand every time.


I don't make cakes, but I make bread.  Weighing ingredients on a kitchen scale is much more accurate than using volume measurements.  Makes it a lot easier to scale up or down as well.


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## taxlady (Jul 16, 2018)

What kind of flour is your mother using? If it doesn't have enough gluten, it won't hang together.


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## Mad Cook (Jul 19, 2018)

tenspeed said:


> I don't make cakes, but I make bread. Weighing ingredients on a kitchen scale is much more accurate than using volume measurements. Makes it a lot easier to scale up or down as well.


 Here, here. We use volume measurements only very rarely for baking over here. I experimented with a measuring cup and flour a couple of years back after watching B/foot Contessa. I fluffed up the flour and took out a measuring cup of flour, levelled it with a palette knife and weighed it. I did this ten times and every time got a different weight! Back to weighing. 

I was interested recently, when watching Anna Olsen's baking programme, that she used both methods for different recipes. 

Bread is one of those things that come right with practice. My first efforts were a little, shall we say, brick-like but with practice I got there. (Parents were very kind about my early teenaged efforts but we had a lot of dishes .with breadcrumb toppings when I'd been practicing my bread-making )

A common fear with "trainee" breadmaking is that the dough is sticky. Don't panic, as you knead it on the board (I like a wooden one best) the texture and feeling improves. I find that kneading bread is the one thing in cooking that benefits from a bad day at work or a row with your partner - makes you feel better too .


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## AmineF (Jul 19, 2018)

Thanks all for your answers. I will give her all those advices and ask her to experiment witht them and see how it goes.


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