Sounds liek something is killing the yeast...
Water too hot?
Linda c

Another possibility is that you are timing your rise rather than measuring the volume. If the weather has changed and your kitchen is cooler than the last time you baked bread, it will take longer for the dough to reach double volume. Maybe it needs a longer rise time.

No, water is not too hot (I measure the temp) and I rise it in the oven on proof so temp there should be the same (I could check with an oven thermometer). Unless! Maybe the bread machine rise isn't at the temp it used to be - the bread machine is older than the oven, I would suspect it first. Hm, may have to figure out how to check that.

How about humidity? That can throw things off a bit.

I have to adjust my recipes winter vs. summer.
We use wood heat which dries out the air, but I live in a rainly, humid area during the winter.
Sometimes it just depends on whether the fire is going and how many time we've gone in & out that day!!

Are you using different flour?

Deanna

Bread is so easy, yet so humbling.....

1. Are you adjusting the hydration of the dough during the kneading cycle?

It should be a nice soft ball formed in the bread machine. It is better to err on the side of a moist, well-hydrated dough, than dry. Dry dough = dry hard bread.

2. Are you placing the correct amount of dough in the correct size pan?

Scale (weigh) the amount of dough to know which pan to use.

Jumbo Pan - 10x4-1/2" - 4-5 cups flour - 2+ pounds of dough

Quick Bread Pan - 9x5" - 4 cups flour - 2 pounds of dough

Standard Pan - 8-1/2x4-1/2" - 3 c. flour - 1-1/2 pounds

Medium - 7-1/2x3-1/2" - 2-1/2 c. flour - 1 pound of dough

Small - 5-3/4-3-3/4" - 1-1/2 c. flour - 8 ounces of dough

3. I use a Zojirushi Bread Machine for making dough, but as soon as it's done kneading I remove the dough and place it in a dough-rising bucket (aka dough doubler) and snap the lid on tightly and watch the rise myself. If there is 1-quart of dough in the bucket, when it rises up to the 2-quart line I know the dough has doubled. I don't leave that to a machine that is time-based. Dough rises NOT to a clock, but according to the strength of the yeast, ambient air temperature and humidity level.

4. If you are using yeast from a bulk amount, you may want to test it to see if it's still good and active.

Yeast Test
In a 1-cup glass measuring cup place 1/4 c. warm water, 1 t. sugar and 1-1/2 t. yeast. Wait 10 minutes. The mixture should be up to the 1/2 cup line.

5. Are you baking the bread to temperature?

Most panned yeast breads are done anywhere between 195-210°F. I personally like around 200°F for most of my panned breads, but taste varies, as does the "best" temperature for different kinds of breads. An instant read thermometer is your best friend if you aren't sure if the bread is "done".

6. Is the crumb coarse? That can be because:
(a) the dough weight was too light for the pan size
(b) dough proofed too long
(c) improper molding of the loaf.

7. Do you wait until the loaf has completely cooled before slicing? Cutting a warm loaf can destroy the crumb.

8. Even though you are using a bread machine, there is still some bread science you may want to take into account. For instance, when do you add the fat? Adding fat at the beginning (commonly called for in bread machine books) will give the bread a shortening effect, similar to pastry making. The fat coats the flour and "shortens" the gluten strands. The resulting loaf will not rise as high, but have a nice close crumb, which is great for sandwich bread where you want it to hold mayo and the slice doesn't readily fall apart. Adding the fat after the gluten has developed (several minutes into the kneading and the dough ball is well established) will result in a higher loaf and a more open texture (a nice place for butter and jelly to rest when making toast ;-). Neither is right or wrong, just an option with which you can alter the bread. Something as simple as when you add the fat may make some difference, if everything else is done correctly.

9. What are you covering your loaves with during the final proofing? I suggest you handle the dough with oiled hands (NOT floured) when forming it (on a Silpat or a counter sprayed with Pam) and covering it with plastic wrap. I've done tests in some of my bread classes using plastic wrap, wet towel, and a dry towel, and the plastic wrap loaves always are better quality. The oil from handling the dough will keep the dough from sticking to the plastic wrap. Or you can spray the plastic wrap with a light coating of Pam.

With bread, it's often a series of things that cause problems, not just one thing. Hope there's something there that can help.

-Grainlady

I'd do #4 in Grainlady's Thread. Sounds like a yeast problem ???
I always test the Yeast, even when it is just bought.
Lou

How about the oven temp.did you check it ???
Do you preheat until the temp.is up to what you need.

Grainlady:
I have no problem placing a damp towel over the dough bowl,
after I spray on some Pam.
But I put the bowl in a warm oven, with a pan of hot water,
on the bottom shelf.

Except !!!
One time I forgot to turn the oven off. The dough rose and stuck to the towel.
When I removed the towel the top of the dough came with it.

So I baked it right in the Dough Bowl.

Made a fancy round loaf.
Lou

If your bread showed any activity at all, you have some yeast present and in time it will rise.
someone above asked....did you let it rise by the clock...like for an hour and then bake it ready or not...or did you let it rise until almost double....then bake?
Linda C

Wow, lots of ideas! I'll have to sort through...

Deanna, yes the humidity may be different (although we have a humidity-controlled house, it still varies).

Grainlady, thank you for so many suggestions. No, I do not adjust the dough during kneading. I guess I optimistically thought that once I had a recipe that works, it would always work.

I do let the dough rise "by the clock", particularly the first rise in the bread machine. The second rise I don't use one of those cool bowls that tells me the volume (King Arthur, here I come), but I guesstimate that it has risen about as it should.

The last two loaves that I have not been happy with actually seem very WET when they come out of the bread machine, but have risen to the same place as usual in the pan. I take it out, reform into a ball and rise again. It seems like it rises to a more-or-less normal volume. Then I shape into baguettes and let it rise again. This is the one that is not behaving. They just sit there in the same size and shape that I formed them into.

Does that make sense?

Thank you all.
Ann

Yeahbut....no flour is always the same....and you need to be aware of how the bread feels. yeast is a living thing...
t will be grown enough when it has grown enough...not by the clock...and the measure of flour required will vary by the flour and by the humidity.
Making bread is not chemistry....and your kitchen is not like a chem lab, always controlled conditions.
Linda C

I agree, no flour is the same, not even the same brand. It varies depending on how old the flour is, what the conditions were when the wheat grew, the humidity, all kind of things. I always check my dough for consistency, always.

Like Grainlady, I use a Zojirushi bread machine, I love the thing. But I only use it to mix the dough, then I shape and bake. I do let it rise in the machine, but I check because sometimes it's risen so fast it'll hit the top lid and sometimes it just isn't ready.

I usually shape my bread then sit it on top of the stove to rise while my oven preheats. That da*nable oven takes FOREVER to preheat, so it's about right by the time the dough has risen.

Yeast is a living thing and has a mind of it's own. Rise varies depending on all the conditions including temperature, hydration and age of the yeast.

If you are getting some rise, the yeast is still active, so I'd go with hydration level or temperature as the culprits here.

Annie