You can add "vital gluten" to an all purpose flour to make it comparable to a bread flour. However I know a number of people who don't use it. They use all purpose flour in the bread machine. Bread flour will make the bread a little more chewy and the like, but often I like a tender loaf. I usually always use bread flour (Dakota brand seems to be cheapest around here and is fine). Thought about experimenting. Although I do use regular a/p flour for cinnamon rolls and the like. Haven't used the ABM for a while. Need to dig it out.

I wonder if your problem is temperature. I found that my bread would rise MUCH better if I preheated the container with hot water, use hot water in it (keep it separate from the yeast so it doesn't kill it, and have a warm area for the breadmaker. It made a world of difference for me.

Of course as they say... YMMV!!

And of course, you're in Canada... perhaps Canada bread doesn't RISE to the occasion???? :)

Just wanted to toss this into the discussion.

Just because you've recently purchased the yeast, is not a guarantee it's 'fresh'. You have no way of knowing how it was stored during transport and at the store before it made it out to the shelves. On occasion, products that are within their 'safe' dates are still not 'fresh' because of improper storage. So, I'd recommend that you either proof the yeast separately to check it and/or pick some up at a different store, for comparison's sake. And if you aren't already doing this, always keep your yeast in the freezer at home. That's the best way to insure that it's as fresh as possible when you use it.

Hi Cynic!
When I first came to the KT a year or so ago, the first question I asked was how to make my bread rise higher.
I immediately got several helpful suggestions, and yours about heating the breadpan is one I've used ever since.
The helpful and friendly advice, made me immediately join the Table.

I used to get loaves that would sometimes touch the top of the lid, and now they just rise just above the bucket.
It makes it easier to slice though! lol

Our bread is all-purpose here, we don't have bread flour, but ours has all the ingredients that your bread flour does.

If it won't make any difference, possibly, I won't bother buying something that may or may not work.

Sometimes I wonder if the water I put into the machine is too warm, and may be killing/slowing the yeast. Some sites say 75-80 degrees, and some say 80-100, so I don't know what a good temp is.

It never gets not eaten, hubby loves the bread, so I shouldn't complain.

...Dippy

I suggest that you test your yeast as Azzalea said. Another thing that will help the yeast is just a pinch of sugar in the warm water. It acts as food for the yeast and helps it to proof.

If the yeast is OK, then try adding some gluten to the flour. It doesn't take much for one loaf. I would say 1 or 2 teaspoons.
Gluten works like "let's say the GLUE" in the bread. It binds the flour together so that the yeast can cause it to raise. By holding it together it acts like a balloon to hold the air in the bread.

I use bread flour plus a little gluten, but I don't use a bread machine. I generally mix my dough with my Kitchenaid mixer.

Making a good loaf of bread is very rewarding and well worth the experimenting.

I make my rolls with vital gluten. It calls for 1 TB, but I add about 1/2 TB and its just as good. Plus it will last longer. I keep it in the refrig.

Thanks guys, I'll test the yeast.
I only use my bread machine. I keep threatening to make a loaf from scratch by hand, but don't know if I could knead for 10 minutes.

I don't have the room for a KA and honestly not sure how much I would use it, but I do make my carrot cake and some other stuff that I could do in a KA, and of course bread!

....just trying to justify ever spending the money on one!
LOL

Just tested the yeast and it's hunky-dory. So I'm going to pick up a smidgen of gluten flour if the bulk store sells it.

Oh, I tested the temp coming out of the tap and it's 140 degrees.
I use milk in my bread machine, and I put 1 1/3 cup in the microwave and heat it there. So if the yeast worked at 140, it can't be the heat of the micro that's killing it, so that's not a worry.

Jasdip, thanks for the kind words. A simple little thing and it makes a world of difference for me. If you want a more conventional look, just use the bread machine to knead the dough and when it finishes kneading, dump it into a loaf pan and let it rise, bake and tell the family that you slaved to make it and listen to the compliments.

And up there in the Arctic, during the winter especially, if you have trouble with a cool kitchen for letting it rise, use a hot water bottle, an electric blanket or a heating pad under it and a towel over it. Some warm the oven slightly and leave the light on to help it have a little more warmth. A couple times in the winter I put it into the Nesco and gave it a little warmth. (Can't do that in a crockpot!)

Neither my mother nor my godmother would bake bread, but both made FABULOUS dinner rolls! I looked forward to them on the holidays as much as anything else I think. Fresh bread is such a wonderful thing. My sister and a cousin are celiac so they can't have conventional bread anymore and a couple cousins are diabetic so they can't have it either. I tend to go in streaks but to not be able to have it wouldn't go over big with me! I used to buy the frozen loaves occasionally and frankly, I thought they were very good. The smell of baking bread is just great. Now I'm in the mood for fresh baked bread!
I know what you mean about the KitchenAid. When my hand mixer died many years ago I debated about one. Thought maybe it was time to move up. Then I thought "How many times do I actually use it?" And then I saw a hand mixer with dough hooks for $14 vs $400 for a KitchenAid. Guess which one I bought! And the dough hooks do work well for mixing meatloaf, meatballs and the like too. Afterward I wondered how many times I'd actually grunt out the big old "Aid" rather than grabbing the hand mixer. Maybe someday I'll splurge, but no urgent need for one right now.

Hmph. My bread is done this morning, and it's just a teeny bit above the bucket. I added some gluten flour, and some whole wheat.

I'll keep experimenting though. The way the weather has been and is going to be next week, I might try the dough cycle and let it rise again and bake manually.
Last time I did this, it didn't rise as much as it should have. The weather is going to be plenty warm so I'll pop it in my spare bedroom (where the temp was over 80 degrees on my F. thermometer).

I use vital wheat gluten and I also made some of the dough enhancer that Suzanne at Chickens in the road posted about. I usually have great results with my bread so I assume it is working.

I just sliced the bread and it looks good. Actually the height isn't bad at all. It's not low and dense.
I've had higher, above the pan, about touching the lid at times. But it sliced nice, seems light (we'll have some for lunch). So it's nothing to complain about.

I used 1 cup whole wheat, 2 1/2 cups white.

Whole wheat will make it more dense and hinder its rising. The nice thing about experiementing with breadbaking is you can eat your "mistakes" (if they are?) and enjoy them nonetheless.

Made sandwiches for lunch yesterday with the bread and hubby loved it! It was light and delicious.
I understand that gluten flour is especially good with whole wheat breads as it makes them rise more.

He said he could eat it all the time, so since it has some w.w. in it, I'll definitely make it my regular bread, and hold off on the white for a while.

Thanks again for all of your help.

(only once has my mistakes not been eaten, but it was turned into croutons, so it was still eaten, come to think of it.)

I use all purpose flour. I add 2 heaping TBL gluten to 3 cups flour. I also have 2 bread machines. The Zojurishi is elongated, looks like a regular loaf of bread, but makes NO difference in the rise compared to the other, taller one. :0) I have a bread making drawer(not refrigerated). I keep all the ingredients in there in covered containers except the yeast. Keep that in the fridg after I open it.

Nicole, you have a Zojurishi? When my last B&D busted (I tried 3 before I found one I like) I thought about spending the money and getting a Z.

I've got a recipe for bread made by hand that someone makes in their bread machine.
6 cups of flour (3 of white and 3 of whole wheat). I wonder what kind of machine she has that would make 6 cups of flour.
She uses it on dough and makes 2 loaves out of it.

Does yours handle that quantity?
I've got a Black and Decker which I do like, and it holds 4 cups.

I put 2 tsp of gluten flour in, I can certainly increase the gluten next time to try it.

Jasdip.....we have an ARC that literally has it ALL! :0) I got my Zo for $15, like new, then just printed the booklet online. It's like that for everything! I actually DID spend $200 on my Hitachi when it was new.....stupid...since it works like the $50 ones. :0)(I purchased it becasue a GF had it, so we could compare results. She said it did everything, it doesn't.). The ZO is "outstanding" because you can add heavy ingredients like oatmeal or use bakers yeast(slower rise time) and it will let you stop the machine, reset one stage...then continue at THAT stage. No other machine I've read about will do THAT. It's capacity is the same as all bread machines. No.....6 cups is too much. It would rise up and make a mess. :0)

Wow, thanks for the information Nicole. You must be the Ultimate Queen of Bargain Hunting! I'm sending you a virtual bow, LOL

You must be the Ultimate Queen of Bargain Hunting!

I go to the thrift store once a week when I grocery shop. It's in the same strip mall. They know me by sight. Think I go too much....? lol