"Knox Graham" > wrote in message
...
> Hello, All !
> I received a Kitchenaid Artisan mixer for my birthday..Oh Boy! Time to
make
> some bread!
>
> I tried their white bread recipe in the book which comes with the mixer.
> Tried it twice, in fact. Both times the loaves were small, heavy, and not
> fully cooked in the middle.
>
> The major deviation from my old way of making bread is that they tell you
to
> roll the dough flat then roll it up to form the loaf. Before, I would
simply
> punch it down a bit then form the loaves.
>
> I'd sure appreciate some help with this and a recommendation of a good
> cookbook with recipes using the Kitchenaid,
>
> Thanks a bunch!

I doubt that it has much to do with the way you are forming your loaves. I
use the white bread recipe from their cookbook without any problems. Unless
they changed it recently, it is the same recipe that they have published for
decades. Heavy, small loaves come from inadequate leavening. There could
be two issues. Your yeast could be dead, or you could have killed it. The
second possibility is that there is inadequate gluten formation - less
likely, in my opinion. Inadequate gluten formation comes primarily from
inadequate kneading or using flour that is too low in gluten forming
proteins (like cake flour). Make sure you let the dough form a ball that
cleans the sides of the bowl. Then, start timing the kneading process. I
believe that the new books say to knead for two minutes on speed #2. I
generally go for up to 10 minutes on speed 4. Let the dough rise until
double, no matter how long it takes.

I would try again with a new supply of yeast. You should be using a
thermometer to measure the temperature of the liquid. Also, don't bake the
loaf until it has risen to double the original size, no matter how long it
takes. Your bread will be done when the internal temperature registers
between 200F and 210F. Don't remove it from the oven until it reaches at
least 200F. If you don't put it in the oven until it is fully risen and you
don't remove it until it is fully baked, you can't end up with small,
under-baked loaves.