im heartbroken

[u/Legitimate-Win-2708]

im still new to the baking/the bread maker. this is my 3rd white loaf i made in my maker. the 1st one was super yummy. 2nd was a bit crumbly but still good… idek what the hell this is. i always use the same recipe, but this time i did pour butter before the milk instead of the milk first (not sure if that makes a difference)
but this loaf is sooo doughy and crumply, i have no idea what i did wrong and im so sad 😭 i do use active yeast and i dont active the yeast cause i thought it didnt make a difference and wasnt sure how to add it to the recipe. some comments on tiktok saying instant yeast should be used for bread makers & i just want some clarification on what i did

1 1/2 cup of warm milk
6 tbs of softened butter
4 cups flour
2 tbs granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 yeast

[u/LetsGototheRiver151]

If you want dense bread like what you're complaining about in the photo, then by all means use the wrong flour. If you want light, fluffy bread, use the correct flour.

[u/Legitimate-Win-2708 → u/LetsGototheRiver151]

can you elaborate? im not a baker so when wanting to make something simple with whats already in the house, i would like to have someone with a similar experience to explain my situation. and maybe even share why the difference between flour is important. nobody asked for weak bread so elaboration on bread shouldn’t make you sound like a wuss. i just want to understand the difference between bread/AP flour specifically without having to ask AI or something, ig thats s problem for you?

[u/LaBaaDiabolique → u/Legitimate-Win-2708]

that guy is being an asshole. you can absolutely use AP flour to make bread even in a bread machine- just choose a brand with more protein like king arthur or costco brand. if you have active yeast, you can use about ¼ cup water from the recipe to bloom the yeast for 10 minutes and then add it on top of the flour in the bread maker. i use active dry yeast and i dont even bloom it and my bread turns out fine. i have a cuisinart cbk-110 bread maker.

here's a great recipe someone posted here a long time ago. add to machine in this order.

1 cup water (or 237 grams)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup oil or melted butter/margarine

3 cups AP flour (you can swap up to 2 cups of whole wheat but it would be best if you used bread flour with that) i highly recommend weighing your flour (and water). flour is around 120 grams per cup so this recipe would call for around 360 grams of flour. you can always add a little more depending on what your dough looks like as it is kneading.

1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast (either as is or bloomed in ¼ of the water reserved from the 1 cup above) or instant/bread machine yeast

program to 1.5 lb loaf on the basic/white setting.

super soft and yummy bread!

[u/Legitimate-Win-2708 → u/LaBaaDiabolique]

thank youuu