Breadmaking

Well, I still haven't made a successful bread.

I bought a bread machine and got my friend's recipe, one she has used for 11 years at least. It is so great. You get nice healthy heavy multi grain breads out of it. So my first machine broke down on the second loaf. Neither loaf worked out.

So I got a second different machine, thinking the machine might have been the cause of the dough not rising. Still no luck after 3 more breads. I also didn't like a setting on there. It lets the grains sit for 35 minutes in the machine before even starting the first cycle. To me that was a waste of time, but who knows, I am not expert on this.

I was told by a friend to check the date on my yeast. I told her I had just bought a new jar and sure enough when I checked the yeast was good for another 2 years. My mother in law thought maybe I had bought one that was "Traditional Rise" instead of "Quick" or "Instant" rise. Buuuut I checked and did buy the Instant one.

Nevertheless, I decided to get a new jar, just in case, and this time I got one that said specifically "BREAD MAKERS" even though I think it's all the same stuff, just different advertizing. I also got a new bread maker. It's a bit more compact thant the previous 2 and has a nice big basket like handle that swings over for easy transport (I like that).

I was all ready to eat perfect multi grain bread and tried my now 6th loaf..... but to no avail. I also tried one more with 1 extra tsp of yeast thinking maybe I got the recipe wrong. That didn't make any difference whatsoever. Here is what I got:

I called my friend who gave me the recipe and she confirmed I had it right and had followed it perfectly.

Now my question is, CAN ANYONE HELP ME !??! What am I doing wrong? This isn't just any recipe, it's proven itself over at least 11 years. I must be missing something here.

Now there are 2 reasons I have always loved my friend's recipe. First, it is delicious. Second, the method she uses is sooooo easy. She actually mixes, in a big Tupperware tub, enough ingredients for 5-6 loaves. When she wants to make a bread, she pours her water in the machine, scoops 4 cups of the mixture over top and sets the yeast on top and voila! She doesn't have to go through the trouble of getting all the ingredients out every time. I love this premixing idea, and it's especially good for someone like me who doesn't have much experience. Now if it only WORKED for me, lol.

Maybe someone can tell me what might be missing from this mixture. Here it goes:

Pre-Mix: 14 cups Whole Wheat Flour 6 cups White Flour 3 cups 7 Grain Cereal 2 cups Powdered Milk 2 cups Oats 1 cup Flax Seed

Mix dry ingredients together, and store in large plastic container.

Breadmaker: (For a 2lb loaf of bread) 1 7/8 - 2 cups Lukewarm water 2 Tbsp Brown or White Sugar 1 Tsp Salt

Dissolve Sugar and Salt in water. Pour in breadmaker.

Pour 4 cups of dry ingredients into water mixture (Do NOT mix with water)

Place 1 1/2 Tsp of yeast on top of dry ingredients.

Put on machine on Multigrain setting.

And voila!

Sounds easy enough. If you decide to try this, let me know if it works.