I am a big fan of bread makers.  Why? I love machines, and I love food!  When bread makers came out in the 1980s, I was in line and purchased a Sanyo that made 1-pound loaves. It was very basic, but I thought it was amazing.  Soon, manufacturers were making machines that made 1.5-pound loaves, then 2-pound loaves.  Some machines offered programs for different types of bread, like whole wheat.  Still others went from vertical to horizontal pans, while still others adopted a two-paddle system, and so it went.  I was very curious about these innovations, and so I explored them.

The popularity of bread makers waned in the late 1990s, and that was actually a boon for me.  People were dumping their bread makers at thrift stores, and they could be had for pennies on the dollar.  With patience, I could pick up a perfectly good machine that originally cost several hundred dollars for less than $5.  Editor’s note:  see my post from March 26, 2026 for a very comprehensive guide to buying a used bread maker. 

I have used many, many bread makers.  I have given some away, returned some back to thrift stores, and sold some at garage sales. With that said, I still have way too many of them that I can’t part with.  If you are a practical person, you are likely shaking your head and thinking,  “You only need one bread maker!”  I’m not always practical, as I like to compare things to see how one engineer or designer rethought and reimplemented an idea.  That’s just me. However, since I have used so many bread makers, I have gained a broad knowledge of the machines and of baking bread in them. All bread makers are extremely similar, but their nuances can impact the end user’s experience. Your friend may give you a recommendation based on their particular machine; it may be a great suggestion or not pertinent to your gadget.  This post is based on a crazy guy who has used dozens of machines.  I have baked many wonderful loaves, but I have also had my share of less-than-wonderful ones, too. Let me share my experiences with you.

The biggest problem that I have had to conquer has been overproofing.  This is likely because the older machines (some 30 years old) I frequently use may have thermostats slightly out of calibration. Additionally, over the decades, yeast strains have likely changed, with active yeast and instant (bread machine) yeast becoming increasingly similar. A machine programmed for a yeast strain from the 1990s may overproof a bread dough using a 2026 yeast strain.  I wrote a detailed post on how to deal with overproofing on March 9, 2026.  Check that post out if you are dealing with overproofing issues.

This is NOT underproofing. This is a severe case of overproofing where the yeast expanded so much that it actually popped the top of the loaf during baking.

This post will explore the opposite problem, underproofing, or what to do when you bake a brick instead of a loaf of bread.  Underproofing is often easier to deal with than overproofing, so that is the good news.

Here is a severe case of underproofing. However, it is more common to have a “too short” loaf, where you don’t get the expected rise.

Is underproofing the bread machine’s fault?

In almost all cases, the answer is no.  The only exception would be a bread maker so broken that it would need repair. 

Let’s look at some problem areas and solutions

Solutions: 

The operator error issue

We all make mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes can lead to baking a brick instead of a nice loaf of bread.

Solution: The solutions are obvious here.  If you left out the paddle, insert it next time.  If you used the wrong program (pressed jam instead of basic loaf?), use the right one next time.  You get the picture.

The recipe issue

All bread makers follow a similar pattern of operations, but they are not identical.  A recipe that works well in one machine may not work as well in another.  This makes it tricky when using a recipe developed by an individual.  Cookbook writers often test recipes across multiple machines, so their recipes tend to be more reliable.  However, with AI, many bread-making cookbooks use recipes that are basically borrowed (stolen?) from internet sweeps.  I’m leery of books that tout “New For 2026!!” and list a specific bread maker brand in the title. They will often include a folksy author’s name and even an AI-generated photo.

I purchased one of these books, and it was an absolute mess with some of the worst editing that I have ever seen.  It felt like the “author” told an AI bot, “Find bread maker recipes and turn them into a book.”  Formatting was abysmal, there was no consistency between recipes, and some were clearly very wrong.  

Solution: All bread makers will come with a recipe booklet.  If you bought a used bread maker, you can likely find that machine’s manual/recipe PDF online. An established brand will provide you with tested recipes.  I did find some brands that used OED-distributed machines that had terrible recipes, for instance, listing regular flour as an ingredient in gluten-free bread, so they can be poor, too.  With that said, start with your machine’s basic white bread recipe.  If you have success, you can examine that recipe to discover its secrets.  I have seen some machines that use only 1 teaspoon of yeast for many of the basic recipes, and others that require a packet of yeast (2.25 teaspoons). Obviously, the amount of yeast will make a difference. 

If you want to go the cookbook route, there are some classics (pre-2004) books that have very adaptable recipes.  Invest in those.  Are there good recipes developed by individuals?  Absolutely!  I have used many of them.  However, start with the white bread recipe from your owner’s manual first, so you know that you are doing everything right before you venture into the unknown. 

The “I’m smarter than the recipe creator” issue

I sometimes see folks on YouTube “adjusting” a recipe.  They may substitute one type of sugar for another, or change the ratio of white to whole-wheat flour.  Perhaps, they believe that twice as much butter would be nice, or maybe buttermilk might work better than regular milk.  Sometimes they are successful and create a whole new bread.  Sometimes they are not. Bread makers run on very rigid programs and are more intolerant of recipe change than making bread by hand.  

Solution: Stick to the recipe as precisely as you can.  You may find that a recipe variation is incompatible with your machine, even if it works well in your friend’s machine.  For whatever reason, some bread makers are more tolerant of recipe changes than others.  Know your gadget!

Once you successfully bake a recipe, feel free to modify it to your liking.  You will quickly discover what works and what doesn’t work at that point.

The environmental issue

Most breadmakers will turn on their heating element during proofing; however, if you are making bread in a cold environment (let’s say below 60º F/16 °C), most breadmakers won’t compensate adequately.  

If your bread maker is in a very drafty place, it can also negatively impact bread proofing.

The solution: Move your machine to a more environmentally friendly spot.

The measuring issue

You hear about this time and time again.  If you are making bread by hand you can often compensate for poor measurements.  However, that is not the case with a bread maker as it uses a fixed program.

The solution: If at all possible, weigh your ingredients (especially your flour)  instead of using standard measuring cups.  I always weigh my flour, and it is easy to convert cups to grams: 1 C of flour is around 120-130 grams. I will often weigh my other ingredients as well.  However, I use standard measuring spoons for the yeast and salt.  Most scales are not very accurate below 10 grams, and salt and yeast are typically below that amount.  Naturally, I level off the measuring spoons just like someone would level off a measuring cup. 

The yeast issue

Most of us know that very old yeast eventually dies.  However, it is possible to buy a brand-new block of yeast, which can be bad if stored improperly in the warehouse or transported incorrectly. 

The solution: Yeast is extremely easy to test. Sprinkle some into ½ cup of warm water, along with a pinch or two of sugar.  Wait about 15 minutes and check if the mixture is frothy.  If it isn’t, your yeast is bad. 

Although active and instant yeast have become more similar over the years, you should use the type recommended for your machine until you are very comfortable with its workings.  Once you have successfully proofed bread, you can experiment.

I always store my yeast in the freezer (not the refrigerator).  I’m using yeast that is over a year old, and it is still doing its yeastly work. 

If you are feeling desperate or particularly wild and crazy, you may want to try a small bump in your yeast, let’s say a 10-25% increase, or try around ¼ of a teaspoon extra.  Do this at your own risk.

The ingredient issue

When it comes to ingredients and underproofing, yeast is your number one culprit.  However, other older ingredients, especially flour, can also affect your final product.  

Solution: Flour is cheap; when in doubt, buy a new bag to test. You can also try a different brand of flour. 

The type of bread issue

Different types of bread require greater yeast lifting power.  Whole-grain breads or breads with a lot of heavy ingredients won’t rise as much as basic white bread. That is normal.

Solution: Adjust your expectations and/or seek out recipes that have been created to achieve maximum rise in a whole-grain/heavy loaf. A 100% whole wheat loaf won’t rise as much as white bread, but if you are baking bricks, you need to make adjustments.

The dough ball issue

Even if you weigh your ingredients, you may still need to make a micro-hydration adjustment to your dough.  A dough with insufficient liquid will be too stiff and won’t rise properly.

Solution: During the first knead, check your dough.  It should form a smooth, slightly tacky ball.  If it forms a rough, ragged ball or several balls, it is underhydrated.  Add one tablespoon of water and wait around 30 seconds.  Repeat as needed until you achieve the desired consistency. Naturally, you can have dough that is too slack; in that case, you do the same with flour.  However, over-slacked dough is a cause of over-proofing, the opposite problem that we are talking about here.

The salt issue

I often hear people talking about the different salts that they insist on using when baking bread.  Sea salt, mineral salt, “real” salt, Kosher salt, table salt, so many salts!  Here is the truth: they are all the same sodium chloride.  Will you get any significant extra minerals using special salts?  No, the levels of extra minerals are insignificant.  If you believe otherwise, congratulations, you have been played by excellent marketing. However, different salt types do come in different grain sizes depending on how the sodium chloride has been processed.  Table salt is very fine, Kosher salt and sea salt are much coarser, and some finishing salts have absolutely huge crystals.  The size of the crystals determines how much salt you can pack into a teaspoon measure.  The finer the crystals, the more you can pack. Salt not only adds flavor to bread, but it also modulates yeast growth. Too little salt and you will get yeast overgrowth and overproofing, too much and you will inhibit the yeast and produce a brick.  

Solution: Salt is cheap; use the type of salt recommended by the recipe.  If it says “salt,” use table salt.  If it says Kosher salt, use that. In most cases, I recommend using standard measuring spoons for salt instead of weighing it.  Kitchen scales are awesome, but have a higher error rate when measuring very small amounts, let’s say below 10 grams.  What about those scales that can measure in 0.1 gram resolution?  Well, I guess they would be better, but they are far from “lab accurate.”  When I was a research scientist (yep, I did that before becoming a doctor-I guess I couldn’t make up my mind!) I used lab-grade scales that cost hundreds of dollars.  You can only expect so much from a scale that costs less than $20. 

I have compared many kitchen scales (I’m one of those kinds of people).  Every one I have tested is accurate enough for measuring heavier ingredients like flour, and I’m pretty confident using them for non-critical items that weigh over 10 grams, such as powdered milk.  I just won’t use them for salt and yeast.  However, you do you. 

We all hear not to mix salt with yeast.  That is good practice, but probably doesn’t make too much of a difference if the salt is in crystal form on top of the flour, along with the yeast, and you immediately start the baking process.  It will all get mixed up and diluted. However, it could make a difference if both the salt and yeast were in solution at the start of mixing.  I always separate the two out of habit.  It takes no more effort, so why not?

Desperation move: If all else has failed, you may consider making a very small reduction in your salt to see if that helps.  However, this would be a last resort measure and could alter your overall end result.  

The sugar issue

Yeast is a living organism that produces enzymes that break down the starches in flour into the sugars it needs to grow. Given enough time and the right conditions, it is possible to make an excellent loaf of bread with zero added sugar. Bread is mostly starch, and starch is simply sugar molecules chemically linked together, so don’t get hung up on adding a tablespoon or two of sugar when making a loaf of bread. A little sugar will enhance yeast growth, just like having that candy bar at 4 o’clock may give you that little extra boost of energy.  However, too much sugar can have the opposite effect, inhibiting yeast growth for a completely different reason: it can draw water out of yeast cells, dehydrating them. 

Different sugary ingredients contain varying amounts of actual sugar.  For instance, half a cup of honey contains about 140 grams of sugar, while half a cup of molasses contains only 96 grams. This probably doesn’t make much of a difference when a recipe calls for a tablespoon or two of sugar, but it could impact your loaf when making sweeter breads with higher sugar contents. Remember, your bread machine runs on fixed programs.  If you are traditionally baking bread, you can lengthen or shorten proofing times.  Your bread machine can’t.

Solution: Use the recommended type of sugar until you successfully make a particular recipe.  Then experiment with other sugars if you wish.  

Desperation move: If all else fails, consider a slight increase in your sugar.  Remember, too much sugar can actually hamper yeast growth and alter the characteristics of your final loaf. Note: It is well established that sugar adds flavor and helps brown the crusts of bread. However, it is less clear if sugar increases fermentation.  Virtually every cookbook and breadmaker manual I have read says it speeds fermentation.  However, a couple of YouTube videos show that it doesn’t have much impact on the dough’s rise, as the yeast gets all the sugars it needs by breaking down the starches in the flour. Take this information into consideration before you decide to increase the sugar in a recipe in hopes of fixing an underproofing problem.

The water issue

This had a negative impact on my bread-making, and it took me a while to figure it out.  I have municipal water that is chlorinated.  I’m very happy that this is the case, as chlorine protects my family and me from all sorts of nasty pathogens that could make us sick. However, yeast doesn’t like chlorine, and chlorine in the water can slow its growth.  

Solution: Use non-chlorinated water in your recipe.  You can use bottled water, but that can be expensive.  I use the filtered water from my refrigerator.  If your fridge doesn’t have a water filter, you can buy an inexpensive pitcher filter that removes chlorine.  These are the filters with activated charcoal. Using non-chlorinated water made a huge difference in increasing my bread rise.

The ingredient temperature issue

Being a living organism, yeast grows very slowly in cold environments and can be killed in hot ones. 

Solution: The best practice is to have all ingredients at a normal room temperature.  However, you can speed things up by warming your liquids. Don’t get too crazy about this.  I warm my fridge-cold water or milk until it is, well… warm. If I can keep my finger in it, it is probably OK. That “warm but not hot” rule goes for all ingredients.  For instance, if the recipe calls for melted butter, wait until the butter cools to warm before adding it to your mixture. 

Bonus Round!

Are there other things you can do to prevent underproofing?

Dough enhancers

These are commercial concoctions that vary widely in formulation, but many include yeast enhancers.  Typically, a small amount is added to your ingredients.  You may have greater success trying one of these.

Diastatic malt

This may sound very sciency and chemically, but fear not.  Diastatic malt is simply spouted barley that has been carefully dried and ground into a powder.  It is different from regular malt powder.  The process of making diastatic malt increases the barley’s natural enzymes, which break down starch into sugar.  This speeds up yeast growth and yields a darker crust.  Only use a little of this stuff.  I typically use one-half to one teaspoon per loaf.  Too much will cause excessive conversion of starch to sugar, resulting in a gummy loaf.  However, if used properly, it can help. 

Other agents

Yeast is a living organism, and, like all living organisms, it requires specific nutrients and conditions to thrive. Commercial bakers may add enzymes to convert starches into sugars, yeast needed vitamins, essential amino acid mixtures, phosphorus, and inorganic compounds to supply the nutrients that yeast needs to grow.  However, these additions are well beyond the scope of a home baker.  However, you may find some of these agents in dough enhancers available to home bakers if you choose to experiment a bit. 

There you have it, a guide to solving your underproofing problems.  Best of luck to you, and happy bread-making!

Mike

A tale of two breads, made the same day in the same machine. Something went very wrong with the bread on the right, but I corrected the problem to produce the very nice loaf on the left.