HERE is the recipe for the multigrain bread I made last week (just before the forum was being revamped). Note the pictures in the article and how high the final, baked bread is above the top of the loaf pan.
Now,here is a photo of how it turned out for me:
Okay, it's a little crushed because I sliced the loaf in half while it was still hot, but it never got any higher than the loaf pan. I did use the optional vital wheat gluten and my multigrain mix was slightly different (no millet or quinoa and already-ground brown-rice flour and flaxseed powder), but everything was still within the overall guidelines given. The texture is fine and the taste is great, but why wasn't it any higher?
One thing that makes me wonder is that the recipe actually has three risings. Could it have been overproofed? After the first rising, it was slightly over the top of the Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, so I thought everything was going well. The next step called for the addition of the salt and a little more kneading before the second rising (in the same bowl). That didn't rise as much, but I just followed what the recipe said and divided the dough in half and put it into the two loaf pans to rise for the third hour. By that time, the dough had pretty much filled the pans, but had not risen over the tops (I figured that maybe oven spring would do that). Once baked, it was still at exactly the level it had been after the final rise - as you see in my photo.
Am I doing something wrong, or is there something amiss with the recipe (which seems to have worked okay for other users who left comments on the recipe page)?
HELP!