Frequently asked questions

Weigh all ingredients precisely and closely follow the recipe on the packaging. A few grams of yeast more or less can make a big difference.

Also the amount of water is important: the dough must be smooth and should not stick.

Do not use water which is too cold or too warm: 15 to 20 °C is ideal in normal ambient temperatures.

Always choose a programme that does not take longer than 4 hours. Mostly, a programme of 2 to 4 hours works best.

Four possible causes and solutions:

The dough was too moist. Therefore it was not sturdy enough to rise well.
Solution: take less water.

The dough rose too long before baking and the elasticity had gone before the machine started to bake.
Solution: choose a shorter programme.

The dough was too warm. If you use water which is too warm the dough will also be too warm. It rises too fast and then collapses.
Solution: use colder water.

Too much yeast. With an overdose of yeast the dough rises too fast. It collapses before baking proper starts.
Solution: precisely measure the right amount of yeast.

Raisins, nuts and other ingredients should not be added immediately to the dough. The method differs from one ingredient to the other.

1. Raisins, nuts, dried fruit, herbs

If you put raisins in the bread machine from the start the machine will crush them during kneading. The same will happen with nuts, candied fruit, dried apricots, etc. Other ingredients should not be added to the dough directly because they counteract the action of the yeast. This applies to garden herbs, paprika powder and alcoholic preparations.

Put these ingredients in the tray which opens automatically during the programme for raisin bread, or add them after the beep tone approximately at the end of the second kneading cycle.

2. Chocolate drops

Chocolate drops melt if you put them in the tin. You best add them yourself. There are two possibilities:

Put the chocolate drops in the fridge first to avoid melting. Add them during the last kneading cycle (after the beep tone).

Remove the baking tin from the bread machine at the end of the second kneading cycle (after the beep tone). Don’t stop the programme! Remove the dough and the kneading hook from the baking tin. Mix the chocolate drops by hand into the dough. Replace everything in the baking tin, but without the kneading hook. Put the baking tin back into the machine and the programme will continue normally. The last method achieves the most beautiful result.

3. Pearl sugar

Pearl sugar damages the baking tin when the machine mixes the sugar into the dough. Thus, you have to knead the sugar into the dough yourself. Remove the baking tin from the bread machine at the end of the second kneading cycle (after the beep tone). Don’t stop the programme! Remove the dough and the kneading hook from the baking tin. Mix the pearl sugar by hand into the dough. Replace everything in the baking tin but without the kneading hook. Put the baking tin back into the machine and the programme will continue normally.

Weigh all ingredients precisely and closely follow the recipe on the packaging. A few grams more or less make a big difference.

Also the amount of water is important: the dough must be smooth and not sticky.

Do not use water which is too cold or too warm: 20°C is ideal in normal ambient temperatures.

Let the dough rise until the volume has doubled before putting it in the oven.

Four possible causes and solutions:

1.The dough was too moist. Therefore it was not sturdy enough to rise well.
Solution: take less water.

2.The dough rose too long before baking and the elasticity had gone before it went into the oven and the bread collapsed.
Solution: place the bread in the oven when the dough has doubled in volume.

3.The dough was too warm. If you use water which is too warm the dough will also be too warm. It rises too fast and then collapses.
Solution: use colder water.

4.Too much yeast. With an overdose of yeast the dough rises too fast. It collapses before baking proper starts.
Solution: precisely measure the right amount of yeast.

Give the dough the final shape after the first rise.

First flatten the dough to disperse the carbon dioxide which formed in the dough. Cut the dough into the desired portions and give it the right shape. Put it in a baking tin or on a griddle.

Do not knead the dough too much after the first rise as its structure will otherwise be destroyed.

To bake hard or crispy rolls use – the name says it all – French Crisp. This flour is suitable for this purpose due to its extra-high protein content.

But the right flour alone does not do the trick. Closely follow the instructions in our recipes.

Another piece of advice: moisten the rolls just before putting them in the oven. The difference is remarkable.

Do you like rolls with a soft crust? Bake them shorter and at a higher temperature than stipulated in the basic recipe. This way they will be done faster but the crust remains soft, e.g. instead of 25 minutes at 200°C bake them for 15 minutes at 220°C.

Bake a bread of 500g flower for approximately 35 minutes at 220°C. You want to bake an even larger bread? Bake it a bit longer at a lower temperature, approximately 20°C lower. Otherwise the crust will get too hard while the crumb is not done yet.

You’re not sure the bread is done? Just knock on the crust. If it sounds hollow it is done.

Bake the rolls for 5 minutes shorter and 10°C colder than normal. Let them cool off completely and store them in the freezer in a plastic bag.

Example: Instead of baking 20 minutes at 200°C, bake the rolls for 15 minutes at 190°C.

Before finishing them off pre-heat the oven and let the rolls bake another 5 to 10 minutes at normal temperature.

Preferably use solid fat such as margarine or butter to obtain smooth, easy to process dough. Bread with solid fat will generally remain fresh longer.

With oil you can also prepare smooth dough but the bread will dry out quicker.

Dry yeast should always be kept in a hermetically sealed pot or box at room temperature. This way, yeast remains fresh for longer once the packaging has been opened.

Yeast dough contains yeast which must still rise. How do you best roll out such dough?

Sprinkle the workspace lightly with flour and place the dough on top. Also spread a bit of flower on the rolling pin to avoid the dough sticking to it. Roll it out 2 - 3 times with the rolling pin, turn the dough over and by one quarter. Roll out again 2 - 3 times, turn it over again and by one quarter. Continue until the dough has reached the desired thickness and shape.

Never roll out too long in the same direction. Otherwise the dough will stick to the workspace.

Is the dough too stiff to roll out? Cover it with household foil and let it stand for a few minutes. That should do the trick.

All Soezie flour types to bake bread can be mixed provided they are of the same category. An All-in-mix with an All-in-mix is perfectly OK, also an Original with an Original.

An All-in-mix with an Original is more difficult to mix because one type of flour already contains yeast, the other not.

Pay attention: If you mix different types of flour you also have to adapt the rest of the ingredients to the same proportions.

In summer bread will not turn out as well. The dough first rises well and then collapses. Why?

The ambient temperature, the temperature in the kitchen, is of vital importance for baking results. If it is really warm, the temperature of your ingredients also rises. The flour, eventual other commodities but also tap water will be warmer. The result of all these warmer ingredients is warmer dough. And dough that is too warm rises too fast and excessively. Your dough will collapse just like elastic pulled too far out and … “goodbye” to nice round bread.

What to do? Keep flour in a cool place. Cool tap water in the fridge to 15°C. At a temperature of more than 30°C in the kitchen, cool the water to 5°C. 

The opposite is sometimes true in winter: because the ingredients are too cold the temperature of the dough is too cold and the bread does not rise sufficiently.

The solution: use lukewarm water.

The fat powder in Soezie’s All-in-mixes is produced from palm oil.

1. Let the bread cool off well. Freshly baked bread still gives off a fair amount of water vapour. If you store it too fast the whole moisture will go back into the bread.

2. Put it in a special bread-bag from Soezie. The bread-bags are extra large to fit any bread machine bread.

3. Thus you can keep your bread fresh for 1 to 2 days.

4. You can also freeze (part of) the bread. Soezie bread-bags are suitable for such purpose.

Eggs, particularly egg yolks, enrich the dough and give it a yellow colour. Egg yolk contains a lot of fat which softens the bread. Egg white however makes the bread crumb dryer.

If you add eggs you should reduce the amount of water in the recipe by 30ml per egg.

Salt not only adds flavour to bread but also strengthens the dough. Baking without salt is perfectly possible however, at least in case of white bread. Brown dough is less consistent than white dough. Therefore, brown breads sometimes rise less well without salt.

Ascorbic acid is vitamin C, the same you find in vegetables and fruit. Ascorbic acid guarantees longer flour shelf life.

1. Use only half as much dry yeast as fresh yeast.
   A packet of 11g dry yeast = 22g fresh yeast.

2. Mix dry yeast with the flour. For the method to apply in the bread machine refer to: “How do I best fill the bread machine?”

3. Never dissolve dry yeast in liquid. With fresh yeast this is not a problem.

Enzymes are proteins accelerating a biological process. They break down the starch in the flour to small crumbs turning into sugars necessary for the yeast to work.

Beat the cake batter long enough. Closely follow the recipe when preparing cake batter.

By mixing the batter for 5 minutes it becomes very creamy and your cake very light. If you do not beat long enough the result will be a hard, flat cake.

The recipe allowing, beat egg whites separately for extra light batter. The egg white must be stiff but not yet liquid. Then add it to the batter with a spatula.

Probably the batter has not been mixed well. Beat the ingredients vigorously and long enough to obtain a light and creamy batter. Closely follow the instructions on the package.

Use an adapted cake pan: fill at most half or two thirds of the cake pan with batter. 

Maybe the pastry does not contain enough butter, liquid or eggs. Closely follow the instructions on the packaging.

Do not bake the cake for too long: pre-heat the oven and choose the right temperature. If the temperature is too low, baking takes longer and the pastry will dry out.

Let your cake, biscuits or tart cool down under a tea towel. Thus, no moisture will escape during the cooling-down period. Then glaze the pastry. 

Place the biscuits on a grate at the bottom of the oven. Place another grate above carrying another baking tray. You thus disrupt the rising heat and your biscuits will remain nice and flat.

With a convection oven, place the baking tray above the biscuits for the same result.

Spread batter on a baking tray to bake a thin layer, e.g. for roll sponge cakes.

Pay attention: a thin layer should bake a lot less than pastry in a baking tin. In most recipes the baking time is half as long. The baking temperature will be a bit higher though.

1. Let the high-capacity waffle iron heat up well.

2. Spray a little fat aerosol in the waffle iron.

3. Scoop batter in both moulds.

4. Close the waffle iron and turn it over for the dough to spread well.