The bread is brighter than usual

Question

I have a Morphy-Richards bread-baker which is about 30 years old. It still works fine, but the latest bread I baked is brighter than usual. I use whole wheat flour, so the bread is usually browny, but now its color is more near white.

Is the bread edible in this situation, or is it still unbaked?
Does it mean that my bread-baker is no longer strong enough for baking, and I should replace it?

Is the color change in the crumb (the inside), the crust, or both? If the crust, all sides or just some? — Sneftel, Feb 21 '20 at 13:16
@Sneftel it is in the outside, at the top part. The bottom part is still browny. — Erel Segal Halevi, Feb 22 '20 at 17:13
@Tinuviel I already put it in a standard oven and baked it for 15 minutes and it became browny, so I do not have a picture now. I still wonder why it did not came out browny in the first place. — Erel Segal Halevi, Feb 22 '20 at 17:14
@Bee actually yes, it is a different brand! I did not think that a change in brand can cause such a substantial change in color. — Erel Segal Halevi, Feb 26 '20 at 06:31

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 26 '20 at 10:25

From the comments - you used a different brand of whole wheat flour this time around. My best guess (and really that's all anyone can do with something like this as there are way too many factors) is that this new brand is the reason for the difference in the bread.

Just because they are the same type of flour, it doesn't mean they are all milled, sieved etc. the same way.

It may be this new flour is:

More coarse or finely ground
Different additives
More of the wheat husks are sieved out

All these factors can effect how the bread cooks as well as how much liquid the flour absorbs.

I would say it is very unlikely that your bread machine has broken since it sounds like the bread still cooked!

It's also unlikely that the bread will cause you any harm. An enriched plain loaf bread mix can be eaten raw (not that you'd want to).

_{Please feel free to edit my list with any other changes flour can have between brands.}

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 26 '20 at 17:00

I am going to give you rather technical answer to check your Bread maker if its working properly.

Do you own a portable thermometer? try checking the bread maker's temperature for complete time period of cooking/ baking, the temperature mustn't drop a lot.

if possible check the amperage rating on the equipment and check if it is drawing the current accordingly. (you need some knowhow of ampere meter)

The bread is brighter than usual

2 Answers2