Editor's Note: This is the second in a four-part series.

In the last column we looked at the advantages of using a bread machine versus making bread and rolls the old fashioned way - by hand. The bread machine saves countless hours of hovering while we check on rising dough. Saves all the work of kneading the dough before and after the several rises, and allows us to tailor a loaf to our own tastes.

A bread machine however, is just that, a machine, and will turn out a loaf of bread based solely on the ingredients we put in the bread pan. I must emphasize at this point that when we make bread by hand we have a lot of leeway. We can add flour if the dough is too wet, or water if too dry during the whole process. With a bread machine, measuring is all critical. A tablespoon of liquid (too much or too little) can be the difference between a good loaf and a brick. There is also the little known fact that a certain type of ingredient will inhibit or kill yeast when in a bread machine. Over the next several columns, we will explore problems, solutions and ingredients to help you make better bread in your machine.

Quite often, I speak with people that tell me they have a bread machine but don’t use it because the results are poor. Their bread collapses, or is burned, or the center is not cooked, too big air holes, rises too much, rises too little - etc.

One problem that recurs with many first time users is that when the loaf is unsatisfactory and they empty the bread pan, they forget to remove the paddle. I keep a pair of needle-nose pliers next to my machine to remove the hot paddle as necessary from the loaf. Do it gently so as not to mar the non-stick finish.

The problem that happens most often has to be too much or too little liquid. Be aware that flour absorbs moisture from the air, even through its paper container. Keep flour in a plastic bag in a coffee can until ready to use. It can absorb a tablespoon of moisture just sitting on your kitchen counter while awaiting use. For those keeping whole wheat flour in the fridge, enclose it in a tightly sealed plastic storage bag.

When all ingredients are in the bread pan, allow the machine to mix for several minutes before checking the dough. The dough should be soft, smooth, silky and slightly tacky. It should feel like the underside of the upper part of your arm. When adjusting ingredients, add ONLY one tablespoon at a time, then check again. Also do not keep the machine lid open any longer than necessary, as needed warmth will escape.

When adding ingredients, they should be at room temperature. Allow items like eggs and butter to warm before using. Items that are too cold will retard the yeast. Items that are too warm may cause too high a rise.

Although most bread recipes call for large eggs, I always use “jumbo” eggs for extra richness in the loaf. You may have to adjust liquid somewhat.

When the loaf collapses, it usually means that too much liquid was used. Keep flour covered and reduce next loaf by 2 tablespoons. Check often as bread mixes, OR - you omitted or forgot the salt in the recipe. The gluten needs salt to help it rise. Do not use salt substitutes. Too much sugar will also cause the loaf to collapse. Next time use one tablespoon less. Creating your own recipes in a bread machine takes some failures. Next loaf, adjust each time by an additional teaspoon, until you are satisfied. Good taste and better nutrition will be your reward.

A loaf that shows burning or took dark a crust may have too much sugar. Reduce by a teaspoon at a time and remember to use the light crust setting. I also find that all machines bake far to long for one or one and half pound loaf. I remove all bread from the machine by pressing “stop”, when the counter shows “16” minutes remaining. Other wise crust is took dark and the bread is took dried out and hard.

The last item this time is something that happens to all of us at least once. The bread pan contains a sticky, lumpy mass, or at the end of the cycle, a burnt, lumpy mass. The problem - you forgot to put the paddle back into the machine before the ingredients.

Pat Biggerstaff is the gardening columnist for the Daily News. She lives in Middlesboro. To comment or suggest topics for future columns, e-mail editor@middlesborodailynews.com.