If your dough isn’t rising… then it is likely the room isn’t warm enough. Crank up the thermostat to around 75º or place the dough in a turned-off oven alongside a pan of boiling water.
If your bread is dry…then it spent too much time in the oven or the oven was too hot. Calibrate the oven’s temp beforehand to avoid this.
If your bread is raw or chewy…then it’s undercooked. Next time, take the bread’s internal temperature before snagging it from the oven. It should be between 160º and 185º.
If your bread is tough… then the dough was kneaded too much. Going forward, try the windowpane test: Stretch a bit of dough to see if it creates a translucent “windowpane.” If it does, you’re done kneading.
If your bread is dense… then…
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Taste of Home (Digital) - 1 Issue, August/September 2022