Another bread (bread machine) question.

[Reynard]

My thoughts too - over-proved. To make a loaf ‘quickly’ needs a fair amount of yeast which can gallop away but then exhaust the nutrients quickly, so timing is important. I now use low-yeast, long-prove methods for bread. It means planning ahead but means more flavour, better digestion and a robust structure. And timing is less critical.

I do the same. The best bit of advice I ever got was "watch the dough, not the clock"

Yeast is a living organism - I think a lot of people forget that. it never ceases to amaze me that the same formula for dough using the same flour etc, can behave totally differently depending on the ambient conditions. Temperature, pressure and humidity all play a part. and one day a batch of dough can gallop away and I need to put it in the fridge to slow it down, and on another day it can be a total lazybones.