My latest loaf was quite close textured, heavy and sticky.

Same (bread machine) recipe that I've bee using for ten years or more, so what went wrong/changed?

Same problem here Laurie, bread I make seems to be so hard, have to cut off edges making it hard to eat. Seems to be a problem with the flour due to the lack of rain and abroad too much rain. Let me know if you find a cure. I am trying a different flour again today. cheers Penny

There are several possibilities, Laurie.
Let's eliminate the blindingly obvious: are you certain your hand didn't slip and add an extra few ml of water? No possibility you mis read the scale on your measuring jug? Either is easy enough to do if you're in a rush or something distracts you.

Is your weather especially humid at present? This used to be a problem with my first ever breadmaker and, in muggy weather, I had to decrease the water by 5 to 10 no per loaf! However, this doesn't seem to be such an issue with more modern machines.

Have you changed to a different brand of flour? IME, they are definitely not all the same!

The wheat harvest may be at the root of this. Penny's had problems with hard crusts; I've had recent issues with very fragile and crumbly loaves. It may be that the poor harvests both here and in N. America have resulted in the millers getting supplies from different sources and this will have affected the quality of the flour and the bread it produces.

If you keep having the problem, for a wholemeal loaf, try lightening the mix by using 25% white flour to 75% wholemeal.
You can also add extra wheat gluten to lighten the loaf - one tablespoon gluten per 475G flour seems to work for me.
If you can't find gluten in the local shops, it's easily available on line via Amazon and others. I'm currently unable to remember the name of my most recent supplier but it was something like Mega Foods, in Bedfordshire and their prices were very reasonable ...

Good luck.

ADDENDUM:
The gluten supplier I referred to above is actually called http://www.lowcarbmegastore.com
1kg Wheat Gluten Powder £4.25 - but, as I said, there are a number to choose from.

Thank you.

The water measure I use came with the machine and is filled within 5 mm of the top. I also always run the tap first to make sure the water is fresh, like you do (ot should!) for tea.

The flour is Carrs, milled less than twenty miles away. I haven't seen any combines yet so I doubt that any of this year's weather affected harvest has yet been processed.

My first thought was the yeast, but it was Allinsons, a well known and reliable brand.

I'll just have wait until next time. I might try a bread mix, they normally give pretty consistent results.

Hard to think of any further suggestions, except maybe, to try less salt. No idea how much you're using but many recipes seem to demand an excess of it! Around 3 to 5g should be adequate for a 500g loaf. Certainly, too much salt can prevent the yeast from working properly, especially if the yeast is a bit tired.

Like you, I always use Allinsons yeast, the one that comes in those little tins, and I keep it in the fridge between uses. It seems to work well for months so unlikely that's your problem. I agree that Carr's flour is pretty good; it's always my second choice if I can't get Waitrose own brand.

Your mention of water stirred another thought. I know the advice is to use freshly drawn water but, at our old house, the water was so hard it was little more than liquid lime scale and I found I got much better bread using water from the filter jug and/or including a teaspoon of lemon juice - fresh or bottled - with the water. The water here isn't quite so hard but I still do that and rarely get a heavy loaf.

Made a loaf with a cheap flour, Sainsbury's and it seems to be fine.. Am making another at present using Allisons, thought I would try again. Hope you have success Laurie. cheers Penny

I'm hoping it'll prove to be a one off.

The salt measure I use is the one that came with the machine, though I use less than the recipe specifies.

Our water is straight off granite and is so soft that the bottom of my kettle is as shiny as the day I bought it in 2004.

Just have to wait and see.

I use the sealed sachets of yeast. I'm to'd that as a living organism the frig is too cold for yeast and cool and dry is sufficient.

Forgot to say I use Sainsbury's yeast. Keep it in the pantry. Loaf I made this afternoon, super. cheers Penny cheers Penny

Sounds promising, Penny.

I'll let you know in a week or two (I only use two or three slices a week, so a loaf lasts me ages!).

Final Update

Produced an excellent malted brown yesterday (mix), so it must be my ingredients, probably tired yeast.

Lesson learned (I hope!).