So you bought a bread machine. You've made some starter recipes (maybe). They've gone alright. You bought a breadbook and tried a recipe, and oops, something happened. Judging by the crumbs or pudding in your machine, something when horribly wrong. Here's some ways to fix that something.
BREAD MACHINE: Liquid and Dry Ingredient Troubleshooting
During the Kneading Cycle
Bread Machine - to much liquid: So you are adjusting recipe, or converting a recipe, or scaling up or scaling down a recipe for your bread machine because you are (a) lazy or (b) busy or (c) concerned if you don't use the machine you'll feel overwhelming guilt for having shelled out the cash to have it. Any what you slice it there is constantly a risk that when you adjust recipes that were not specifically measured out for your machine or your size machine you will have results issues.
The key for the first time you try this adjusted recipe is to check the dough about halfway through the 'dough' cycle (where the machine is mixing/kneading etc at full speed and has been for at least 5-10 minutes). If you see the dough is not 'balling' into the usual/expected dough ball, then its time to add some flour.
One tablespoon at a time.
Its almost like steering a boat/ship, the adjustment you make will not be 'instantaneous' and you'll have to wait. If the dough starts to ball up appropriately then leave it. If nothing is changing, add more flour until it does.
Please note that some recipes will indicated that the dough is supposed to be sticky; however, it should be sticky in the 'tacky' sense, not in the dough-pudding sense, unless specifically indicated.
Bread Machine - too much dry: If the dough, after 5-10 minutes through the normal kneading cycle as described above, is crumbly and not forming into a well-organized looking dough ball, then you need to add more liquid (whatever the primary liquid was that was called for in the original recipe)
One tablespoon at a time.
Remember, more so when adding liquid then when adding flour, the change will take some time. So be a little patient. The liquid added will take some time to distribute amongst the dry ingredients, so don't start adding more until you are sure that the first tablespoon wasn't enough.
Finally, you can always add more flour to rebalance, but do so as sparingly as possible, the other flavor adding ingredients will always be slight diluted, and therefore the flavor will be slightly diluted, the more dry and liquid post bread machine starting you end up doing.
After Kneading Cycle
If it seems like you have a dry disaster (crumbly crumbles instead of dough) or a wet disaster (batter-esque pudding instead of dough), swear, stomp, have a drink, but relax, all is not lost. Pour the disaster into a bowl. Add a tablespoon of whatever (flour or primary liquid) ingredient is necessary to offset this, roll up your sleeves and get to hand mixing (remember to wet your hands with water first to reduce dough sticking to you). If this isn't quite solving the problem add more of the ingredient necessary and repeat.
This bread won't turn out perfectly, as in some of the yeast/rising power will have been used up, but it will still turn out...and if nobody knows it how it was supposed to taste, no one will notice (note: this happened to my rosemary olive bread....and it got RAVE reviews anyways!)
HAND KNEADING: Liquid to dry ingredient troubleshooting
*under construction*
