Bread. Its always too dense when I make it. Why?

[cleanandclothed]

I generally use a bread mix (hovis or similar) but sometimes bread flour, yeast and water. Whether I make it in a loaf tin (which always seems small to me compared to shop bought loaves of the same weight) or rolls, it is always very dense. Is it as simple as needing to leave it to rise for longer? I don't have a bread maker so knead etc by hand.

Any tips?

home made berad is always more dense than shop bought. (just look et the ingredients on the pack...)

you can use the spnge method, which ehlps a bit.

my recipe:
mix 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of water and half a teaspoon of dried active yeast. let stand for about 6 hours until the mix is about double the size.
add 500g flour, 1 cup of water (or a bit less), 1 table spoon oil or butter, 1 teaspoon salt. knead together and let rest for about 1 hour. knead again and transfer to loaf tin. let rest for another hour. bake in the oven (not preheated) at 175 degrees (fan oven) or about 200 degrees (conventional oven) for about 50 min.

wholemeal can be a bit solid. bung in some honey and chopped walnuts.

Thank you. Will try all of those. The only bread so farr I am pleased with the results is a foccacia type thing, but I can't get excited about that for breakfast!

You can use a very small amount of Vitamin C powder (available from chemists) to help get more of a rise. I would add no more than 1/8th teaspoon to the mix for a small loaf. (If you'd like your bread as fluffy as a factory made loaf, you would add more.)