Did I ruin the loaf?

[NovelMama]

I accidentally added room temperature water instead of warm water when making bread this morning. It's mixing in the machine right now, so it's too early for me to tell if I ruined it or not. Predict for me, please--what will happen since I didn't use warm water?

[Sundance]

I'm not an expert, but I think the warm water is to better activate the yeast?
So, it may not raise as much, but I don't think it'll be ruined!

[NovelMama]

Well this is interesting. It didn't form a ball like it usually does. It's rising, but it looks very wet. :scratch Guess I'll go ahead and bake it and see what happens...

[andrea_r]

I'm not a bread machine maker, but the only difference between using room temp and warm water is the yeast will take longer to activate & rise.

[NovelMama]

I realized later that I used the basic setting rather than the whole wheat setting, so maybe that has something to do with why it didn't make a ball? :scratch :think :shrug Anyway, it baked up fine--just going by the appearance and yummy smell--and once I can get PJ off my boob I'll try a piece and see what it's like inside...

Oh, and it rose just fine!

[StumblinMama]

If your bread machine is like mine, it actually heats up a bit during the mixing, so I think that would help you out some. AFA the dough not forming a ball, is it humid in your area today? Sounds like the dough was a tad too wet. Glad it turned out well, though!

[Sundance]

Yes, when mine isn't forming a ball, I just throw in more flour, until it looks like it usually does.