Very informative post. Sometimes if the dough looks really big for its first rise I will weigh it before deciding which size pan to use. If it weighs 2 lbs or more, I will go with the larger pan (9"×5"). Generally, this works pretty well. Made a loaf of Harvest Grains Bread yesterday and used the larger pan - I had even written myself a note on the recipe! If you are very familiar with a recipe you know if it's a " high riser" or not, and the Harvest Grains Bread is definitely one of them, so the smaller pan doesn't contain it as well, and you end up with huge "ears" which are much drier than the rest of the loaf. There are several other recipes which I regularly use that call for the smaller pan, but I find work much better in the larger one. I have learned to do what the dough tells me to!

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