Your Bread Machine (3)
Of course, if your dough is sticky and gooey, you need to add more flour until you get the nice smooth ball (if you pinch it, it doesn’t feel gooey and sticky, but firm - yet not tough, dry or cracking). Again, the key is to add small amounts until you get the desired consistency. If you add too much, you will then have to add more water, and so on, until soon the whole recipe’s proportions are out of whack. So aim for the smooth, shiny ball. (That is why I say to start with only 4 cups of flour until you have tried the recipe a couple times. I expect you will end up using around 4 1/2 cups of flour total, but since each machine may be different I wanted to stress the importance of getting the right amount of flour, and thus the right texture to your dough.)
Then close the lid, and let the machine do the rest.