Bread – My mom says to knead bread doutgh after rising

Unbaked lumps probably mean you aren't mixing it enough. Try starting with a little less flour and knead in more as you go.

Another issue is you may not be kneading it enough. Next time try using the windowpane test. You don't have to do this every time, but if you're having trouble with a specific recipe this will help you figure out how the dough should "feel" when its ready by giving you a visual indicator. I've found that when I have dough rising problems, it's usually because I didn't knead long enough. This should also help fix your mixing issue.

That being said, there are two good methods to see if dough has risen enough. One is to let it rise in a marked container (though this doesn't work well for shaped loaves or if you aren't supposed to let it double). The other is the poke test. From a Bon Appetit online article:

To test for doneness, use the finger test: Poke it with 2 fingers; it holds the indentation, it's ready.

Generally I poke it and if it pops right back out, it's not ready. For sourdough, if it holds its shape for a moment and then slowly starts to expand back, it's perfect. For other breads, holding the indentation is a good indicator. This isn't necessarily advisable for delicate doughs. If you're working with a delicate dough, try the test on one loaf that you don't "need" to be perfect. You can use this as a relative time measurement for the future.

Some (many) bread machines don't mix well, so you might not get a good mixture whatever you do. But it's worth trying.

If you are making the bread immediately after adding the ingredients, it probably doesn't matter much how you add the ingredients; just put the yeast and the sugar and such in the centre.

If you use the timer, it is important that the yeast stay dry up until the moment the machine starts mixing. What gave me the best result is this:

1. add water, sugar, salt, egg, fat;
2. mix this by moving the pan around until the ingredients are mostly dissolved (or stir with a wooden implement);
3. then put all the flour in a heap in the middle of the pan;
4. make a hollow in the centre of this heap, put the yeast in this hollow;
5. then set the timer.

Another tip: if you put the pan on a kitchen scale while adding ingredients, and you press "tare" on the scale after each ingredient, it's much easier to weigh everything. This only applies if you use ingredients by weight, of course.

Lastly, experimenting with amounts that differ from the recipe may greatly improve your bread. It depends on the machine. I also found that the "French" setting on the machine (= longer baking) gave the best crust.