More bread

Bread Part 2

As is quite predictable if you know me at all, I messed about with the bread machine and the recipe until I got the bread to where I wanted it.

Another friend of mine (G’day Helen) then handed me a second bread machine… this time a “Breadman” which produces a rectangular loaf, much like a regular bread loaf.

Of course, I set about using the same combination of ingredients as I had used in the other machine… then I read the manual as the first loaf was baking.

The Breadman is a more recent make of machine and is set up to produce bread with little or no sugar. It has a much longer final rise, which means that the recipe I used for the Kenmore was not going to work as well without some significant modification.

So, the first loaf I produced was, expectedly, concave, looking much like a house-brick complete with a “frog” for the mortar. It had, predictably, risen to great heights and then deflated to leave a crater that could easily hold a pint of soup. The flavour is good, but it looks pretty pathetic.

Having read the manual before this loaf had finished baking, I set up my second loaf the same basic recipe but leaving the sugar out completely. This produced another house-brick of the dense and yeasty variety. ☹

I gave it a rest for a day or so, producing a “miracle loaf” (the “oh hell, we have company and I have no flour soaking” loaf) in the Kenmore for Nerida. I’ve gotten good enough with the Kenmore to be able to produce a good loaf on cue by fudging the soaking/moisture/yeast ratios depending on the flour I am using on the day.

So, yesterday, I ground 4 pounds of flour, two from white and two from red wheat. The white ones went into the machines at the same time on an 8 hour soak. The Breadman this time had half the regular sugar. The Kenmore had a standard recipe, and I threw a cup of grated cheese over the top of the loaf as it was rising for the last time.

The Breadman produced a near-perfect loaf of bread, and the Kenmore produced a near-perfect loaf of cheesy bread.

I reloaded the Breadman with the first of the red-wheat loves, this time on a 12 hour soak. I kept the sugar at half-normal and produced a perfect loaf of red-wheat bread.

The last of the red-wheat loaves is in the Breadman now, this one time is timed to start for a 24 hour soak with absolutely no sugar.

It looks like I’ll get the hang of both of these machines.



There are four factors which affect the final rise when working with acid-soaked whole grain breads. These are

• Soak Time – the longer the loaf is soaked, the quicker it will rise (and crater if it rises too soon)
• Moisture - in the loaf and in the air… on a humid day, reduce the moisture by a tablespoon; for a quicker rise, increase the moisture a little.
• Yeast - the more yeast you use the quicker it will rise. Works well with white wheat on a short soak.. you can soak for as little as 4 hours by adding a little moisture and an extra teaspoon of yeast.
• Sugar – the more sugar you use, the faster the yeast goes to work, the quicker it will rise.

I am in the process of extending the soaking times to maximize the benefits of the acid soak.

Oh, and olive oil is the BEST dough conditioner I have found so far. Coconut oil is both more expensive and less effective.

UPDATE:
The last red wheat loaf failed to rise properly.

Something I have come to notice is that the Breadman does not handle dryish dough easily. (the problem occurs because I put moist dough, not base ingredients, into the machine (the Kenmore makes dough out of nearly anything).

I'll have to keep the Breadman recipes a little damp to make sure they knead properly

Take Care

Rod