Famous bread recipe *Free*

[azoomee]

Is there a good sour-dough recipe anywhere? ......I'm really missing the good stuff from California.

 

[deimosponders]

I went to my sister's house last weekend and she had homemade bread, so I got inspired and found this thread when I was searching around for more information.

I didn't have a breadmaker (until I bought one yesterday), so I did a lot of research and found the reviews at Bread Machine Digest to be quite good. Based on their suggestions as well as some other reviews, I looked for and acquired a Zojirushi BBCC-V20. I was quite fortunate and was able to find a brand new one on craigslist.

Last night I also went to Costco and picked up Bread Flour and some Yeast. I was surprised that the price was quite a bit more than what people were paying 6 months ago. It's still cheap compared to how much bread costs in the store, but just as an update, it cost me:

$10.39 for 50 lb. bag of Bread Flour
$3.25 for 2 lb. Red Star vacuum packed Active Dry Yeast

I was looking at doing whole wheat breads and I came across two issues that I'd like help with. First, is there any inexpensive way to mill wheat? I found an attachment for my Delonghi DSM7 stand mixer that's $55 online, but a stand alone grain mill like the Nutrimill or Wondermill seems to cost in the $200-$250 range. Second, where is a good place to buy hard red winter wheat or any other wheat that you'd mill at home?

Anyway, a loaf is in the machine now and it's looking nice already. Can't wait for it to finish cooling so I can sink my teeth into it.

Thanks FreeRide for the post!

 

[Savarak]

costco 50 lb bag still costs around 6 bucks here... and it was 3 bucks for the 3 lb vacuum packed yeast

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
Ok.. so I have this Welbilt breadmaker..with this little spinner thing in the bottom of the pan.

So, basically.. all I have to do is put the ingredients in the pan, in the order that is listed.. close the lid and push a button, and this machine will do everything??

I got this from my mother-in-law, and unfortunately there are no instructions with the machine.

You should check online to see if it is a 2lb. machine. if so, do like you said and press the button.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: deimosponders
$10.39 for 50 lb. bag of Bread Flour
$3.25 for 2 lb. Red Star vacuum packed Active Dry Yeast

Bread Flour is not necessary. It just drives up the cost of a loaf.
I use all purpose flour.

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: iamme
just sliced up my first loaf of bread from this recipe. very nice

my only complaint: the top was "crumbly". it wasn't as dark as the sides and the surface was pretty "lumpy". definitely not smooth like in the pictures. did i not add enough water perhaps?

Practice makes perfect. Besides, when it is sliced the top will look fine.
PS There is not going to be a brown top "like the sides", unless I am missing something.

 

[ttown]

Originally posted by: iamme
just sliced up my first loaf of bread from this recipe. very nice

my only complaint: the top was "crumbly". it wasn't as dark as the sides and the surface was pretty "lumpy". definitely not smooth like in the pictures. did i not add enough water perhaps?

Hmmm... that sounds odd. It sounds like either too little water, or not enough gluten in the flour.
How'd the rest turn out? Even texture? Too airy? Too dense?
I've made every loaf with mostly "high gluten" flour, so I don't really know how it would turn out without it. I do notice a very different texture in just the raw/dry flour between the "high gluten" and the all-purpose. The word "crumbly" makes me think "no gluten" -- so maybe that's an issue.

Regarding the top: I'd describe the top of my loaves as "rustic" or "natural" -- like what I'd expect from a neighborhood bakery.
If you think it may be water, try upping it a table-spoon at a time. A little change in water makes a big difference. Or maybe the temp. The water should be about the temperature of a comfortable bath.

You might also try increasing the butter, or softening the butter first if it's too chilled.
I've doubled the butter in the French bread recipe I use -- with no bad effects.

Hope something here helps....

 

[RideFree]

ttown is right, an extra table spoon of water makes a lot of difference.
In my experience, it may make the loaf somewhat bigger than the capacity of the breadmaker, however, this can be controlled with an extra pinch of salt.

 

[Morpheux]

Could we edit the first post to list "tips" ?

Like "if your bread doesn't rise...." or "if your bread is very dense, try...." Or items like, "too much salt causes...."

 

[IksokChoy]

Does anyone have a reccomendation on a decent economical bread machine??

 

[iamme]

my second loaf came out much better thanks to a little more water.

i'm hoping to buy a bread slicing guide/storage unit soon. just gotta find a good one

 

[RideFree]

Originally posted by: IksokChoy
Does anyone have a reccomendation on a decent economical bread machine??

Salvation Army, ARC, Craigs List, DAV, Goodwill

Edited: I just saw a Breadman Ultimate TR4000 go for $58 on FleaBay.

 

[iamme]

question: can you put in more whole wheat flour and less white flour to make it more "healthy"?

 

[jlbenedict]

I got this breadmaker from Walmart this weekend: Sunbeam Model: 5891 for $40

Made a basic, white 1.5 lb load on Sunday. It appears to have come out good. The crust seems kind of tough. What would be the cause of that?

 

[ttown]

jlbenedict -- my guess would be too much water... or maybe you left it in the pan too long afterwards.
I typically remove mine from the pan within 5-10min of the timer going off -- and cover it loosely with foil till it cools down. I've never had a 'tough' crust -- unless you mean the 'tough' as in 'tougher than wonderbread' tough.
Then I store it in a plastic zip-lock bag in the fridge -- and it lasts a pretty long time.


Side note: for those wanting small quantities of 'bread flour' -- Albertsons has their 5lb bag of bread-flour for $1 till october 3, iirc. (Not the All-purpose stuff)
I've noticed bread-flour rarely goes on sale in the supermarkets (but the all-purpose stuff does all the time).

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: iamme
question: can you put in more whole wheat flour and less white flour to make it more "healthy"?

anyone?

 

[jlbenedict]

I have my second loaf currently rising right now in my Sunbeam maker.
Hopefully it comes out..

 

[McPhreak]

Originally posted by: iamme

Originally posted by: iamme
question: can you put in more whole wheat flour and less white flour to make it more "healthy"?

anyone?

yes you can although wheat flour doesn't rise as well as white flour. Therefore, the more wheat flour in the bread, the denser and more compact it will be. Try out different ratios and find one that's good for you.

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: McPhreak

Originally posted by: iamme

Originally posted by: iamme
question: can you put in more whole wheat flour and less white flour to make it more "healthy"?

anyone?

yes you can although wheat flour doesn't rise as well as white flour. Therefore, the more wheat flour in the bread, the denser and more compact it will be. Try out different ratios and find one that's good for you.

Cool.. you answered a question I was getting ready to ask. My loaf I made lastnight was a whole wheat bread.. I used all whole wheat.. and I noticed it didn't rise as well as my previous white loaf.
I'll have to change it up a bit, and I'll get a perfect loaf yet

 

[desteffy]

thanks OP!!!!

 

[ttown]

I tried a 'whole wheat' recipe from the book I bought from half-price-books.

1C milk
3T water
4t sugar (i used packed dark-brown sugar)
1T butter (i used 2T)
1 1/2 C bread flour (i used high-gluten flour)
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
3/4t salt
1t yeast

This is for the 1.5lb size.
It doesn't fill my 1.5lb pan when it's done -- so I may try upping the ingredients just to get a larger loaf.
The ratio of regular/whole-wheat turns out very good, imo. The crust seems dry tasting for just plain sandwiches, but it makes good toast. The rest of the bread tastes great.

On a side note... I also want sour-dough. The recipe I have takes many many days to get the dough (10, iirc). Is there a shortcut?

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: ttown
I tried a 'whole wheat' recipe from the book I bought from half-price-books.

1C milk
3T water
4t sugar (i used packed dark-brown sugar)
1T butter (i used 2T)
1 1/2 C bread flour (i used high-gluten flour)
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
3/4t salt
1t yeast

This is for the 1.5lb size.
It doesn't fill my 1.5lb pan when it's done -- so I may try upping the ingredients just to get a larger loaf.
The ratio of regular/whole-wheat turns out very good, imo. The crust seems dry tasting for just plain sandwiches, but it makes good toast. The rest of the bread tastes great.

On a side note... I also want sour-dough. The recipe I have takes many many days to get the dough (10, iirc). Is there a shortcut?

May need a little more yeast.. That yeast total looks a little low..

 

[Aiyana]

Originally posted by: iamme
question: can you put in more whole wheat flour and less white flour to make it more "healthy"?

I tried this last night in a panic, and the answer can be "yes".

I had already put in the sugar, oil and water before I realized my girls used the last of our flour to make cookies.

I was able to scrounge up one cup of cake flour to go with the wheat flour, plus I remembered I had a small package of gluten I had never used. 3C wheat flour, 1C cake flour and 3T gluten (to help the whole wheat flour) and it rose nicely and looks perfect. I'll taste it at lunch...

 

[iamme]

i just purchased this: Toastmaster Electric Knife With Storage Box And Bread Guide, for about $36 shipped. seems like a good combo, slicing electric knife, storage box, and slicing guide. i wish tehre were more pics, but i had a target gift card to spend, so i figured i'd splurge i'll report back, if anyone's interested.

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr...20652?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B0007PZN64

 

[cordite]

Originally posted by: nocturne
Since a bread maker is about as sensible as a rice cooker (ie, waste of counter/cupboard space), would this recipe work without too much major modification in a normal oven

You've definitely never used a real rice cooker then. It definitely doesn't fit everyone's needs but outright proclaiming that one is a waste of counter space is truly ignorant. Anyway, that said, I'll have to give this recipe a try with my Kitchenaid Pro 5+.