I had decided to start this blog after I bought the bread machine off of craigslist. That being said, who buys a new (or new to them) fun kitchen gadget and doesn't try it out? Really, who?
So, though undocumented by photo, I thought I would share about the first loaf of bread. Excitedly I went home, and after purchasing some White Lilly Bread flour, I ran home to test it out. The Boy is particularly fond of White Lilly flours, as many of his family recipes involve it despite being Yankees from the cold depths of MI.
Walked in the door, pulled out the machine, the flour and realized.... I need a recipe.
Being resourceful, I thought what better place to get a recipe than the manual from the machine itself? Except as the machine is new to me, not new, I didn't have a manual. Oh the women had mentioned she had it somewhere, and she could even mail it to me if she found it while moving. A nice thought, but I politely declined. I know the ol' "the manual's in the mail." Once she had her cash, she didn't really care if I had the manual or not. I would forge my own path, how hard could it be?
I found the manual online. Great! Chapter 2: Let's Bake Bread. Sounds like the perfect place to start, right? Who needs chapter 1?
Then I was enlightened by the most important secret to bread making. Exact measurements. They said it 3 times in four lines, I guess they must me right. Apparently exact measurements means tediously scooping flour into the measuring cup, and then leveling it off. Did you know you can add up to a full tablespoon by scooping your flour with the measuring spoon? Whew, glad I read the manual. Who wants to be off by a tablespoon?
A quick scan revealed that there was indeed a second most important tip to bread making, this one even more important to us with bread machines. Put the ingredients in the machine in the right order.
First: Wet ingredients
Second: Dry ingredients
Last: Yeast
Phew, glad I read the manual. Now it gives me a recipee for simple, but very good white bread.
Oster Bread Machine Simple White Bread Recipe
1 + 1/3 cups water
4 teaspoons softened
butter or margarine
4 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons dry milk
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
I load up the machine, set the crust setting to medium and wait with bated breath for 4 hours for the first loaf. The machine clunks and beeps at random times, what's that about? Just when I begin to forget it's there, it starts clunking again. I peep through the window hole on the top. Nope, still just dough. Thank goodness for window holes for the restless.
Four hours later it beeps a loud beep. Is this the "come pull the delicious masterpiece out of the machine" beep? I slide the loaf onto a cooling rack and was the lucky the mixing paddle just fell out. I begin wielding my bread knife. Pretty crusty for a medium setting. In fact, way to crumbly. Inside is very light, and chewy, but the edge could break teeth. "It's good as long as you eat the inside" The boy reassures me. So this is the medium setting? The dark setting must make the loaf one giant brick.
Crumb nuggets. Luckily our neighbors keep birds who enjoy bread. I'm sure they pecked away at the first loaf and had a swell time. Guess where all the failed loafs will be going after this?
Looking back, and re-reading the recipe, I now realize I completely disregarded the powdered milk instruction. I carefully measured and leveled my flour, yet forgot powdered milk? You heard it right.
So the first loaf was meh. I hope your first loaf turns out better. Maybe you'll read the recipe and you know, follow the whole thing?
I give this recipe 2 loaves out of 5. Maybe it would have gotten 3 loaves if I hadn't forgotten the milk.
Stay tuned, the first loaf of 2010 will be coming shortly. The new year is just 3 days away!
2 days ago
2 comments:
I have been looking for White Lilly bread flour in Los Angeles without any success. Did you get it from a market? Why do you use this kind of flour?
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
I live in Atlanta, where White Lily Flour is plentiful. White Lily tends to be a southern flour. I personally use it because 1) it's a light flour that produces lighter and fluffier biscuits and pie crusts along with breads and 2) I try to eat more local when I can.
White Lily flour is made from the soft red winter wheat varietal of flour, which produces a fluffier and lighter flour. Check out the second map on this link: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4632/major-wheat-growing-regions-us-reference-maps
It looks like you have the hard red winter wheat in your area locally, which will still produce decent bread, but won't be as light and fluffy.
If you're really interested in White Lilly flour, order some online. The internets are great for this, but you probably won't find it on the shelf in your area. The soft red winter wheat has a pretty specific growing area that's not incredibly large. It does make fantastic bread and other baked goods.
While you're ordering, I also highly recommend Tupelo honey from this region of the country, it's my favorite type of honey by far.
King Arther is another good brand of flour that is great specifically for bread making. King Arther has a higher percentage of gluten in it, which is what causes the chewiness in bread. You can also try adding vital wheat gluten to your breads a little at a time to give it more spring. I'd recommend experimenting with a quarter of a teaspoon at a time. Things like your humidity and your altitude can also slightly affect your bread making, and cause you to need slightly more or less water.
One of the great things about bread is that it incorporates yeast which is a living organism, which can react very differently to different ingredients and environmental factors. It's part of the fun/art/science that is bread making!
-Kristy
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