I find it amazing at how expensive a loaf of bread is to buy these days! It really makes sense to make your own, even with the higher cost of flour. I’ve never really used a recipe for bread making, when making it by hand. I do use proportions. I know what size of loaf I want to make, and how much liquid it takes to make it. I started off with the liquid and yeast, and then added my dry ingredients until it felt right. Being single again, it doesn’t make sense to make 5 loaves at a time, so I’m using my bread maker again. You can’t fudge with a recipe with a bread maker, and expect it to turn out right… but once you have the proportions down pat, you can consistently make great bread! Here is my recipe, in the order that I measure it. I use a scale, and put the baking insert on the scale and use the tare function as required to weigh out the ingredients in this order:
Shelley’s White Bread = 2 lb. loaf
- 315 gm. warm water
- 15 gm. lemon juice
- 5 gm. salt
- 15 gm. oil or combination (oil, butter)
- 15 gm. sugar (your choice, I usually use white)
- 500 gm. flour
- 15 gm. potato flour (or starch)
- 5 gm. gluten powder
- 7 gm. yeast (2 tsp.)
I use the medium color crust, and 2 lb loaf setting on my bread maker. It turns out just the way I like it. The potato flour makes it soft, and the lemon juice, gluten powder work with the flour to increase the ability of the dough to rise.
Now…. drum roll please! Here’s what it looks like!
How do you make bread? Do you have a favorite recipe or method? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
What is gluten powder made from - mainly wheat or ??? The bread looks wonderful. I may try it. I have one Amish recipe that works well (no bread machine needed) and pretty easy. It makes ttwo loaves at a time of white bread. I am moving back to WA at least by October. Would love to meet up sometime after I get back - and renew my passport. It expired if I recall.
ReplyDeleteGluten is from wheat. It is the protein that makes the dough able to stretch, and what you are "working" when you knead and mix the dough. Canadian flour has enough protein, but south of the border you may need to add more gluten to get a loaf that rises high. I've been given some sourdough starter from my sister, and have been making some loaves that are strictly starter, water, flour and salt... I do oil my hands when kneading the dough, so there is some oil in it, but not much. Your comment reminds me that I should make a blog post on it... perhaps a video! :-) I also have some no knead bread dough in the fridge now that I'm going to have some fun with. Sour dough though to me is the purest bread out there, and I am shocked to see how easy it is to make.
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