Bread Making

[Martha]

DH used a bread maker for years to mix the bread. He would bake it outside the maker. Finally it gave up the ghost and we bought a Kitchenaid mixer so he could mix several loaves at once. It is pushed to the limit and in retrospect we should have purchased an heavier duty machine.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

BTW kitchenaid makes a lot of different level machines. The el cheapo found in target and walmart IS a pretty wimpy mixer. The ones sold at costco and sams club are several levels upstream.

The small ones are ~250 watts. The next notch up is about 325 watts. 450 and 575 watt models are readily available, but they're priced up around $400-500.

This is the model we have. Very powerful and no problems after several years of heavy use.

Amazon.com: KitchenAid KV25GOXBU Professional 5 Plus 5-Quart Bowl Lift Stand Mixer, Cobalt Blue: Kitchen & Dining

and oooh...look at this one for $170...
Amazon.com: Factory-Reconditioned KitchenAid RKV25G0XWW Professional 5 Plus Bowl Lift Stand Mixer, White on White: Kitchen & Dining

 

[clifp]

Sadly my diet pretty much ended my days of using my fancy cuisinart bread machine (X-Mas present).

But maybe I should start it up again.

 

[CuppaJoe]

this discussion truly inspired me...i just put together a cinnamon raisin bread loaf, full cycle.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

hub sez thank you!

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I just did a wheat-70%/brown rice-25%/flax-5%, with raisons, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Ground the flour and kneaded in Vita Mix, kneaded the last minute by hand and baked in the oven. Not bad, a little flat but tastes great with butter. On tomorrow's shopping list, a slightly smaller pan, been meaning to buy one for years.

Freebird, did you get married recently? I thought maybe you stopped posting for a while to plan your wedding.

 

[TromboneAl]

Al, What's the recipe for your pizza dough? Do you let it rise in the bread machine or separate it after mixing? Also, do you bake the half not used for pizza in the bread maker or oven? Thanks

It's the standard recipe that is in the bread machine directions, seen below (that's taped to the inside of the cupboard door, but we pretty much know it by heart). For pizza dough, we usually put 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour (Bob's Stone Ground Whole Wheat), and 2.5 of all-purpose flour (not the "best for bread" type).

If I add gluten (or too much whole wheat?), it can get too springy, and I can't flatten it out for the pizza.

As soon as it beeps, telling me the dough is ready (1 hour 40 minutes), I dump the dough out on the floured table, and cut it in half with a floured knife. I put half in a bread pan and put a cloth over to let it rise. The other half I immediately roll out, put stuff on, and bake. No need to make the crust thicker around the edges. Rolling works better than spinning in the air for me.

I cook the pizza on an open mesh pizza pan -- the one that is on my lap right now (under the laptop).

When the pizza is done, I throw the bread dough in the oven (in the pan).

Please share your "wheat bread" formula; using the recipe that came with my breadmaker, I get fallen bread that's not too tasty. White bread works ok, but I prefer whole grain.

It's simply the recipe below but with 1 cup of white and 2 cups of whole wheat. We use 2 tsp yeast instead of 1.5. Fallen bread can indicate too much sugar. Also, the brand of flour can make a difference. We currently have gold medal all-purpose white, and Bob's whole wheat.

Another good recipe is 1 cup white, 1.5 cups whole wheat, and .5 cups of Bob's seven (or ten) grain hot cereal.

Bread
1.125 Cups Water
3 Cups Flour
1.5 Tsp Salt
3 Tbs Sugar
1.5 Tbs Dry Milk
1.5 Tbs Butter
2.0 Tsp Yeast

 

[slouch]

BTW kitchenaid makes a lot of different level machines. The el cheapo found in target and walmart IS a pretty wimpy mixer. The ones sold at costco and sams club are several levels upstream.

The small ones are ~250 watts. The next notch up is about 325 watts. 450 and 575 watt models are readily available, but they're priced up around $400-500.

This is the model we have. Very powerful and no problems after several years of heavy use.

Thanks. I should have qualified up front that the negative reviews I had read were on amazon for the kitchenaid pro series. Here's a direct link to the review (page up after following the link)

Amazon.com: Joel R. Helgeson "JRH...'s review of KitchenAid KP26M1XPM Professional 600 Seri...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

First off, I dont work for the company or own their stock.

That review was written against lower end versions of the product and the writer looked at the 600 model and declared it equally deficient because of something he saw, not an experienced failure.

We've beaten ours up pretty good and it keeps going. In fact, our 3.5 year old throws all sorts of stuff into it while its running. 89% of buyers give it 4 or 5 stars. Thats a pretty good record.

That having been said, IMO nothing is better made than it was 10+ years ago.

 

[freebird5825]

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I just did a wheat-70%/brown rice-25%/flax-5%, with raisons, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Ground the flour and kneaded in Vita Mix, kneaded the last minute by hand and baked in the oven. Not bad, a little flat but tastes great with butter. On tomorrow's shopping list, a slightly smaller pan, been meaning to buy one for years.

Freebird, did you get married recently? I thought maybe you stopped posting for a while to plan your wedding.

thanks for asking...very good memory...but no, we're not married yet..well at least we don't have a license. LOL
the draconian terms of my survivor benefits mean if i remarry before age 55, i lose both health benefits and pension. so we wait...
i have learned that this is typical for both govt and private sector. the pension companies know that statistically, widows/widowers remarry, so it's their little loophole for denying continued benefits for folks who move forward with their lives.
the countdown clock is 4 years, 340 1/4 something days...i need to find one of those countdown clocks they sold for the new millenium.

to get back on topic...i keep dh2b "hooked" by making fresh bread all the time.

your recipe sounds wild, BTW. care to post it?

 

[freebird5825]

Sadly my diet pretty much ended my days of using my fancy cuisinart bread machine (X-Mas present).

But maybe I should start it up again.

most of my machine recipes (for 1 lb loaf) only call for 1 Tbsp of oil (i use only canola), a little bit of sugar (1 Tbsp) or salt (1 tsp or less), and very few use eggs (cholesterol). i've never seen a calorie or carb analysis for these recipes, but my gut feel is homemade bread is way better all around than store bought.

anybody got a link for homemade bread recipes and their corresponding calorie/carb/fat/salt percentages? i've always been curious about this.

 

[freebird5825]

There is a difference in the gluten of bread flour vs multi-purpose or cake flour or noodle flours. Different wheat varieties are used and I suspect different milling. IMHO if you go to the trouble of baking at home use the appropriate flour. See "Cookwise" by Shirley Corriher.. discussion so important it starts on page 4.

absoltely correct!
the gluten in the bread flour is the key for multigrain recipes.
i invested in some King Arthur 7 grain flour for non-white bread recipes. very pricey! but very good results.
plain old flour is ok for white bread bread base recipes, and very cost effective for the volume of bread i personally make. i add herbs and spices to mine a lot just to keep it interesting.

 

[TromboneAl]

We have gluten that we can add to different breads that supposedly can be used to help them rise. However, results have been inconsistent, and I generally don't use it.

The new(?) "White whole wheat" flour is supposed to make bread that tastes like white bread but has the fiber and nutrition of whole wheat. I didn't find that it was worth the extra cost.

 

[CuppaJoe]

....

your recipe sounds wild, BTW. care to post it?

I use a basic recipe that comes with the Vita Mix which is also available online free. I'm experimenting with mixing various grains that I grind in the machine. The recent 70% wheat/25% rice/5% flax was an attempt to tone down the gluten, maybe made a lighter dough, I hate to resort to adding store-bought all purpose flour and prefer the flavor of fresh ground. I just added whatever extra ingredients were on hand.

Last time I made cinnamon waffles, the mix was 90% wheat and 10% flax, first waffle sort of exploded, made a mess. Surprised me because they usually turn out really good. Used a recipe from a book, will stick to the ones that come with waffle maker now, I suspect the gluton because the dough was like chewing gum although it might have been the wrong amount of baking soda/powder.

My recipes are not ready for prime time.

 

[CuppaJoe]

most of my machine recipes (for 1 lb loaf) only call for 1 Tbsp of oil (i use only canola), a little bit of sugar (1 Tbsp) or salt (1 tsp or less), and very few use eggs (cholesterol). i've never seen a calorie or carb analysis for these recipes, but my gut feel is homemade bread is way better all around than store bought.

anybody got a link for homemade bread recipes and their corresponding calorie/carb/fat/salt percentages? i've always been curious about this.

-
Here's a link to the basic recipe I use along with nutritional content:

Welcome to Vita-Mix - Healthy Eating, Healthy Living!

 

[freebird5825]

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Here's a link to the basic recipe I use along with nutritional content:

Welcome to Vita-Mix - Healthy Eating, Healthy Living!

thanks, CuppaJoe!!!
i see the oil and salt and sweetener measures are just about equal to my recipes. i may have to start using honey vs refined sugar.
you gotta love those numbers. i don't buy store bread too much so i can't compare.
maybe a Wonder bread fanatic will post them for us for the sake of science ? <the sound of a gauntlet dropped>

 

[CuppaJoe]

thanks, CuppaJoe!!!
i see the oil and salt and sweetener measures are just about equal to my recipes. i may have to start using honey vs refined sugar.
you gotta love those numbers. i don't buy store bread too much so i can't compare.
maybe a Wonder bread fanatic will post them for us for the sake of science ? <the sound of a gauntlet dropped>

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Frankly, I'm a little confused by their numbers, is the nutritional content with or without the optional ingredients? Are they telling us this recipe will work with only yeast, water and flour?

Keep in mind they are selling a very expensive product.

 

[freebird5825]

i'm guessing with optional ingredients.
the yeast needs the sweetener for food so it can do its "yeast thing".
otherwise, blecccccccch!

and i'm waaaaaaayyyyy too cheap to go expensive on anything these days. i blew all my $ on gas for my avatar. LOL