So I've been posting to Instagram/Facebook about my efforts to have less plastic in my life. I've kind of been surprised by all of the positive feedback I've gotten, and my post on making my own bread probably stirred up the most questions. So I thought that it would be easier to put together a blog post that I can share with all of you rather than trying to answer all questions on Facebook :)
Bread making is actually quite easy, but it is also really easy to mess up, lol. I have had my fair share of loaves of bread that are hard as a rock and dry to boot. The only way you really get better at making bread is to make bread.
The first thing you have to understand is the yeast. That is the crucial part that will make your bread light and fluffy and delicious, or hard as a rock and chewy. The yeast has to be at the right temperature, and you have to activate it.
I'll be honest, I've never had much luck making bread by hand. My Mom does it and she makes it look so easy, but I have failed time and again. So I basically have two ways I make bread. In my bread machine, or in my KitchenAid mixer.
I'll talk about the bread machine first. My first bread machine was made by KitchenAid I think and I got it at a garage sale for $10. It make a 1 pound loaf and served us well for many years. When it pooped out, I bought a Zojirushi 2lb bread machine, and so far have been pretty darn happy with it as well. With both machines I have tweaked recipes that they gave me in the manual for my bread. It took some trial and error with both of them to get something that I liked.
I like whole wheat bread. But, despite what those beautiful and light loaves of whole wheat bread at the grocery store would have you believe, it is hard to make a light whole wheat bread. The whole wheat flour is not broken down as easily. The gluten content is lower, and as a result it takes a LOT longer to rise. So I almost always make bread that is a combination of white and whole wheat flour. Usually about 50/50 mix. If you use that much whole wheat flour, it is a good idea to add in some vital wheat gluten. It will make you bread rise higher and faster, which is important in the consistency of the bread at the end.
When I put in my ingredients in my bread maker, I layer them. On the bottom is all the wet ingredients (water/milk, honey/agave/molasses/sugar, egg, oil/butter) plus the salt. Then I put the flour on top of that, trying to cover the wet ingredients with the flour. Then I put the yeast and vital wheat gluten, if I'm using it. Then hit go, and in a few hours you'll have freshly backed bread!
One of the down sides to a lot of bread machines is the shape of the loaf it makes. My 1 lb machine made this block of bread that was too big to use two pieces for a sandwich, but 1 piece cut in half was kind of a small sandwich. So I used to use the dough setting, and when it was done, I'd take the dough out, shape it into a loaf, and put it in a loaf pan for its final rise before baking. This worked fine. If I make a 2 lb loaf in my Zojirushi, it is kind of the same issue. But a 1.5 lb loaf in the Zojirushi is perfect, so that is often what I'll do.
If I'm feeling ambitious, I will make bread from scratch in my KitchenAid mixer. My favorite recipe from from the cookbook The Commonsense Kitchen. I usually halve the recipe, which will make two loaves. I put one loaf in the freezer and keep the other one out. The recipe for this will follow this post. When making bread like this, or from scratch, it is important that you knead it for as long as the recipe says. You will notice the consistency of the bread changes as you knead it.
To form my bread into loaves, I just roughtly roll it out into a rectangle. Roll it on itself, and then fold the sides over.
No matter how you make the bread, it is important to get it out of the pans as soon as its done. If you leave it in there water will condense and make the bottom soggy. No one wants a soggy bottom on their bread :)
To store my bread I wrap it in a big Bees Wrap and put it in my bread drawer. Since my house was built in the late 1940's I have a breadbox built into one of my drawers :)
A few words of caution. Homemade bread will mold faster than store bought bread. I'm not sure why, but once I figured that out it made me kind of grossed out my store bought bread. Like why isn't it molding? What did they do to it? Anyways, only keep our what your family will eat in a few days. Mine will last a week if I'm lucky. Sometimes a bit longer in the winter when it's cooler in my house.
So, those are my tips/tricks for making bread. Honestly a lot of it was trial and error. I've tried a few recipes in my bread maker that were total flops. Didn't rise, hard as a rock, weird shaped loaf. I've certainly done that with bread made by hand as well. But we eat it, even if its hard. And worse case scenario you can put it in your food processor and turn the hard bread into bread crumbs, lol.
Dinner Bread from The Commonsense Kitchen by Tom Hudgens
Sponge
Bread making is actually quite easy, but it is also really easy to mess up, lol. I have had my fair share of loaves of bread that are hard as a rock and dry to boot. The only way you really get better at making bread is to make bread.
The first thing you have to understand is the yeast. That is the crucial part that will make your bread light and fluffy and delicious, or hard as a rock and chewy. The yeast has to be at the right temperature, and you have to activate it.
I'll be honest, I've never had much luck making bread by hand. My Mom does it and she makes it look so easy, but I have failed time and again. So I basically have two ways I make bread. In my bread machine, or in my KitchenAid mixer.
I'll talk about the bread machine first. My first bread machine was made by KitchenAid I think and I got it at a garage sale for $10. It make a 1 pound loaf and served us well for many years. When it pooped out, I bought a Zojirushi 2lb bread machine, and so far have been pretty darn happy with it as well. With both machines I have tweaked recipes that they gave me in the manual for my bread. It took some trial and error with both of them to get something that I liked.
I like whole wheat bread. But, despite what those beautiful and light loaves of whole wheat bread at the grocery store would have you believe, it is hard to make a light whole wheat bread. The whole wheat flour is not broken down as easily. The gluten content is lower, and as a result it takes a LOT longer to rise. So I almost always make bread that is a combination of white and whole wheat flour. Usually about 50/50 mix. If you use that much whole wheat flour, it is a good idea to add in some vital wheat gluten. It will make you bread rise higher and faster, which is important in the consistency of the bread at the end.
When I put in my ingredients in my bread maker, I layer them. On the bottom is all the wet ingredients (water/milk, honey/agave/molasses/sugar, egg, oil/butter) plus the salt. Then I put the flour on top of that, trying to cover the wet ingredients with the flour. Then I put the yeast and vital wheat gluten, if I'm using it. Then hit go, and in a few hours you'll have freshly backed bread!
One of the down sides to a lot of bread machines is the shape of the loaf it makes. My 1 lb machine made this block of bread that was too big to use two pieces for a sandwich, but 1 piece cut in half was kind of a small sandwich. So I used to use the dough setting, and when it was done, I'd take the dough out, shape it into a loaf, and put it in a loaf pan for its final rise before baking. This worked fine. If I make a 2 lb loaf in my Zojirushi, it is kind of the same issue. But a 1.5 lb loaf in the Zojirushi is perfect, so that is often what I'll do.
If I'm feeling ambitious, I will make bread from scratch in my KitchenAid mixer. My favorite recipe from from the cookbook The Commonsense Kitchen. I usually halve the recipe, which will make two loaves. I put one loaf in the freezer and keep the other one out. The recipe for this will follow this post. When making bread like this, or from scratch, it is important that you knead it for as long as the recipe says. You will notice the consistency of the bread changes as you knead it.
To form my bread into loaves, I just roughtly roll it out into a rectangle. Roll it on itself, and then fold the sides over.
No matter how you make the bread, it is important to get it out of the pans as soon as its done. If you leave it in there water will condense and make the bottom soggy. No one wants a soggy bottom on their bread :)
To store my bread I wrap it in a big Bees Wrap and put it in my bread drawer. Since my house was built in the late 1940's I have a breadbox built into one of my drawers :)
A few words of caution. Homemade bread will mold faster than store bought bread. I'm not sure why, but once I figured that out it made me kind of grossed out my store bought bread. Like why isn't it molding? What did they do to it? Anyways, only keep our what your family will eat in a few days. Mine will last a week if I'm lucky. Sometimes a bit longer in the winter when it's cooler in my house.
So, those are my tips/tricks for making bread. Honestly a lot of it was trial and error. I've tried a few recipes in my bread maker that were total flops. Didn't rise, hard as a rock, weird shaped loaf. I've certainly done that with bread made by hand as well. But we eat it, even if its hard. And worse case scenario you can put it in your food processor and turn the hard bread into bread crumbs, lol.
Dinner Bread from The Commonsense Kitchen by Tom Hudgens
Sponge
- 1 cup warm milk (110-115 degrees, I usually put it in the microwave until I get to this temperature, make sure it's not too hot or you'll kill the yeast. Too cool and it won't activate)
- 1 cup warm water (same temperature as above)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
Dough
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3.5 - 4 cups of all-purpose flour
7:30 AM: Make the Sponge
Thoroughly combine with warm milk, warm water, flour, brown sugar and yeast in the bowl of your KitchenAid mixer. Cover the bowl and let the sponge develop at room temperature for 5 to 7 hours.
2:00 PM: Mix the Dough
Add the salt, butter, and 3.5 cups of flour to the sponge. Mix with the paddle attachment until the dough in uniform - it should leave the sides of the bowl. If the dough is still very soft and sticky, add another cup of flour. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough at low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer and turning the dough over once or twice to ensure even kneading. Dumb the dough onto the counter. Grease the inside of your mixing bowl with butter. Put the dough back in, cover it and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, a little over an hour.
3:30 PM: Shape the Loaves
Grease 2 loaf pans or dust 2 flat baking sheets with cornmeal. Punch the dough down and divide in half. Shape the dough into loaves and either put int he loaf pans or on the baking sheets. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size again, a little over an hour. Make sure the oven will be at 400 degrees by the end of this rise.
5:00 PM: Bake the Bread
Have the oven at 400 degrees. For a crispy crust spray the loaves with a water mister before putting in the oven. Bake the bread in the hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden brown all over. Remove from the pans and put to cool on a rack. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
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