pc (02/24/83)
I make my whole wheat bread using the recipe in Laurel's Kitchen. Now that I have a Cuisinart, I let the machine to the kneading and find that the bread is lighter. Read the preface to the bread section in Laurel's Kitchen. It gives all kinds of hints for good bread. I especially enjoy the variation of whole wheat bread which uses herbs. Sprinkle a 1/2 tsp. each of oregano, thyme, parsely, basil, and dill into the dough for two loaves. It makes a delightful bread for sandwiches or dinner bread. You definitely get lighter bread if you mix unbleached flour with whole wheat, if that's what you want. Again, there is no substitute for a good kneading. Oh: a critical component is the temperature of the rising environment. I stick the bread in my oven with the oven light on. That seems to work quite well. Happy baking, Patricia Collins HP Labs
larue (03/09/83)
I have had no trouble getting my bread to rise using an electric oven. I just turn it on warm for a few minutes, then turn it off, stick my hand in to check the temperature (comfortably warm is what I try for), then put the bread in and wait. I have been using this procedure since my great-grandmother taught me to make bread, way back when I was 12 years old. My first few batchs were flops, but since then I have never had a real failure. (Any first-time baker will have a few batches that just don't seem right. Baking bread takes practice...you have to learn what the dough should feel like, and you can't expect to get it right the first time.) One thing that I find helps give a marvelous texture to the bread is to use the sponge method (I use the directions in the Tassahara Bread Book) ,in which you first mix up the liquid, yeast, any sweetening you are using, and part of the flour. You need to beat this well so it is quite smooth, then let it rise until double. From then on you proceed as usual (adding the oil, salt, rest of flour, etc), including all the kneading and rising. The kneading is, of course, essential to the texture of the bread. By the way, I have made whole wheat, white, rye, and other breads using these techniques with equal success. The only problem with the rising-in-the-oven technique is that you have to remember to remove the dough before you preheat the oven for the actual baking. I forgot this once (only once!) and by the time I realized what I had done, there was a huge mass of dough expanding all over the oven, spilling over the plastic bowl which was beginning to melt into some strange shape. Surprisingly, most of the dough was still good, and the bread turned out OK. Martha LaRue hao!larue
courtney (03/09/83)
#R:hplabsb:-138900:hp-pcd:3500005:000:169
hp-pcd!courtney Mar 9 09:21:00 1983
Other great books for those interested in really good bread:
Tassajara Bread Book
The Enchanted Broccoli Forest (MUCH more than just good bread).