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Making wheat bread?
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I don’t know if it’s just us but we seem to eat a lot more bread in the summer. PB&J, sandwhiches (tuna, egg salad, meat and cheese), toast in the morning, well you get my drift. Anyway I have never made bread from scratch. I do have a bread machine but we just are not crazy about the way it comes out. Very hard (no matter what setting I use) on top and if you don’t eat it that day it’s terrible and dry.
I would love to get some receipes for making bread in the oven. I don’t know much about kneeding either so unless it’s not as hard as everyone makes it out to be I’d preferr one that maybe doesn’t need much of that. We eat wheat bread (no whites) so I don’t know if that matters but that’s what I’d like. Any suggestions or receipes you love please share. Misty
Misty,
We love this simple whole wheat recipe w/ either hard red or hard white wheat. I use a bread machine, the Zojirushi, and this is the recipe I use. Sue’s bread machine settings are what I use, too. I use 1.5 tsp yeast instead of 1 Tbs., sometimes add 1/2 cup ground flax seed, and I leave out the gluten and lecithin now, but didn’t when I started.
My friend uses the same recipe w/ her kitchenaid mixer and oven. The details are in the Bread Beckers cookbook. I can scan the page and email it to you, if you’d like, just pm me.
Blessings,
Christie
PS – I have a ventilated, clear, retractable container that I keep it in. It stays fresh for about 3 days which is longer than the bread lasts.
I’m going to sned you a combo of soaked recipes and non-soaked. Since you have the kefir (though I wouldn’t use as much kefir as yogurt, but in the same amt. called for in whey), yogurt and eventually whey, you have everything you need, just put together a few ingredients before bed.
If you don’t have a kneading hook in a large mixture you will be kneading by hand, all homemade bbread needs enough kneading to develop the gluten. Kneading isn’t hard, but it is an artform and takes time and you and your family may feel like some loaves are being wasted (if people won’t eat it) as there’s a learning curve. Just a warning and opinion.
However, you can do a combination of allowing the mix to sit in the bread maker to soak and mix and go through the rising/dough cycle process, then taking it out to cook. Letting the breadmaker be the kneader for you and just find your rythym and you’ll have really healthy, fresh bread daily!:http://rawmilkmama.blogspot.com/2008/02/making-bread-with-fermented-soaked.html
Of course, I’m sure you could also find a version of this in a non-soaked version, too and do both and observe the differing effects on ya’ll’s digestion and other side effects between the soaked and non-soaked.
HTH, Rachel
Misty, I’m heading out to my state convention today so I don’t have time to type recipes. But I have a bunch! One really neat trick with a bread machine is it can do the hard work for you –knead and rise, and then you remove it, shape it, let it rise one more time, and then bake it yourself. I have good recipes for this and make bread, breadsticks, rolls, pizza crusts–whatever you want. We dont’ like it BAKED in the bread machine, either, but we love this! And if you have a good mixer, we have a couple of really terrific big-batch breads that are so soft people hardly know they are whole wheat. 🙂 Will type in later, hope you get lots of recipes!
Misty, have you tried recipes with honey or molasses in your wheat bread in the machine? It helps to keep it moist.
I commend you on trying to make bread – perhaps your energetic young son could help with the kneading! 😉
We make four loaves at a time with a bosch kitchen machine – I have some great recipes I could send you if you are still looking.
Gaeleen
Yes, exactly what Bookworm said, let the maker do all the work as said before, except for a final rise in the bread pan, which I didn’t mention but would probably be a good idea, that way it gets 2 rises instead of just 1, before cooking in the oven.
Sounds like she’ll have great recipes to contribute. I thought I’d send this last one, without the extra egg in case you’re short that week, just take it out after the dough cycle and do what Bookworm said: http://www.natural-health-information.com/natural-food-recipe.html
Rachel
With all the food allergies at our house, we almost never buy bread for most of us. I make it ALL the time. I decided I didn’t want to hassle with all the kneading and rising over and over. So I decided to knead it once, divide into small (maybe 8 to 12 balls) and bake it fast right away. It’s handy for certain sandwiches. It’s like buns. Here it is.
First turn on the oven to around 475 or a little more.
1 cup warm water
at least 1 tbsp honey or pure maple syrup-I guess you could use brown sugar
1 tbsp yeast
-let these sit together or stir them up til they dissolve
-now add 2 1/2 cups flour: whether it’s all whole ground wheat or white or whatever
add a little salt too
Stir it together and knead a few minutes adding a little more flour if needed. Then divide up into several balls.
Bake RIGHT AWAY on a buttered cookie sheet for around 10 minutes, maybe longer, I never watch the time, just the bread–til it’s golden.
It’s so fast, I am usually eating bread half an hour after I think of it!
I make our own wheat bread. My favorite recipe is a five loaf recipe though and you probably want to start with a 2 loaf recipe in case you make some mistakes. If you would like the 5 loaf recipe, let me know and I’ll post it for you. Here is a good 2 loaf one I have used many times:
8 to 8 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 packages yeast (you can buy yeast in little jars too)
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
In a large bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, milk, honey, and oil until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Gradually add to dry ingredietns; beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour, beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occassionally. With spoon, stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic (I always knead with white flour…it is much easier and sticks less), about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Roll each half to 12 x 7 inch rectangle. Beginning at short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly as for a jelly roll. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam sides down, in 2 greased loaf pans. Cover, let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; let cool on wire racks.
***Now some tips from me…if you buy some “gluten” (sold in health food stores) you can add some to the bread recipe and it helps it to be “lighter” or less dense. Don’t skimp on the kneading. For great instructions on how to knead, try looking on youtube. When the bread is done, I take out the loaf pan and bang it on it’s bottom edges on the counter to get it to unstick from the sides, then turn it out of the loaf pan and put it back in the oven “bare” for a few minutes to make it nice and crusty all over. Several years ago I bought a grain mill (whisper mill) from http://www.breadbeckers.com . Their website has recipes and articles to help you learn to bake. 🙂
Let us know how it goes for you! If you are like me, you will ruin several loaves before finally getting the hang of it, haha. If you find that you have a crumbly pocket in the middle of your bread, for example, then you let it rise too long. If you find it is kind of gummy or too dense, you may have either not kneaded it long enough or might not have baked it long enough. You’ll learn something with each mistake. It’s worth it in the end. Good luck!!
HMMM I thought I posted a response but either my dial up didn’t work or it’s in a spam somewhere?? LOL
Also, now I’m hungry for a loaf of fresh bread. I have copied all the recipes and will be tring one very soon. Also, a good rainy day project to get our feet and floors wet!
Bookworm and others I would love your other recipes I suppose each family is different and it may take a few mistakes and trails till I get the one we all love.
Thanks again Misty
OK, I’ll try to type a few recipes in before taking the teens on a church trip. One thing–I really, really prefer white varieties of whole wheat, versus the hard red. I use mostly hard white wheat to bake yeast breads with, and soft wheat for other uses. I do have some red, but I mix it in when I use it (bought 300 pounds before I knew I preferred white!) I think it gives the best results. And if you are not a purist, you might want to tinker with adding a portion of the flour as unbleached white, if you don’t like the texture at first. Also, I totally recommend SAF yeast, and not the stuff in the grocery store. It’s worth it to get the good stuff. Here are some of my favorite recipes:
My friend Shari’s French bread–simple, very little kneading needed:
Combine 2 T yeast, 2T sugar or honey, and 2 1/2 C warm water and let bubble. Then add 6 cups flour, 1 T salt, and 2 T olive oil. Knead a few times, then grease and let rise. I prefer two risings myself, but you can use this for pizza crusts easily after just one. This one makes good hamburger buns. This bakes better at a hot temp, about 400, the time would depend on if you made buns, or French bread loaves.
My favorite breadsticks, to be mixed in the bread machine:
1 1/3 C warm water; 3 T honey, 2 T olive oil, 1 1/2 t salt; 4 cups flour, 3 t yeast. Put in bread machine in the order your machine lists, and run on the dough cycle. When cycle is done, remove and turn out on floured surface and divide into 16 pieces, roll each into an 8 inch rope and place on greased baking sheets and bake at 375 for about 10 or 12 minutes.
A very good whole wheat bread for bread machine that I take out and put in a large bread pan and bake in the oven instead:
1 1/2 C plus 2 T warm water; 2 T olive oil; 1 T molasses; 3 3/4 C flour; 2 T milk powder; 1 1/2 t sea salt; 2 T sugar (or honey or Sucanat); 1 1/2 T gluten; 3 t yeast. Put in machine in order recommended and run on dough cycle. Punch down, shape into a loaf, put in greased bread pan. I bake this one at 375 for about 20 minutes–test by tapping. You can also just run it in the machine but I do not like the crust.
OK. My very best bread recipe. This one calls for a large mixer. In a pinch, you can do it in a kneading bucket (those things are wonderful! I also make large cookie batches in it!) I don’t recommend hand kneading this unless you have super arms. 🙂
This is Feather Bread.
10 cups wheat flour; 3 T yeast; 1/2 C dry milk powder; 3 C warm water; 2/3 C olive oil, 1/2 C honey, 2 T dough enhancer; 4 large eggs; 4 t sea salt. In large mixer bowl (do NOT try this one in a discount store type mixer–you need a good one) put 5 C flour, the water, dry milk, yeast, honey, and oil. Let sponge for 15 minutes. Pulse your mixer to deflate, then add the rest of the flour, the dough enhancer, the eggs, and the salt. Mix until smooth for 5 minutes on medium high speed (I use 4 on my mixer) Dough will be wetter than you are used to and may not clean sides of the bowl for a while–this is OK. This is stickier than you are used to-when it is mixed, oil your counter and your hands to shape. It can be used for buns, breadsticks, rolls, cinnamon rolls. It makes 4 8 inch loaf pans. If you shape this into loaf pans, be very sure to tap until you are sure it is done–this will fall if not thoroughly baked. I have the best luck with it if I make braided loaves–for some reason this just seems to hold its shape better. Plus they are pretty. 🙂 But for your trouble you will be rewarded with the softest whole wheat bread you’ve ever eaten. 🙂 Oh, bake this one on a cooler temp–350. Loaf pans take about 20 -25 minutes. You’ll have to adjust for other shapes.
I make a no-knead loaf. It requires a bit of forthought, but is very easy and yummy.
Here is the recipe that we have been enjoying lately.
2 cups unbleached ultra-grain white flour or white wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat flour or rye flour
1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons buttermilk
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons course cornmeal (optional)
You will also need a covered pot, 5 qt. or larger, that can go onto a 450 degree oven. I used a Le Creuset(enamel over cast iron) knock-off.
Directions:
1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.
2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you’ve got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.
3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Sprinkle 1tsp of cornmeal on the bottom of pan, if using. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. Doesn’t matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Sprinkle 1 tsp over the top of dough, if using. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter.
I use the recipe from Urbanhomemaker with my Bosch.
2/3 c. oil (I use melted coconut oil)
2/3 c. honey
6 c. water
16 to 20 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp. yeast
2 tbsp. salt
1/3 to 1/2 c. gluten
Add the water, oil and honey to the Bosch. Allow to sponge for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix for 8 to 10 minutes. Let rise until doubled then punch down. Shape into loaves and let rise again. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Makes 5 loaves.
I prefer white whole wheat too. And SAF yeast. I also like to mix and match grains. I’ll use 8 cups of wheat and then add whatever else I feel like that day – barley, kamut, spelt, amaranth, brown rice, millet, quinoa. I’ve found that I can use up to 2 cups of non-gluten grains with good results.
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