beginner bread question . . .

[KatyTheChickenLady]

sooo, trying out my brand new bread machine and will probably have A LOT of questions as I go along. I COOK not BAKE, and am not known for being precise. So I am expecting the learning curve to be LARGE but plan to spend the year getting the basics of bread down.

First question; I notice that all of the easy beginner recipes in the book that came with the machine call for powdered milk . . . Why??? What does it do? What happens if you leave it out . . . can you substitute fresh milk . . . what would that do??? I am assuming not all bread calls for this ingredient are they catagorized in a certain way if they do or don't?

thanks! Katy

 

[Scoop]

I personally use regular milk in all my bread recipes. I just don't use water. The milk gives it a softer texture because of the fats in the milk. You could just skip the dry milk and substitute milk for the water in a given recipe.

 

[maizey]

Quote:
The proteins in the powdered milk act as a dough relaxer and tenderizer and since its powered, its more concentrated. To use regular milk or to leave it out will throw off the recipe dry/wet ratios in my opinion, however, I always advocate giving it a whirl and see what happens...its just flour. The basic bread I make (not in a machine) does not call for powdered milk and most true french bread recipes do not call for powdered milk. I would advocate leaving it out all together rather than trying to replace it with fresh milk.

 

[Katy]

I always use powdered milk in my bread machine but if I'm using my kitchen-aid (which is what I ususally use) I use regular milk or water depending on which bread I'm making. I've never substituted for either so I'm not sure what would happen.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

well the first one is in, I think tomorrow will try it with regular whole milk in place of the water and see if I notice a difference . . . I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

IF you wish to use the delay cycle you should not put fresh milk in, but could use powdered milk. Some breads taste is effected by milk. Other than that I can't see a reason.

Welcome to the addiction. A bread machine is just the beginning! Hahahahahaha

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

lol, love your sig line!

sooo . . . does anyone have or know of any differences in the brands of powdered milk?
I was at wally world and they had their Best Buy brand, Carnation, and another I think it was AO or SAO. They also had powdered buttermilk; I thought that would be interesting to try.

 

[Olive Hill]

I am the single worst recipe-follower in the history of the world. I always tell people; just like movies from hollywood are inspired by real life events, my dishes are inspired by real life recipes.

So, if I can make bread, you can make bread. Being precise isn't the be all end all. Just have fun with it.

That said, I abandoned the bread maker for the most part a while back. It's still good for convenience sometimes, dough I don't want to mix/knead by hand, etc. But I tend to prefer the no knead artisan breads for the most part.

And I never use powdered milk. Just not something I stock in my pantry and have no interest in starting to. So I usually just choose the recipes that don't have it. Or leave it out.

 

[BettyR]

We like many different types of bread but for our regular, everyday sandwich bread I always use powdered milk... I use more than the recipe calls for. For a recipe that calls for 1 cup of milk, instead of the average 1/3 cup of dry milk solids, I use 1/2 heaping cup of dry milk. I also use a couple of my fresh eggs to replace part of the liquid in the recipe, along with some freshly home ground whole wheat. This adds extra nutrition to the bread I feed my family. They eat a lot of bread and I feel it's important to make sure they are getting the best I can give them.

I also use powdered milk in my other recipes like biscuits, cakes, cookies and so on. It's a 30 minute drive to the nearest store and I have to save my liquid milk for drinking.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

results so far:

Zojirushi bread machine - the top of the line one

1st loaf - followed the most basic recipe (it called for powdered milk). The loaf came out perfect. even color, rose evenly as well, perfect texture for slicing, toast & sandwiches. Never has bread making AND CLEAN UP been so easy. Taste - blah. Boring, worse than store bought white bread.

2nd loaf - used same recipe except substituted whole milk for water/powdered milk. Loaf is lopsided and unevenly colored - quite pitiful.