Bread baking question

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Me and my bread machine adventures

So far I have got white bread where I want it; the right texture, even and light but with some elasticity. I have tried most of the herbs in my cupboard and we like a loaf with toasted sesame seeds, one with marjoram, one with caraway seeds and one with dill.

I did a pumpernickle loaf off of all recipes, it was good enough but not awesome.

I have tried adding in some rye flour but no real success yet.

I tried wheat several times and have failed utterly but I will get it sooner or later.

My question of the day is this (well two questions really

first, why do some recipes call for egg an most do not? what does the egg do? If I wanted to add one or two to try what else would I need to change to compensate?

second, I would like to try adding something moist to my white bread recipe such as sundried tomatoes (in oil) or a nice kalamata tapenade . . . would the oil & moisture in the tomatoes upset the balance in my bread? and would the salt in the olives over power my yeast?
thanks!

 

[Lesa]

I can't answer all you questions, but on the subject of whole wheat- I have a suggestion. If you have found a white bread recipe that you like, try substituting a cup of WW at a time. I find half and half works great for us... I love using the dough setting and baking in the oven. Comes out perfect! Good luck in your baking!

 

[KenK]

I would suggest starting with no more than 1/4 whole wheat of the total flour and no more than 1/8 rye. Using a very strong flour (King Arthur Bread Flour) for the rest will help.

Eggs, butter, milk and other additions create what is known as "enriched" bread. It affects the texture and makes the bread keep longer. A bread with nothing but flour, salt, yeast and water is known as a "lean' bread and will not keep at all unless frozen.

If you add eggs to an otherwise eggless recipe you are going to need to reduce the water or other liquid. How much I don't know right off hand but if I were going to try it I would probably reduce the water (by weight) of the weight of the eggs, much easier to add more flour than it is to add more water once the dough comes together. Accurate digital scales are about the handiest tool a bread baker can own.

The salt in olives will absolutely not kill your yeast if you keep them seperate until you mix.

Please note that I don't know about bread machines, I make mine by hand, so some or all of the above advice may not apply.

 

[bigmike&nan]

Quote:

From your lips to God's Ears

Sound advice. Start with small changes in the recipe. You've already tried radical changes that did not give you the results you wanted. Ken's advice on less WW and RYE are dead on. King Arthur has more gluten, thus the better results.

 

[Kim_NC]

These are bread recipes that I make all the time that are specially written for bread machines. (Although they can be made by habd too.) For years I made them in a bread machine. Now that we farm and I'm home, I let the machine make the dough only. Then I bake them in a loaf pan. We also sell them at farmers market...for that, a standard loaf shape works best.:

100% Whole Wheat

Challah (Egg Bread)

Light Rye Bread

Others linked from this 'index page'
http://www.millriverfarm.com/recipes.cfm?catname=Bread, Rolls, and Muffins

Regarding the substitutions...
In a bread machine that can be a little tricky. Most bread machine recipes are specially developed because the machines must eveything in just the right proportion - otherwise the loaves fall or develop shrunken tops when baking in the machine. This is especially true when you start subbing things like eggs for water....not as critical subbing small amounts of one flour for another.

If you want to substitute (or use recipes not originally written for a machine), then I recommend using the dough only cycle. Use a loaf pan for the 2nd rise and bake in a conventional oven. 350 degrees works for most breads, about 20-30 minutes.

 

[chicknerd]

I have been using my bread machine for 15 years. When you add 'heavier' flours it is also a good idea to add gluten. I add about a TBS of gluten when I make whole wheat bread in my bread machine.

I also start with King Arthur bread flour for my recipes to see how they come out. When I replace a cup of bread flour with whole wheat, that is when I add the gluten to the recipe.

FWIW bread flour is higher in gluten than regular flour. This makes the bread rise better, in general.

Good luck!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

ok, well I have tried the 1/2 & 1/2 wheat flour already and that still didn't work and also the gluten, still not so great.
I do use bread flour and also 2 T of gluten in the recipe we like best.
So today I tried the suggestion to use less wheat flour (4cups bread flour & 1/4 cup wheat flour) while changing nothing else, and it does seem to be rising well so far. If it's good tomorrow, I'll up to 1/2 cup and go that direction - thanks for reminding me to make little changes at a time.

we don't have King Arthur Flour in the stores here . . . right now I am using ConAgra Harvest bread flour and before that I was using Gold Medal Bread Flour. The wheat flour I found was Bob Mills in small bags . . . any suggestions where to buy supplies?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

kim thank youfor the links I am deffinately going to try your recipes! going now to snoop on your web site

 

[BettyR]

Mix your whole wheat recipe together and before you knead it let the mixture sit and rest for an hour. This will soften the bran of the whole wheat and you will get a nicer dough and so a nicer bread. The bran of whole wheat is hard and it will act as many little knives and cut your gluten strands that you are working so hard to create by kneading. If you soften the bran by soaking it before you knead this won't happen and your gluten development will me much smoother and stronger. I also like to add a little extra gluten to whole wheat recipes, they sell it at most large grocery stores. I live out in the middle of nowhere and I can buy it at the Walmart here it town. I order my gluten online from Honeyville Grains dot com by the case. A case will last me a couple of years but it's cheaper that way. And since I make all of our breads I'm always looking for a way to save a few bucks.

Usually recipes for bread are not written with exact amounts of flour unless it's a very wet dough. You can add extras to any bread recipe just adjust your liquids or flours to get the right texture to your dough. The best way to learn a proper texture is to use a white bread recipe that comes with your bread machine and do it on the dough cycle. Then take the dough out of the machine and form the loaf yourself, let it rise and bake it in your oven. Handling the dough will teach you how to judge the proper texture of dough and you will learn to adjust your recipes as you wish.

I use a lot of eggs in my bread recipes, it makes the dough richer and more nutritious. Just sub a couple of eggs for part of your liquid...break your eggs into your measuring cup and give them a quick whip then add the rest of your liquid. I always use water and add powdered milk if my recipe calls for milk. It's a 30 minute drive into town to buy milk so I very seldom use it to bake with.