Question for bread machine experts

[halo]

I got one! Went to Walmart and they had one for about $40. Worth a try. So I bought some flour, some whole wheat flour, some Fleischmans Yeast. Then I read the instructions...

So it says to use Bread Machine Yeast. What in the world is that??

 

[Cassandra]

Well, you can buy yeast in individual use packets, or you can buy it in bulk (in a jar.) My bread machine has specific measurements of yeast you have to use, so you can't use the packets--because the packets won't always have the right amount. I have to buy it in a jar so that I can measure out all I need.

ALSO

It has to be quick rise or rapid rise.

Cassandra

 

[Break an Egg]

No idea, check out this recipe for bread using a dutch oven http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-12-01/Easy-No-Knead-Dutch-Oven-Crusty-Bread.aspx

 

[halo]

I love this forum....quick answers to questions! Ah, so its the rapid rise yeast. I just got regular yeast. Back to the store tomorrow.

 

[stilwellchick]

You can use either bread machine yeast or regular, I use which ever one they have at the store. I guess the b. machine yeast is what the company recommends but I have never notied the difference. Good luck with your new machine, be sure to measure everything exactly. You can find a lot of good recipes online too.

 

[Ga Chicken Mom]

You can use the regular yeast just measure the amount you need. Most of my recipes call for 2 t of yeast, the packets contain 2 1/4 t. You do need bread flour though, it has a higher gluten content. Also if you make a bread with whole wheat flour, I would suggest adding extra wheat gluten. You will get a much lighter loaf as whole wheat flower tends to make dense bread. Wheat gluten will be near the bread baking ingredients - its usually called vital wheat gluten - and the amounts to use per loaf will be on the box.

 

[halo]

Thank you! First loaf of bread is cookin in the machine. We'll see!

 

[Cassandra]

The manual for my machine says you have to use rapid rise. (That's the only kind I ever see anyway)

Let us know how it turns out.

!!!

Cassandra

 

[BearSwampChick]

Quote:
I tried this method of baking bread. Went out and bought the enameled cast iron dutch oven. I had to tinker with the recipe to make it edible and then it was so CHEWY that you had better have very strong jaws and teeth if you want to eat it. My DH said it was pretty much the same as the breads he has eaten in Europe. The actual mixing and getting it into the oven takes very little time, but from start to finish it takes almost 24 hours. I'm not sure I'll make it again. It's easier to go to Kroger and buy LaBrea Bakery loaves.

 

[patandchickens]

Everywhere I've lived, the only yeast you can *get* in normal grocery stores is rapid rise. Buy it in little jars, not packets. Instructions tend to say keep it refrigerated but I've never had any problem keeping it in the cupboard as long as you make enough bread to go thru one of the little Fleischmann's jars in a couple of months.

I've been making bread in a succession of bread machines for a couple decades now and never noticed the slightest difference whatsoever between the 'bread machine' yeast versus regular yeast. I usually use the regular stuff.

(I *have* noticed a difference between generic flour and brand name flour, though, fwiw. And Canadian and American flour are different enough that you can't use one country's recipes with the other country's flour unless you experiment with adjustments, which is quite annoying. Oh, and recipes made for different brands of bread machines are not generally interchangeable without figuring out adjustments, either, just so you are warned!)

Congrats on the bread machine! Have fun, they're really great

Pat