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saintanneshs
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| Posted: March 30 2006 at 3:26pm | IP Logged
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Do any of you regularly bake bread from scratch? I'm currently using a bread machine (so wonderful!) but can't quite get a "soft" whole wheat loaf. The other problem I'm having is that my gang (big bread-lovers) can wolf down a 2lb. loaf in less than a day, which means I'm using the bread machine 2x/day just to stay ahead of things...
I just finished an article in The Encyclopedia of Country Living (AMAZING resource, btw) about baking bread from scratch and I'm feeling really inspired to give it a go but was wondering about a few things.
How realistic is it to think that I'll have the time to deal with baking bread? If I'm not mistaken, it takes about 10 min. to pull ingredients together, 10 min or so to knead, 1 hr. to rise, 10 min. to punch down, shape & put in pans, 30 min to do a 2nd rise and then time for baking...we're looking at 3 hrs. here, right?) I know I don't have to be present for all of this, but my kitchen is upstairs and my schoolroom is downstairs...ugh! 
I love the idea of being able to bake a week's worth of bread at a time, but then again, there's nothing like the smell of fresh bread baking in the bread machine in the kitchen every day...
So how do you all who bake bread without a bread machine do this? Do you have a "baking day?" I'm just looking for the homeschool mom's take on this chore...any ideas or advice? Am I crazy to want to give myself even MORE to do? 
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Kristine
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amiefriedl
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| Posted: March 30 2006 at 7:37pm | IP Logged
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Kristine,
I shared the following email with the yahoogroup CMers last year and I share it with friends still from time to time. I'll share it with you here. PM if you have any further questions. You can search around the web for better deals on the equipment if you like - since this email is over a year old there might be better deals out there.
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I started out making 6 loaves in 90 minutes from grind to hot on the counter. Now I do 24 loaves in about 2 1/2 hours. I own 12 bread pans and the following equipment to do this...
Equipment:
The Mill:
Pleasant Hill Grain
Okay, to have the softest possible whole grain bread, you MUST grind your flour fresh. Otherwise, I’m very sorry to assure you, the final product will be inferior. So, the fastest and least noisy (this is relative) unit to buy is on this link below. Go to the unit called Grain Master Whisper Mill to see the unit I use to meet my incredible claim.
The Mixer:
Bosch Mixer
This Bosch Universal Mixer IS as good as it sounds and is the key to this whole process. Until I found this machine, I almost lost hope in ever reaching my goal of fast, wholesome, yummy bread. This machine is incredible. You CANNOT do with your Kitchen-Aid and your Cuisinart what you can do with this machine for making bread. The bit in the ad about its power and transmission is all true. AND you CAN make a triple batch of your favorite cookie dough anytime. (For smaller families like mine, freeze the cookie dough into little cookie-sized balls and bake fresh later.)
Finally, if you would like to copy my process exactly you’ll need these:
The bread pans.
I compared these little baking pans with the standard ‘non-dimply” kind and these had a higher baked loaf. I prefer the smaller baking pans; the 8” pan produces a higher loaf in general. But I suppose this choice would be a personal preference kind of thing. Don’t forget…you’ll need six pans at least! I like the bread bags too, but certainly recycled bags work very well.
Ingredients:
I originally found a recipe on a Google search for making 6 loaves of bread (I was desperate to make a bulk batch and not the ‘one loaf at a time thing’) and in the recipe the author mentioned her Bosch. This is the tip that put me over the top! However, now I just use the recipe instructions that come with the Bosch (with a little tweak of my own) and have never looked back! Here it is:
6 c. hot tap water
3/4c. oil
½ c. honey
2T. salt
4T. yeast
15-17c. fresh flour
Directions: (Right off the Bosch instructions)
With dough hook in Bosch bowl, pour in hot water. Add the honey, oil, salt, and about 10c. flour. Mix on Speed 2. Stop and add most of the remaining flour, add yeast on top and resume mixing on Speed 2. Sprinkle in more flour gradually until the sides of the bowl come clean. The final amount of flour required depends on the humidity of the air and the protein content of the wheat. After bowl sides come clean, knead on Speed 2 until gluten is developed, generally 10 minutes for my bread. Pulling off a little dough with oiled hands and stretching checks gluten development. Gluten is properly developed when you can stretch dough almost transparent without tearing. If it tears easily, knead longer. Gluten will develop more quickly if your wheat has exceptionally good protein content. Finished dough will have a soft sheen. If over-kneaded, it will become stringy and bread texture won’t be uniform.
Notes: It’s better to add too little flour than too much; your bread will be lighter. The sound of the Bosch will become deeper and the tone will rise and fall somewhat when you’ve added most of the flour.
When gluten is developed, pour dough out on a greased surface. Shape dough into a rectangle or circle and divide into 6 equal pieces with shears or pizza cutter. This will make 6 large (8”) loaves. Or each piece would make 2 mini loaves or 2 pizza crusts. Two pieces made a 9x13 pan of cinnamon rolls. 8” pans give a nice rounded top. Preheat oven to 350 and place small pan of water on floor of over, or on bottom rack to create moist environment needed for a perfect loaf. (Note: Sometimes I preheat oven to 400 and bake for 20 minutes or less for a nice brown crust and soft interior bread.)
Shape the rolls by hand or by rolling. To roll out, use a greased pin on a greased surface and roll into 8” x 16”. Then, starting at the far end, roll up tightly in a spiral like you would cinnamon rolls. Tuck each end under, and slam dough down (hard!) on the counter a couple times to get rid of air bubbles between layers of dough. Put in greased pans. Cover and let rise in warm, draft-free place until volume doubles (about 30 min). Bake 25-30 min at 350 until top is nicely browned, the loaf slides out of the pan, and the loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped in the middle of the bottom. Cool on racks. Don’t store in plastic bags until fully cooled.
Freeze the extra loaves in bags. I have found that I like the texture of the bread (especially for slicing) just as much or more after the bread comes out of the freezer.
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The instructions from Bosch (and the grain mill) are quite complete, including directions for make a medium and small batch as well, tips and other recipes. There is plenty of room for creativity with these machines. And you will be able to have 6 loaves in less than 90 minutes as promised. For my family of four, 6 loaves lasts almost 2 weeks. But for larger families, your oldest can take over this process more frequently and you will have gourmet, perfectly nutritious bread for less than the fancy breads at the health food stores. Be sure and carefully follow the instructions for the grain mill as well. Remember, you are not saving any money over the white loaves of foam at the grocery store, those are definitely cheaper, but what you are getting is truly nutritious bread for less than buying it at the health markets. And you are getting it in a very reasonable amount of time compared to using a bread machine. Just think of those thick slices of buttery Texas toast! My husband loves ‘um!
The wheat berries. I purchased mine in 5-gal bucket containers from Wheat Montana through my coop. There are lots of choices in flours and qualities of berries out there. Once you get the main process down you can play around with the ingredients. Also, I suggest buying your honey in bulk (for the savings) and portioning it off into quart jars for later. The initial investment can be substantial. You CAN take it in steps. I took baby steps, first the mill, then a couple of years later the Bosch and by then I was on top of where to get my best deals on berries and the other ingredients. I was very determined to do this too, which helps. And you can’t beat the fresh hot bread; it is truly delicious and nutritious!
How is that for a reply??  I bet you didn't know there was a nut like me on this message board!
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: March 30 2006 at 9:06pm | IP Logged
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Oh, Amie, God bless you!!
I've been asking my MIL for months now to teach me how to bake bread from scratch since I never learned growing up...now I don't have to wait any longer! Between your post and the wonderful article I read in the book mentioned above, I've got the basics (and lots more) to get me started (need an emoticon with arms raised and yelling YEA!!)
I'm actually giddy about baking my first rolls tomorrow! Now, off to look at grinders and that new mixer!
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Kristine
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momtomany
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| Posted: March 31 2006 at 7:25am | IP Logged
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Wow, I sure can't top Amie's wonderful post, but I just wanted to say that I bake our bread from scratch too.
I usually try to have it going by 7-7:00 am, before we start school. We do school at the kitchen table but after the initial time of getting it mixed, it is really not time-consuming at all.
I learned to make much better 100% whole wheat from the Laurel's kitchen Baking book years ago. It really explained everything so well, that I never had what they call "movie ticket" bread, the heavy bread that hardly rises so that it slice is the shape of a movie ticket anymore.
Now I'm going to check out Amie's links. I have never ground my own flour. Sounds very interesting!
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Mary G
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| Posted: March 31 2006 at 10:39am | IP Logged
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Amie -- this is how my SIL makes bread -- of course when she makes 3 or 4 loaves at a time, it only last for one and maybe part of another !
Baking bread is alot of fun, gets your aggression out kneading if you need it(sorry that was a bad pun), and is a great thing to do with your kids. About once a week the littles and I make a few loaves just to have the cooking time together and the product (we always make different kinds) usually gets rave reviews.
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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mary
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| Posted: March 31 2006 at 11:55am | IP Logged
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thank you amie! i'm printing this out and would love to make this a regular part of our week.
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: March 31 2006 at 12:41pm | IP Logged
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My Zo has a timer feature, up to 13 hours. I usually put my freshly groud flour in and set it for morning. I like to do it on the dough selection than shape it and put it in my own pan. I'm not really fond of holes in the bottom of my bread. I am just waiting for my Kitchen Aid mixer to die so I can try to talk my hubby into a Bosch.
Now I just have to order more wheat so I can get back to baking bread.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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amiefriedl
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| Posted: April 01 2006 at 7:20pm | IP Logged
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Ooooo, I'm so pleased you liked the info.
Mary Chris, that's pretty funny about the holes in the bottom of the loaves. I remember those. Yep, using the method written above there are no holes.
I love German made equipment. Very reliable. The Bosch is great. Just for the record, back when I was looking into those awesome mixers I also considered a Dimension 2000. It is the Bosch competition. You all may want to compare those. There is a variation in the warranty and available attachments to consider if I remember correctly.
I also let the kids have their own portions of dough to play around with. It usually gets turned into cinnamon rolls or a log-type of equivalent. We also make fat little dough people.
I hope you all have wild success baking more bread for your families. If you ever have a question about anything feel free to PM me. God Bless!
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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Leonie
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| Posted: April 01 2006 at 9:48pm | IP Logged
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When I bake bread, I do it from scratch. Used to do it all the time but now my youngest is 10, we are home less. 
I tend to either start the bread at night and leave it to rise or start it in the morning and finish at lunch.At one stage, I was using buckets ( used just for bread baking) for mixing and rising, starting at night and baking twelve loaves ( six at a time in my oven).
Then I switched to baking three loaves a couple of times a week. Now it's mostly a winter thing.
I have a couple of very easy recipes, including a no knead bread and a yeastless bread for when I am in a hurry.
Of course, the traditional recipes, with kneading and kids helping and lots of talking, are the best. 
No Knead bread
lots of no knead bread recipe links
My favourite bread recipe site!
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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Meredith
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| Posted: April 02 2006 at 4:10pm | IP Logged
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Well, until I saw Leonie's post I was only lurking Thanks for all the great bread advice here and the links Leonie!!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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Leonie
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| Posted: April 02 2006 at 4:50pm | IP Logged
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Amie, Just got time to read all your post - it is fantastic! A definite keeper - I am in awe of you making twenty four loaves !
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Leonie in Sydney
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: April 04 2006 at 4:37pm | IP Logged
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Thanks so much everyone, for your responses to this topic. I just wanted to share that Saturday was my very 1st bread-baking "day" and aside from being very messy, it was a huge success! I made 2 pans of dinner rolls, 2 pans of cinnamon rolls and 2 loaves of bread and I tried out 3 different recipes . It was so much fun and so fulfilling. All weekend long I enjoyed compliments from dh and the kids and felt so happy to know exactly what they were eating ('cause I made it)...yea!
Thanks again for sharing all your how-to's.
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Kristine
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Mary G
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| Posted: April 04 2006 at 5:01pm | IP Logged
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Leonie -- these are great links, thanks! I particularly like the ones from Cooks.com -- that's one of my favorite sites anyway, but I never thought to look for no-knead bread recipes there  !
I too like the chance to knead with the kids but occasionally it's nice to just mix it and let it sit!
THANKS!
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MaryG
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my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Leonie
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| Posted: April 04 2006 at 5:28pm | IP Logged
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saintanneshs wrote:
| Thanks so much everyone, for your responses to this topic. I just wanted to share that Saturday was my very 1st bread-baking "day" and aside from being very messy, it was a huge success! I made 2 pans of dinner rolls, 2 pans of cinnamon rolls and 2 loaves of bread and I tried out 3 different recipes . |
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Oh, yum! I wish I could come to your house ( but then again - better not - I am on a diet! )
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Leonie in Sydney
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Louise
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amiefriedl wrote:
Kristine,
The wheat berries. I purchased mine in 5-gal bucket containers from Wheat Montana through my coop. |
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Do any of you ladies know of a good online source (with decent shipping charges!!!) for Montana wheat? I used to make all our bread from scratch, but I can no longer find the Montana wheat berries locally. 
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Louise, mom of 11
http://timetokeep.blogspot.com/
http://ecolebuissonniere.blogspirit.com/
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momtomany
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| Posted: April 14 2006 at 8:49pm | IP Logged
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amiefriedl wrote:
The Mixer:
Bosch Mixer
This Bosch Universal Mixer IS as good as it sounds and is the key to this whole process. Until I found this machine, I almost lost hope in ever reaching my goal of fast, wholesome, yummy bread. This machine is incredible. You CANNOT do with your Kitchen-Aid and your Cuisinart what you can do with this machine for making bread. The bit in the ad about its power and transmission is all true. |
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Amie, I got the Bosch mixer a few days ago and I have to say that I've made the best bread that I've ever made. I couldn't believe how high it rose and how light it was for 100% whole wheat. I've also used it for cookie batter, the lamb cake and cream fillings for chocolate covered cream eggs. I'm having a great time
Thanks so much for the recommendation! I love it! 
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: baking bread
