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Mountain Dining In

Whole Wheat Bread

Simple, tasty, and aromatic!

Waking up to the aroma of fresh homemade bread in the mountains is only surpassed by eating fresh baked bread with delicious jams. A bread machine makes any mountain cabin feel homey and complete!

Yeast-risen bread dates back almost four thousand years to ancient Egypt. In medieval England, the term for “dough kneader” developed gradually into the word “lady”.

I have been baking bread since the early 1970’s. This article is the first of a series of articles on baking bread. This first recipe is simple so it will likely come out perfect or be easy to correct.

It is disappointing to wait hours for fresh baked bread, and then find it did not rise, or rose way too much. Many books on baking bread have little to no assistance on how to correct failures. To assist you, below are some tips on baking bread with a bread machine:

1. Yeast must be stored in the refrigerator after opening. The first few times after you open the yeast jar you will likely need to cut the amount of yeast used by 1/8 teaspoon, as fresher yeast is more potent. As the yeast sits in the refrigerator for several months, you may need to increase the yeast used by an 1/8 of a teaspoon.

2. Always add the yeast first to the bread pan, and then dump the flour on top of the yeast. This separates the yeast from any ingredient that can overly affect it, like salt, water, etc. The remaining ingredients can be added in any order.

3. If the bread does not rise enough, next time increase the yeast by an 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon. Similarly, cut back on the yeast if the bread rises too much.

4. If the bread comes out gunky or soggy, next time decrease the water by an 1/8 of a cup.

5. Another way to remove some moisture from the bread is next time add ¼ cup of rolled oats. I like adding rolled oats better than flour, as too much flour creates a cake like taste to the bread. Besides which, oats are healthy!

6. I always use 2 level tablespoons of wheat gluten for any type of bread (1lb loaf). Otherwise, the bread comes out crumbly and does not hold together. Wheat gluten also helps to keep the bread from rising too much, giving the bread a nice rounded top.

7. Bread flour has a better consistency than all purpose white flour, however, either will work. Although fresh is always better, old flour usually works fine. If the bread doesn’t rise enough, just add more yeast next time.

8. Understanding salt. Using 1/2 teaspoon of salt for a 1 lb. loaf is just right for my taste buds. If you forget the salt, the bread will taste bland and flat. As you approach a teaspoon of salt you will just start tasting the salt. Using too much salt can retard the yeast from rising the bread. Salt may not scale linearly for a 1.5 lb loaf.

9. From a safety standpoint, only use egg if you are going to make the bread immediately. There is no need to adjust anything if you do not use an egg when baking overnight. One egg makes the bread taste fuller, two eggs makes the bread taste heavy.

10. We just keep our bread on the counter in a zip lock bag and it doesn’t spoil even after a week (it usually doesn’t last that long). Recipes with honey will last longer on the counter. The refrigerator can dry out the bread.

11. For the below ingredients, “precise” next to an ingredient means the measuring device must be leveled with back of a knife, as minor amounts of the ingredient has a big effect on the bread. “precise” ingredients may not scale linearly if your bread machine makes a 1.5lb loaf. “About” next to an ingredient means don’t worry about minor measuring differences as your bread will be fine either way. For liquid ingredients and flour, the cylinder type of measuring device that comes with most bread machines is more accurate than bulky measuring cups.

Ingredients for 1 lb loaf:

Yeast, 1 teaspoon precisely

White bread flour, 1 cup about

Whole wheat bread flour, 1 cup about

Wheat gluten, 2 tablespoons precisely

Salt, 1/2 teaspoon precisely

Butter, 1 tablespoon about

Egg, 1

Granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons about

Water, 7/8 cup precisely

Jam for eating when done! (We like the Scandinavian Delights Strawberry and Orange Danish spread I find at the “Cooking Gallery” in downtown Truckee.)

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Preparation (takes about 5-10 minutes max, plus 2.25 hours to bake):

Step 1:

· Scoop the yeast from the yeast jar with a teaspoon measurer, and run the back of a knife across the teaspoon measurer to get a level teaspoon of yeast. Add the yeast to the bread pan.

· Dump the white flour into the 1 cup measurer, and add the flour to the bread pan. Do the same for the wheat flour.

· Add the wheat gluten, sugar, salt, egg, butter, and water in any order to the bread pan.

· Hit the start button on the bread machine, or set the timer, and you are done! Its that easy.

Step 2:

· When the bread is done, remove the bread from the bread pan or the bread will get rubbery. Before slicing the bread, I usually let the bread sit about 3-5 minutes so it can firm up. Before putting the bread in a zip lock bag, I usually let the bread sit on the counter about a 1/2 hour to let the excess moisture escape. Otherwise the bread will get soggy in the zip lock bag. If you do see moisture in the bag, just wipe up the moisture with a Kleenex tissue.

· Most importantly, smother the bread with your favorite jam and enjoy!

John Williamson

530-412-1356