My 1st Bread ever
Hi. This is my first ever home baked bread. Made in a new Black & Decker bread making machine. It came out low on one side high on the other. The inside taste was not bad but I found a word that matched the consitance as "gummy". The booklet said do NOT open under any condition. I think I should not have believed that. Now I read that taking the dow out and reshaping it before the baking process would not be a bad thing. I add here my recipe underneath from the booklet with a few changes I made . (We do NOT like white plane bread) I the only whole weath flower I found at Saveway was "whole grain barley flower".
The only things I could think off my head are: maybe I added to much of if and did and not add more yeast. What do you think?
I like my seeds inside my bread and not only outside on the crust where they seem to fall off when cut or eaten.
So I mixed all my seeds into the dow from the beginning. Does that affect the rising ?
Naturally any advise is welcome and much appreciated. Thank you.
I just finished my 2nd bread it still hot. I took the dow out transferred into a teflon container lined with a bit of oil and flower and it looked much better. Have not cut and tasted yet ..must cool down first and taste tomorrow morning.
RECIPE 1
Program setting: 1 (white)
WHITE BREAD 3-bl loaf
2cups of water (80-90degree F)
4 T spoon of butter in pieces
2 1/2 t spoon of salt
4 T spoon
5 1/2 cups of Bread flower
(changed to 3 cups white bread flower and 2 1/2 cups of whole grain barley flower)
1 1/4 t spoon bread machine yeast
+ ADDED for taste
2 T spoon of dry onion flakes
1 T spoon of Parmesan & herbs
1 T spoon sunflower kernels
Congrats on your first loaf, and thanks for sharing it!
Your rise looked OK, I would consider increasing the yeast slightly to 2 tsp.
Also, because of the added whole grain flour, you might want to increase water by 1-2 tbsp. Based on my calculations, the water to flour ratio looks OK, it shouldn't hurt.
It's probably gummy because it hasn't fully cooked through. If you can, get an instant read thermometer, internal temp of bread should be at least 190F, for heartier breads 210F-215F is required.
The crust got browned, which is really good for a first loaf; a lot of people have the problem of pale crusts. Pale crusts usually happen when the dough has either fermented too little or too much, so the length of time that it rose appears to be pretty good.
The dough texture looks a little tight and grainy; also the "ripping" effect on the crust suggests that it hasn't been kneaded for long enough. If you have a setting to further knead your bread, be sure and knead longer. This is especially necessary if you're working with whole-grain flours, which don't develop the same strength as breads made with only white flour.
For whole grain breads, I always like a little honey to sweeten it, a tablespoon or two would be nice.
Keep baking and have fun!
Barley flour contains no gluten and can weigh the loaf down. For an oven no problem to leave the bread in longer but with a timed machine, it could get tricky. If you reduce the barley to 1/3 of the total flour, the crumb volume will increase and it might bake more fully in the bread machine.
What kinds of bread do you prefer?
@"Cranbo" and "Mini Oven". Thank you for taking the time to advise and reply to directly. I did not know at all that Barley flour did not contain Gluten. It was just when I went to Safeway to get flower the only WHOLE WEAT I saw was that one.. I just like any kind of "darkish, brown, grey breads I don't like white bread unless a French Baguette from time to time .. Just want to avoid any kind of white bread for weight gain etc..We eat each of us two slices of bread every morning and I like my bread slizes thick usuall topped with hummus or cream cheese or liver pate or Nutella.
THIS IS MY 2nd Bread
http://visualsenses.smugmug.com/Food-food-macros-and-cooking/HOME-BAKED-Bread/27735184_ztqBZF#!i=2341947516&k=rK84rqz&lb=1&s=X3
This one I had the kneading done in the machine. Then I took it out (actually I discovered that the Black & Decker machine does have a kneading only cycle, had overlooked that first) and transferred into a Teflon form that I lined with a few drops of oil covered with flower. The shape was much better although the shape I had a feeling it had a roof that wanted to grow and than did not (you can see sort of a gutter line around the shape) :-) BUT the taste.. my other half said IT TASTE LIKE NOTHING totally bland...When I returned in my mind ..I think I did forget the salt maybe... Having blood pressure that wants to rather rise than drop for me to grab the salt has become a rare movement.. but I guess I forgot...otherwise all these nice ingredients why would it not taste like totally bland?
QUESTION: When I take the dow out the kneading machine. Do I have to handle it with great care? As the ball was in an odd shape I hand kneaded it again a few minutes and reshaped it. BUT after doing this and seeing the final "tight" outcome I was wondering. Did I push out all the air bubbles maybe? Or do they only form in the baking process? So not to worry about handling the dow coming out of the kneading process from the machine before putting it in the oven. My other half won't eat much more of this 2nd bread so will try a 3rd one today without any EXTRA ingredients.
Would appreciate you/anyone telling me what flower I must look for that basically makes any NOT white bread.. It does NOT have to be Gluten free (although it tickles my interest with all the good things one reads about eating gluten free. But if it was ONLY for our daily bread would that make a difference in life to our weight?
Here is the recipie I used:
RECIPE 3
Program setting: 2 (Whole Wheat)
MULTISEED BREAD 3-bl loaf
1cups of water (80-90degree F) 29C
3/4 cup of milk (80-90degree F) 29C
3 T spoon of butter in pieces
3 T spoon of honey
2 t spoon of salt ( I guess I may have forgotten it but am not sure..but why would the bread otherwise be sort of tasteless, which the 1st one was not?)
4 cups of Bread flower
3/4 cups of whole wheat flower
(changed to 3/4 cups of whole grain barley flower)
1/4 cup of Hazelnut flour
(changed to 1/4 cups of whole grain barley flower)
2 t spoon bread machine yeast
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 T spoons of golden flax seeds
2 T spoons of white sesame seeds
2 T spoons of Black sesame seeds
(changed to 4t spoons of white sesame seeds) did not have black sesame at home...
1 T spoon of poppy seeds
Kneaded in machine than taken out at 50 min before end of 3.48min program 2 and baked in oven at 375F for 45min in Teflon lined drops of oil covered with thin layer of flower
Seem to have come out with NO problem..till we tasted it :-).
I think your gut instinct is correct. To me, bread will taste totally flat and lifeless without salt.
It depends on how long and how well the machine kneaded it. Next time, take a picture of the dough after it has completed the machine knead and share it. Keep note of the setting and time.
If the dough doesn't feel like it's got good strength (if the dough looks "rippy") then you can knead it, or do a few stretch-and-folds, with 30 min between stretch & folks. Just search these forums or YouTube for "stretch and fold" or "S&F". Basically it's just a letter tri-fold on your dough, in one direction (top-to-bottom), then in the other (left-to-right), then you let it sit. This will help build dough strength.
Assuming you want to avoid enriched white flour (such as all-purpose white or bread flour), then whole wheat, white whole wheat, rye, spelt, and kamut are all possibilities. I'm sure there are others that I've missed.
My 3rd Bread
http://visualsenses.smugmug.com/Food-food-macros-and-cooking/HOME-BAKED-Bread/27735184_ztqBZF#!i=2344933749&k=44bXdg3&lb=1&s=X3
After the dow kneading stopped for the 1st time it looked like a dry ball I added 1/4 cup of water this time ( This down I added 1 1/2 Rye bread flower to replace the same amount of normal white bread flower, as per recipe below)
this time used the cycle 9 (kneading dow ONLY) it looked nice and quite high risen when done BUT still I thought if I leave it in there it will look like the 1st bread bland no colour like a clay brick.
So took it out by turning the form over. It sort of went like a huge chewing gum and in the partial pulling/braking (because the kneading arms would not let it go) I saw MANY nice air pockets
So still was concernd to knead more but did give it another 2minutes slow kneading and put it in shape again (photo & close up) and layed it in the pan walled with bit of oil and flower rushed around the wall (excess thrown away)
Then painted the top of the bread with oil (although in my mind from my other cooking experience I like to use honey to attach grains and herbs on top of mean or chicken etc) but I was scared it would get too dark
so stuck to simply oil and then sprayed the whole wheat kernels on top....................and when the backing was done IT ALL SIMPLE FELL OFF when I took it out of the form there was NO hold what so ever.
The taste was MUCH better (made sure not to forget the salt this time:-)
Still it felt a tiny bit gummy but there were many more small airpockets
BUT I still would like to achieve more of an "airy feel" to my bread, where am I missing something ???
Thanks for any imput! Much appreciated
RECIPE 1
Program setting: 9 (white) dow kneading only
WHITE BREAD 3-bl loaf
2cups of water (80-90degree F)
4 T spoon of butter in pieces
2 1/2 t spoon of salt
4 T spoon sugar (changed to two, QUESTION does this affect the air or rising when one reduces the sugar?)
5 1/2 cups of Bread flower
(changed to 4 cups white bread flower and 1 1/2 cups of dark rye flower)
1 1/4 t spoon bread machine yeast (changed to 2 1/2)
After the 1st kneading stop the dow looked like a dry ball and I added 1/4 cup of water ( should I have added milk powder also?)
+ ADDED for taste
1 T spoon of Parmesan & herbs mix
1 T spoon black sesame seeds
After the rising moved to other Teflon basket and baked in over
I took a sharp knife and slashed 3x
then took a small brush painted the top with canola oil
and sprinkled with whole wheat kernels
Baked at 45 min at 375 and 15 at 400
BUT when done all the sunflower kernels fell off.
How to make grains etc stick to the top layer?
How not to have the white flower on the baking pan sticking to the side of the bread when taking it out?
(even it is Teflon I am concerned the bread may stick to the sides if I not oil and flower the walls) what other solution is there?
Getting seeds to stick -Use egg wash - that is 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water mixed well. Using a silicon brush, pastry brush or 1 inch natural bristle brush, brush a coat of egg wash on the top of your bread then place the seeds. You can then brush a second light coat of eggwash gently on top of that.
Getting bread out of the pan - particularly when using egg wash, BEFORE putting your loaf in the pan, rub a thin layer of butter or shortening all over the insides of the loaf pan and then dust with flour all over the inside of the pan. Then place your loaf into the pan. I would recommend this method particularly if you are using an eggwash because no matter how hard you try, some of that egg wash will dribble into the pan. Eggwash, when baked, is alot like epoxy, making your bread hard to release from the pan, unless you have well greased and floured the pan.
Happy Baking
Linda
I have been using bread machine for just a few months, but I bake almost every alternate day. I have used diff types of flours, with good results. Going by my experience, the best ratio to make a fuss free, tasty bread in BM is 3:1 with bread flour & other low gluten flour. You can also make excellent bread in machine with increased or 100% low gluten flour, but you will have to make some additions. I like to add 1 to 2 tbsp of vital wheat gluten for a nice, airy loaf. You can even add a pinch of asorbic acid to aid.
Taking dough out & baking in oven is fine, but do try using BM entirely as it is quite convenient when you are busy. Keep an eye on the first few minutes of kneading in the machine. The dough should be slightly sticky. It should just drag on the walls of the machine. If it appears dry, add 1 tbsp water at time till it reaches desired consistency. If it is too wet and sticks to the sides, add a bit of flour. For white bread, once the dough is fine at this stage, you can forget till the bread is baked, but for other combinations, I prefer to check during the second knead as liquid absorbtion capacity of each flour is different. You can adjust at this stage, too. Till you are confident of the dough texture, check at regular intervals. If you feel the dough is getting over proofed, stop the program and start the bake cycle. If it has not risen till almost end of final rise, again stop it and let it rise in the BM till it is proofed to your satisfaction & then start the bake cycle. But I have found that if the dough texture by look at second knead is satisfactory, I get an excellent bread.
Do try different artisan bread recipes by noted authors (I prefer to use their percentages & adjust the size to my BM). You can do almost everything in the recipe in the BM by manually controlling the programs. If you have the inclination, do the final bake in oven, but even if you stick to BM, you will get a better bread than standard BM manual recipes.
Hope this helps.
Alpana