Bread Machines For Dummies (2 page)
Read Bread Machines For Dummies Online
Authors: Glenna Vance,Tom Lacalamita
H
omemade breadâ
ummmm
good. Nothing beats it. But who has the time and fortitude to make it anymore? You do, with the help of your automatic bread machine. “But my bread,” you say, “doesn't turn out the way I think it should.” It can and it will because this is your bread machine handbook. We have written it so you can use it not only as a cookbook filled with wonderful recipes, but also as a resource guide of everything you “knead” to know about your bread machine, the ingredients that you will use, and how to use them. We believe bread machines are easy to use and get bread on your table with minimum time and effort. Trust us, we'll tell you how.
Now, we know you would like a guarantee that you'll make a perfect loaf of bread every time, and while we can't promise you that, we share with you our combined 22 years of experience developing recipes specifically formulated for the bread machines. We were there when they were first introduced, working to develop recipes to turn out great bread from the machines. Getting all our experience and knowledge between one book cover has been a challenge, but we've done it.
We'll bet you are anxious to get going, so scan the Table of Contents, check out the recipes, and find one that sounds good. If you have all the ingredients on hand, make it.
Because all of the recipes have been tested, and tested, and then tested again in every machine we could get our hands on, chances are pretty good you will soon be enjoying a wonderful loaf of delicious homemade bread. But be aware, sooner or later, it's bound to happen, you will produce a loaf that doesn't measure up to your standard. Not to fret. You now have all the best resources available to you to avoid that from happening again. Just to be sure, read through Parts I and II and discover what went wrong and why.
Now, if you are of a more cautious nature (and we trust you are), read the first sections to learn more about your bread machine and what to do when. But don't worry about remembering everything you've read on the first reading because this is your bread machine handbook. You will be checking back through it for information, probably as long as you are making bread in a bread machine.
There are a privileged few who learned to bake at the elbow of an experienced person: a grandmother, mother, friend, or perhaps even an uncle. Most of us did not. You may know that bread is made with yeast, flour, salt, water, and probably a few other ingredients. But how they are combined is probably a complete mystery to you. We'll tell you what to buy and why. From that point, we will describe the difference between measuring dry and wet ingredients, what
proofing
the yeast means, what dough is supposed to look like during the kneading time, and why a thermometer assures quality control in bread making (even in an automatic bread machine).
Bread Machines For Dummies
is structured first to provide you with the essential information about breads, their ingredients, and how to turn your bread machine into an essential appliance. Then of course, there are recipesâ all kinds of recipes, from popular bread machine ones to extraordinary hand shaped. Plus, for those of you who have special dietary needs, we have included breads made with alternative ingredients like rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour. For your convenience, we conclude with two nifty, jiffy troubleshooting checklists, sure to get you out of almost any bind.
Ever wonder who made the first loaf of bread or how we started eating bread or even who had the idea to make it completely automatic in a machine? Part I gives you the facts.
Here we provide all of the in-depth ingredient information you'll ever need to know. Plus we tell you everything there is to know about your bread machineâhow it works and what the bells and whistles are for. We also include how-to measure tips, and explain why you need to test the liquid temperature, how to bake the bread in the oven if you choose to create an interesting shape, and, of course, how to keep it fresh because there might even be some left over.
Now comes the best part. Roll up your sleeves, put on your apron (although you really don't need to because making bread in a machine isn't messy), and get started using these quick and easy recipes for great homemade loaves of bread.
We also show you how to use your bread machine to make the dough that you will shape into bakery-like creations to bake in your oven, thus capturing the admiration of your family and friends.
Oops! Something isn't right with my bread machine, you say. Quick, see our ready reference of ten troubleshooting tips. Or, if your bread didn't turn out the way it should have, the explanation is in the final chapter, which offers solutions to ten common problems.
Every ...
For Dummies
book uses little pictures, called icons, to flag certain kinds of information to your attention. Here's what they mean:
This icon indicates a great piece of advice related to cooking or baking.
When we offer tips on buying the right ingredients or equipment, we use this icon.
When we present some general wisdom that you shouldn't forget, you see this icon.
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We use this icon to point out potential pitfalls in the bread-making process.
Homemade Bread from the Bread Machine
In this part . . .
E
ver wonder who made the first bread loaf of bread or how we started eating bread or even who had the idea to make it completely automatic in a machine? Part I gives you the facts. And we tell why bread is worth the effort to make at home.
Why an Automatic Bread Machine?
In This Chapter
Realizing the value of a bread machine
Believing a bread machine can make good bread
Knowing who uses a bread machine and why
Evaluating the shapes, sizes, and features of bread machines
C
ommercially made bread is so common today, who would have thought we could go back to homemade bread? And that the trend toward homemade bread wouldn't be a step backward? Bread machines are a step forward â to better bread than there's ever been before.
Eight thousand years ago, when people turned from hunting and fishing to farming and shepherding, they began to cultivate grain to ensure the continuity of a food source. Historians credit Egyptians as the first to grow wheat, barley, and millet, and to capture wild yeast to use in baking and brewing. We also know that as the Roman Empire spread throughout Europe and Great Britain around 2,000 years ago, grain crops, mainly wheat, began to thrive in the conquered territories. Early settlers brought wheat to America and those amber waves of grain grew beyond anyone's wildest hope.
Around the world, the art of making homemade bread became a skill passed down from one generation to the next. Then came the industrial age â commercial bread was mass-produced, sold in the marketplace, and considered superior to homemade bread.
In the 1970s, as Japan was experiencing an economic boom, young Japanese were finding a breakfast of bacon and eggs with orange juice and bread or rolls to be more convenient than fish and a bowl of rice with pickled vegetables. Unfortunately for the Japanese housewife, her family wanted very fresh bread.
What a relief when, in 1987, Shin Ojima, an electrical engineer, manufactured a totally automatic bread machine. Even at prices exceeding $400, automatic bread machine sales took off, and more than 1 million units were sold in Japan in less than 12 months.
This success was short-lived. Within a year, the bottom fell out. Most Japanese live in very small apartments that have sliding, paper-covered partitions for walls. Between the noise of the machine and the aroma of a loaf of fresh bread, many Japanese families found it difficult to sleep. They abandoned the idea of having fresh, homemade bread for breakfast. The machines were trashed.
Fortunately for Japanese manufacturers, the United States and Canada presented a large, untapped market, ready and waiting for such an appliance. The first bread machine reached North America in time for the Christmas of 1988. They originally retailed for more than $400, but prices have dropped dramatically, affording millions of people the opportunity to make delicious, wholesome bread with the push of a button.
In this modern, technological age, the bread machine is unlike any other small appliance you have. Microwave ovens, automatic coffee makers, juice makers, and so on, use manual controls that depend on your opening and closing an electrical switch by pushing a button. But your bread machine uses a computer chip that contains the programs for the various cycles the bread machine performs.
For those of you who want to know more about the inner workings of things, you will find the mechanical operation inside the machine to be quite simple. The machine has a small motor that turns a belt-driven drive shaft to rotate a kneading blade inside a bread pan. It also has a thermostat to regulate the temperature inside the machine to the appropriate warmth for rising and baking.
This amazing appliance has changed making bread from an insurmountable task (for many of us) into a simple procedure. It literally kneads, rises, and bakes the bread without the hands-on skill of a human. No wonder the bread machine continues to be a top-selling appliance in the housewares industry. We all love good, homemade bread, and when the process is so easy, we'll make it ourselves.
Use a surge protector strip with your bread machine. The microchips used in bread machines are sensitive to voltage changes. A surge protector strip will guarantee steady voltage and prolong the life of your bread machine.
With a bread machine, you measure the ingredients, put them into the bread pan in the order they are listed in the recipe, put the pan in the bread machine, select the appropriate cycle, and press Start. Bingo! The bread machine takes over. Is it any wonder that bread machine manufacturers advertise “Homemade bread with the push of a button.”
Here is an abbreviated glossary of ingredients to help your understanding of how the ingredients mysteriously change their appearance within the machine, mix with each other, and turn into bread.
Liquids
make the chemical changes happen.
Wheat flour
has protein which, when mixed with liquid, becomes gluten.
Gluten
becomes elastic when kneaded and forms the structure of the dough.
Yeast
is activated when it comes in contact with liquid to ferment the starch in the flour and the sugar in the bread. The fermentation causes gases to form that make the honeycomb structure in the bread dough.
Salt
flavors the bread, controls the yeast activity, and strengthens the dough structure.
Your part in this process is simply to have all the ingredients at room temperature, measure them correctly, and put them into the pan. When you push Start, the machine will begin to mix the ingredients and then knead the dough. For a period of time after the dough is kneaded it will seem like nothing is happening. This is the time when the dough is rising. Most machines then knead the dough a second time and let it rise again before heating up to bake the bread. The machine does the work; you take the credit.