To make bread you need a few basic ingredients:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flour (wheat, white wheat, rye, barley, rice, a mixture)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeast (dry, moist, freeze dried, cubed)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Liquid (water, milk, whey from rice, beans, cheese)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sweetener (sugar, honey, artificial)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salt (optional)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oil\/Shortening\/Butter\/Margarine (optional)
\nSecrets to making good whole wheat bread can be applied to good bread of any kind.
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fresh Flour – once wheat or any other grain is milled it begins to loose vitamin potency.\u00a0 Store all flour in tightly sealed containers.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fresh Yeast – freeze dried yeast will keep indefinitely.\u00a0 Once opened store in air tight container in refrigerator or freezer.
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Comfortably Warm Water – about 120 to 130 o.\u00a0 Too warm and you may kill or hamper the growth of the yeast.\u00a0 Too cold and you will retard it\u2019s growth.
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sponging – letting the flour, yeast, water and sugar sit, undisturbed 10 to 15 minutes.
\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right Amount of Flour – the amount is determined by the moisture in the air, the fineness of the flour, and the gluten content of the flour.\u00a0 If the right amount of flour is used the dough pulls together, holds it\u2019s shape and feels a little tacky.\u00a0 Too much flour in your dough?\u00a0 Drizzle a little water over the dough as you knead it.
\nDough too moist?\u00a0 A little white flour can be kneaded in to \u201cglue\u201d if back together.
\n6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Develop the gluten.
\nWhat is gluten?\u00a0 The protein in wheat, gives the dough structure, elasticity.\u00a0 Gluten is unique to wheat, it is not present in rice, barley, rye or other flours.\u00a0 Remember all \u201cwhite\u201d flour is wheat flour, made from a light wheat.\u00a0 Bleached means it has been chemically treated to be white, unbleached means it was bleached naturally.
\n7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oil on your hands as you mold your loaves and oil on the counter will help keep it from sticking.
\n*Don\u2019t add more flour to wheat bread as you knead it into loaves.
\n8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let the Dough Proof.\u00a0 This is done in a warm room or in a warmed oven.\u00a0 A warm room can be unreliable and unconstant. A warmed oven is recommended for proofing the loaves in pans, especially for wheat bread.
\nTo warm the oven turn it on to 150 o or the lowest temp for the oven.\u00a0 Turn off the oven before putting the bread in to rise.\u00a0 To keep the dough from drying out, mist with water or lightly coat top of dough with oil or shortening.
\n*Watch carefully.\u00a0 When the dough is almost doubled in bulk, it is ready bake.\u00a0 Test by touching it lightly near the edge.\u00a0 If a slight indentation remains the dough is proofed.\u00a0 If the complete indentation remains it is over proofed.\u00a0 You can reshape the loaves and start again or go ahead and bake, knowing the loaves will be too light, coarse and the texture will be crumbly.
\nIf you proof in the room, turn on the oven so you can put the loaves in as soon as they are proofed.\u00a0 Oven proofing, leave loaves in oven and turn temperature on to 350 o to bake for required time.
\nHow to Shape Breads:
\nRegular Loaves: A loaf of bread may be formed in many ways, and most bakers have their favorite.\u00a0 Here are two simple methods that produce good, consistent results.
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Slightly flatten a ball of dough with your hands, and then corss-grain the dough by folding in each of the four sides, directly across from each other.\u00a0 Using the palms of your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the dough into a rectangle, 7 x 15 inches for a large 4 x 8\u00bd inch loaf, or 5 x 8 inches for a small 3 x 5 3\/4 inch loaf.\u00a0 Roll up, starting at the narrow side, sealing each turn tightly with the edge of your hand.\u00a0 Tuck the strips under the loaf, and roll the loaf back and forth to make it even.\u00a0 Place in a lightly greased loaf pan.\u00a0 If the loaf is a bit too long for the pan, lift up the center, allowing the ends to fit, and then lay the center down.\u00a0 The dough will fit without remolding.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hold a ball of dough in your hands and keep tucking the edges of the dough underneath, turning the ball as you go until you have a smooth turtle\u2019s back shape.\u00a0 Gently elongate the ends until the dough resembles a football.\u00a0 Seal the edges underneath with you fingers.\u00a0 Place in a lightly greased bread pan.
\nRound Loaves: Form dough into a ball.\u00a0 Holding the dough in your hands, tuck the edges of the dough underneath, turning the dough until you have a smooth ball.\u00a0 Seal the underneath edges with you fingers.\u00a0 Place in a lightly greased 8 inch pie or cake pan and let rise until almost double.
\nFrench Loaves: Roll dough into a rectangle, about 12 x 15 inches.\u00a0 Beginning at the long edge, roll up tightly.\u00a0 Pinch the edge to seal, and taper the ends.\u00a0 Place seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet which has been sprinkled with cornmeal, or place in a French bread pan.\u00a0 Using a sharp knide, make 1\/4 inch diagonal slashes every 2 \u00bd inches across the top.\u00a0 Brush with an egg water mix.\u00a0 Let rise until double.
\nBraids: Form dough into three ropes, each about \u00bd inch in diameter.\u00a0 Starting in the center, braid the ropes together.\u00a0 Pinch the ends together to seal.\u00a0 Turn the braid over, and braid the other half.\u00a0 Again pinch the ends to seal.\u00a0 Pull the braid slightly to lengthen, if necessary.\u00a0 Place on a lightly greased baking sheet or place in a bread pan to rise.
\nYou Can Freeze Dough
\nFrozen Bread: Shape your bread dough as directed in the recipe.\u00a0 Place it on a baking sheet or in a bread pan.\u00a0 Freeze immediately.\u00a0 As soon as the dough is frozen solid, remove it from the pan and place it in a heavy plastic bag and seal.\u00a0 Use the dough within six to eight weeks.\u00a0 To bake, lightly grease bread pan with shortening.\u00a0 Put the frozen dough into the pan, and cover it loosing with waxed paper.\u00a0 Let the dough rise until double, four to six hours, depending on room temperature.\u00a0 If your dough dries out while rising, mist it lightly with water from a spray bottle.\u00a0 Bake 350o, and bake 30 to 35 minutes.
\nQuick Rise Method: Transfer your frozen bread dough to a lightly greased bread pan as directed.\u00a0 Preheat your oven to 150o.\u00a0 Turn off the oven.\u00a0 Place the frozen dough in the oven, and put a pan of hot water on the rack immediately below the dough.\u00a0 Let the dough rise from one to three hours.\u00a0 When dough is light, remove the pan of water.\u00a0 Turn oven to 350 o, and bake 30 to 35 minutes.
\nTip: if your dough should get too light, remove from the pan, reshape it,
\nand let dough rise again until double.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To make bread you need a few basic ingredients: \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flour (wheat, white wheat, rye, barley, rice, a mixture) \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeast (dry, moist, freeze dried, cubed) \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Liquid (water, milk, whey from rice, beans, cheese) \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sweetener (sugar, honey, artificial) \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Salt (optional) \u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oil\/Shortening\/Butter\/Margarine (optional) Secrets to making good whole wheat bread can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/recipes.morgeneggweb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}