1 cup Whole Wheat unbleached stone ground flour hard
2 and 1/2 cups White unbleached white flour hard
1 and 1/3 cups of water, microwaved on high for 45 seconds
2 or 3 table spoons of light olive oil
1 Table spoon wheat germ
1 Table spoon ground flax seed
2 Table spoons white sugar
1/2 tea spoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast
1: Measure out all dry ingredients in a 4 cup pyrex bowl
2: Micro wave the water
3: Unceremoniously pour together into mix master bowl
4: Use dough hook mix until a ball of dough forms, this takes about a minute or two, adjust with 1 tablespoon of water or flour depending on consistency of dough ball, if needed, otherwise relax.
5: Knead for 5 minutes after dough ball forms, scrape from dough hook if it tends to just spin and not knead.
6: Set aside in separate greased bowl for about 20 minutes or until it rises a bit less than double size
7: Weight 700 grams, put aside extra for rolls or if making 3 loaves the extra will make a fourth loaf.
8: Roll out and Roll up to fit pan, any shapes or forms in the dough will be reflected in the bread.
9: Score the bread to allow gas formed by yeast to escape
10: Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, check internal temp of bread is 200 degrees
11: Remove from pan and cool on wire racks.
Notes:
Why bake bread?
~Taste: It tastes better than commercially produced bread and you get to choose the ingredients.
~Food Security: A 3 or 6 month supply of flour, oil and salt is easier to store than a 3 or 6 month supply of bread.
~Tradition: My grandmother made bread and its a basic human skill.
~Disconnect: Every moment you are baking bread you are not on line.
Which Flours should I use?
I use Hard unbleached white and whole wheat flour. Unbleached flours are not treated with benzoyl peroxide, potassium bromate, or chlorine. Chemicals speed ageing of flour, unbleached flour is aged naturally after the milling process is completed. Natural ageing takes significantly longer than the bleaching process, Unbleached flour has a distinct texture.
I have tried ground oats, rye, nuts, in various ratios and in the end I like whole wheat and white flour the best. It really comes down to taste, you can add a half cup of almost any thing from raisins to chocolate chips to this bread and it will turn out just fine.
Butter, Margarine or Oil? Just a matter of taste, I like the taste of olive oil. Also olive oil stores well for 6 months. From a food security point of view I like to have 6 months of bread on hand. I think it comes from my great grandparents surviving the Holodomor and family stories of starvation and survival. I use 3 tablespoons of olive oil which makes the bread a little heavier. Use less of a light canola oil for a lighter bread.
Water or Milk? You can substitute either, so long as its at 100 degrees when added to dry ingredients, check temp as to hot and you will kill the yeast, to cold it will not rise quickly.
Yeast Instant yeast works fine, Traditional yeast works fine. I do not think there is anything called pizza yeast but some brands sell it. I make pizza dough with instant yeast. Fleishmans yeast is about $5.00 a bottle for the same $5.00 you can buy a bag of vacuum packed yeast that fills 5 Fleishman s bottles.
Consistency: What I go for now is consistency, same sized loaves, with no air voids, good crumb, and hearty flavour. A scale to weight the dough is important to get the right amount of dough to the pan you are using. For my pans 700 grams is just right. You will have to figure out for the pans you use, the right amount of dough to get the loaf you want.
bon appétit
A sunny warm day late October 2023, sweetheart off to visit her mother packing the truck to head up to the farm. Garlic still in the ground, bad gardening, Covid on the comeback trail, Israel in mourning, Gaza in ruins.