Looking for Yeastless Bread Recipe

A lot of people have special diet restrictions. I got this email the other day:

I didn’t notice any yeast free bread recipes. I need one of those as I have been advised too get off of yeast breads until I can back off my candida problems. Thanks for any information that you can give me on yeast free recipies and have a great day.

We went right to work to on a new wheat bread recipe that does not have yeast.  Check out our new Yeastless Wheat Bread Recipe. It is a nice recipe, the rising factor is baking soda. Unfortunately, it will not have the same consistency as regular wheat bread. Still, it is tasty and can be used to make toast.

Fixing Crumbly Whole Grain Bread

I get this question alot. People like to have their homemade bread as if it came fresh from a bakery. And I don’t blame them.

Thankyou for your lovely website.

We have been making bread (in a machine) for many years now, but a problem has started happening which we cannot solve. We only make wholemeal bread from purchased wholemeal flour. The bread comes out looking good, but it breaks up easily. It hasn’t got that elastic “stretchy” quality.

Can you suggest what we could do ?

Perhaps your answer cold be included in your Bread FAQs.

My Response: To get that chewy texture in bread you may have to add wheat gluten. Also try putting the bread through an extra kneading cycle or two if that is possible. You can get wheat glutten in many food stores or order it on line:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006ZN52E/essentialbooks

 

I posted your question on the faqs page as you suggested.

Proposed National Homemade Bread Day

I got the following note from Monica Saylor which contains an interesting proposal:

This morning, I caught a blurb on “The Early Show” about today being “National Cheese Day” (or something along those lines), which got me to wondering whether there was a “National Homemade Bread Day”.  So far I haven’t found anything along those lines, so I’m suggesting a month/week/day be designated “National Homemade Bread Month/Week/Day”

I found thise site I like this site -  http://www.tfdutch.com/foodh.htm -  which has an entry (sometimes several) for every month/week/day of the year – but nothing for “Homemade Bread”.

I believe the way one goes about getting an unofficial “National (something) Month/Week/Day” is by simply declaring it on a website or blog.  I’m going to post to my little blog, and contact a couple of manufacturers of bread makers plus flour companies.  (They should be OK with it because it’s a way to boost sales).

Is there any particular month that seems better suited to bread making than others?  I was thinking every day of the year should be so designated, but what about going with February?  The weather’s usually less than nice during that month, plus it’s just around the corner.  Also, with Valentine’s Day in mind, what better way to show you love someone than by making them a load of bread custom-tailored to their tastes?  

Just a thought…

Monica Salyer

Just thought I would put it out there for anyone interested in joining a campaign to create a national homemade bread day. Going along with Monica’s idea. Maybe the day before Valentines day would be good, 13 February!

Will

Making Writing about Bread Worthwhile

I got the following comment from a reader. I love positive reinforcement:

I just found your site and wanted to let you know that I LOVE IT!

I just got into bread-making and agree with you that it is very satisfying – It’s great knowing exactly what ingredients are going into the bread (and therefore my body), plus the difference in price (home-made vs. store-bought) adds up to serious savings very quickly!

I started off with a basic bread-making machine (Cuisinart – $70 at Costco over the holidays) but have “graduated” to using a mixer (Hamilton Beach Commercial CPM 700) to mix and knead the ingredients, manually controlling the rise and baking the loaves in my gas oven. I have a Big Green Egg and a baking stone, so the next step will be to begin baking bread in that.

Again – Love your site!

Thanks, Monica, for the kind words.

Flour for French Bread

Got this question about French Bread flour this morning:

Question: Which is the best flour for making french breads. We use all purpose enriched bleached flour but all our breads have tough crust and are really dense mass. What do you recommend?

Answer: What you want is flour with slightly higher gluten content to make French Bread. Honeyville makes a nice flour for French Bread. It is available at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007NC15W/essentialbooks

You can also buy your own gluten and add to all-purpose flour.

Check out our French Bread recipe.

Long Bread Orders

We go from tall orders to long orders. Here is a question and answer I received today:

I came across your website today.  Can you tell me if there are any home bread machines that can make the longer style loaf of bread like the ones you see in the store, or a bread machine that can make more than one loaf at a time?  We are a family of 4 and make our own gluten-free bread, and we seem to be making bread every other day.  Thanks in advance for your help and assistance.

My Answer:

There are none that I know of that will make loaves that long. The longest I can think of is the Zojirushi:
http://www.breadinfo.com/zojirushi-supreme.shtml
 
Having said that. I have found that nearly all the bread machines make excellent dough, much easier than you can do it by hand. If you want to make long loaves, try making the dough in a bread machine and then baking the bread in the oven. This is actually quite efficient. I estimate the total prep time using this method to be less than ten minutes. Whereas doing it totally by hand would take much longer. You can see our rundown on many bread machines at:
http://www.breadinfo.com/machinecompare.shtml

Tall Bread Orders

I get lots of questions. But some go a bit beyond my capabilities. Here is one I received the other day that I have no idea how to answer:

Dear Sir,

 We want to set up small bakery unit with capacity of No – 1 2000 loaves/ 5000 loaves per day. We want complete details of machine & equipments for manufacturing of the same from the stage of wheat (aata) to finished loaves.

Please mail to us urgently complete details including details of :

1.        Space required
2.       Power required
3.       Workmen required
4.       Other essential details

We want quotation for the best quality machinery.
Please also give us information about making of Rusk / Cake if possible. 

Thanks and Regards

If you have any ideas, let me know and I can forward the info.

Do I Have to Use BREAD Flour?

I got this question yesterday. I thought a lot of people might be wondering the same thing:

Hello:

I just bought a bread machine. I didn’t know until I opened the box that it required “bread flour” and “bread machine yeast”.

I couldn’t find anything in the store that was labeled “bread flour”, and the “bread machine yeast” was double the price of regular yeast.  I’m beginning to think that I made a mistake in that purchase.  Can you use “regular flour” in a bread machine, as well as “regular yeast”?

Thank You for any information about this.

Also, I haven’t gone completely through your website yet, but I plan to.  I haven’t seen any reviews on the brand of bread machine I bought, which is a Hamilton Beach brand. What do you think of that brand?

My response:

Truthfully, bread flour and bread yeast are not necessary. You can make very nice bread with regular flour and regular yeast.

 

You can try some of the recipes on this page:

http://www.breadinfo.com/recipes.shtml

I haven’t done a review of the Hamilton Beach yet. This is partly due to priority. We buy a new breadmachine every six months to a year or so and put it through its paces. I will be sure to put the Hamilton Beach up on my list.

Thanks,

Will

Bread Plates and Napkins

On my table manners website I am often asked about bread plates. Yes, bread plates are handy for bread at formal occasions. But for meals where the family is stretched out at a long table with little or no elbow room and even less room for extra dishes , a bread plate is not absolutely necessary.

Bishops Hat Folded Napkin

However, a nice addition to the table setting can be a specially folded napkin. It is kind of like origami with cloth. With the holidays on the horizon, this is a good time to do a bit of research on the subject. My own experience with folding napkins is that the first one is the toughest. After that you can mass produce them relatively easilly.

As for bread and napkins, the ideal solution at the dinner table is to bake a loaf, cut it into pieces wrap it in a napkin and place on the table in a wicker basket. Sure it is classic, but when everyone sees the basket, they know what is in it, and if they are in any doubt the aroma will dispell it soon enough.

Make the holiday season special this year…and every year.

Bread Machines for Wheat Bread

Are breadmachines good for making wheat bread? That is the question that was addressed to me this morning. Here is the email:

 

Question: Thank you for the information on your site.  I have a questions that I didn’t see addressed, so if you have the time, I would appreciate any information you can provide. 

 

I have mixed whole grain breads in a mixer for years, 4 loaves at a time, which are then shaped by hand, placed into pans to rise, and then baked. 

 

I tried a bread machine about a year ago, but the recipes that came with the machine all called for dough conditioners etc. to be added and I didn’t want to use these, so I didn’t pursue it any further.

 

I wonder what your experience has been in making 100% whole grain bread in a bread machine. 

 

Thank you very much

Answer: I tend to like to make dough in a bread machine and then use a pan for baking. I find that bread machines don’t make crusts quite the way I like, plus loaves are not as aesthetically pleasing in their shape – although they do make better bread than what you will find in a store.

As for wheat specifically, they will make very good dough, especially if you want to mix up sufficient dough for one or two loaves – with more loaves, you will have to make multiple batches. Even so, they really do add to the convenience in this area.

You do not have to just use “bread machine” recipes in bread machines, by the way. You may use standard recipes – scaled to quantity.

Hope this helps.