Bread Making

Yesterday I did a demo at the church for the ladies on bread making. If there is one thing that I take great pride in for my domestic abilities it would be making my own whole wheat bread each week. It helps me to rotate the wheat in my food storage too. I own two essential appliances and those are my Nutrimill and my Bosch. I would replace them (with the same models) without blinking if something happened to either of them. I love them both and they are essential to my kitchen. I can not imagine making bread without my Bosch. I did make some bread completely by hand for a few weeks prior to buying the Bosch but it really did take most of my day and I knew I would not stay committed. Yes these two appliances are pretty pricey but I think they are worth every penny. I am going to post my step by step procedure here for anyone who missed my demo and you can just copy and paste to print out for your own use. I am also showing a layout I made in December about my Bosch. In the photo you will be able to see my "bread pans." I picked them up at Rush Kitchen Supply and they are about $9 each but I LOVE them too. They make such a nice big loaf. They are actually the warmer trays that are used in restaurants and buffets. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

(For layout credits you can click on the link for my gallery on the side bar of my blog.)

Wheat Bread
From the kitchen of Tiffany Bodily

5 cups warm water
1 tbsp yeast
3/8 cup granulated sugar
3/8 cup vegetable oil
3 cups white flour
8 cups whole wheat flour (aprox.)
1 tbsp dough enhancer
2 tbsp gluten
1 ½ tbsp salt

Pour warm water into Bosch bowl. Add yeast, sugar, oil, white flour and four cups of wheat flour. Turn to speed one until mixed well. Add dough enhancer, gluten, salt and about 2 more cups of wheat flour. Turn to speed two and continue adding wheat flour ¼ cup at a time until dough pulls away cleanly from sides of bowl. Continue kneading on speed two for 6 minutes. While dough is kneading, place oven rack so that the top of the bread pans will be at the center level of the oven. Preheat oven to 170 degrees or lowest temperature setting and then turn off for a few minutes.

Spray 3 bread pans with nonstick cooking spray. Oil/grease hands and counter. Divide dough into 3 equal portions and shape into loaves. Put dough into bread pans. Check oven to make sure it is not overly hot. (If it seems to warm, crack the door for a minute to let some heat escape.) Place pans in oven and let dough double in size. When dough has risen to double, turn oven on at 350 degrees. Set timer for 40 minutes. Note: The baking time of 40 minutes includes the time that the oven is heating up to 350 degrees.

After baking remove from pans immediately and allow to cool on wire racks with a thin towel resting lightly over the bread. When bread is cool, bag immediately to keep soft.