Bread Making 101

Several of you have requested my 'One Hour Bread' recipe. Sorry it's taken me so long to get it posted.

Before you run to you kitchen to make a batch of this bread, you will need the following:

Lehi Roller Mills Turkey Flour. (Secret code meaning... this is BREAD FLOUR!!) I buy it at Costco. It's actually several dollars cheaper to buy it at Costco than to buy it directly from the Mill in Lehi. For those of you that aren't able to get Lehi Roller Mills flour, I would suggest using a HIGH QUALITY BREAD FLOUR. It does make a difference!


Next you need to stock up on saf-instant yeast, and liquid lecithin. Lecithin is a natural product that is extracted from the soy bean. (If you want to know more, do a google search) You will most likely find liquid lecithin at a health food store, or a kitchen type store that would also sell Bosch bread makers. Yes, I am putting in my plug for the Bosch bread maker here. It is the best.


I got my lecithin from a place called 'Kitchen Kneads' in West Jordan, Utah. They sell it by the pound in plastic bottles. For another quarter or so, you can buy a squeeze top thing for it. This comes in handy as lecithin is really thick & sticky and is hard to wash off. When you add the lecithin, you don't need to be exact. The lady who taught the bread making class I went to, said she used to put about 5 Tbsp of lecithin in, now she just uses 3 Tbsp. If you squeeze a glob about the size of a quarter, you will get about the right amount.


Here's my lecithin with the squeeze lid thingie on it

Ok. Here is the recipe:

HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE
from start to finish in 1 hour!
10-1/2 cups white unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
3 rounded Tablespoons saf-instant yeast
3 Tablespoons liquid lecithin*
4 cups hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not ad water or flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves - place in pans and cover with a dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. This recipe makes four loaves of bread.

*Squeeze or pour approximately 3 Tablespoons of lecithin directly into the bowl. Do not measure.

(For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe but add one cup of applesauce as part of the hot tap water. Mix for ten minutes.)

There you go - easy as can be. Here is my bread making process in pictures:


This is what my dough looks like after mixing it for 5 minutes. I usually add a little more water (1/4 cup or less, depending on the day) at the one minute check. The dough is nice & leaves the sides of the bowl, but the lady who taught the class said she likes it a little more sticky. Sometimes she even has to get out her spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl. Once you get the dough onto the oiled counter top and knead it a few times with you hands - the dough will turn into this lovely warm soft dough that is not sticky at all.


Don't forget to spray your counter top & pans with Pam (or generic equivalent). After spraying your countertop & before you scrape the dough out of the bowl, just slap your hands on top of the oiled countertop a couple times to get your hands greased up too. Then the dough won't stick to your hands.


Here is what my dough looks like after I have kneaded it a few times.


After you have kneaded the bread a few times on the countertop, cut it into 4 even pieces. I have a handy-dandy pizza cutter that I use, but a long knife would work just as well.


Shape each piece of dough into a loaf and put it in a greased bread pan. I use my 8 x 4-1/2 x 2-3/4 pans. It is not the largest bread pan size, but the next one down. It just makes a nicer size loaf.


Cover with a dish towel and let raise for 25 minutes. (Make sure the oven is on by this point - preheat to 350 degrees!)


After 25 short minutes, this is what your bread will look like.


Carefully place in oven...


25 short minutes later - golden brown & ready to come out from the oven


Immediately remove from pans and place on racks to cool...


When bread is cool - place in sacks & wrap end of sack with a twistie tie.


I have several bread knives, but I have found my electric knife to be the best. It now stays out on my counter & is never put away.

TA DA!!! That's your cooking lesson for the day - just like being in my kitchen, eh?