Gibby, A breadmachine is perfect for doing the kneading. I would take the dough out of the machine as soon as it has finished kneading and put it in a oiled container or bowl and cover. I don't worry about how warm the kitchen is. In fact I prefer a slower rise. Flavour of the bread is better. Most kitchens are warm enough for your dough to double just sitting on the counter. Anywhere from 45 minutes to 90 minutes. Don't judge by time. If you sit by the wood stove you will probably have a quick rise. You can shape and bake after one rising, or you can knock down the dough and let it rise again. Then shape and let it rise and then bake.

Yeah.....what Annie said....but if you do get in a bit of a hurry...or that bowl of dough gets in the way...I stick it into the microwave. If I am in hurry up mode, I will boil a 2 cup pyrex measure of water to make it warm and steamy, other wise I just hide it in the micro....
Linda C

My kitchen is also pretty cold, I seldom turn the heat above 55, so it can take all day for dough to rise in my kitchen. I usually let the machine do all the work, including the first rise. Then I take the dough out of the machine, shape into loaves or rolls or whatever I'm making and put them on top of the stove. I turn the oven on then, mine takes at least half an hour to preheat, sometimes more, so by the time the oven is hot enough to bake the bread, the bread has nicely risen using the heat from the preheating oven.

My bread machine has a preheat cycle, then it kneads, rises, kneads again. That takes 1 hour and 50 minutes, I have a "dough" cycle. Then I take it from the machine, shape it and let it rise from there.

Annie

Great - thanks. It sounds like warmth just speeds things up then. I'm doing what you describe Annie - dough cycle then shape and let rise before baking.

Incidentally, I just read in another thread (the one about Chinese food) about how you grow your own food. Wow - that is amazing. I was feeling pretty lame after reading that and thinking how little I know about even baking bread, let alone growing any of my own food.

gibby, not so amazing, since I was raised on the farm and know how. People are amazed that I still do it, in spite of a full time job and raising kids, etc., but the kids were one of the reasons I kept doing it, I wanted to know exactly what they were putting in their mouths.

As for bread, well, I don't use as much of it as I used to but I never buy bread, I bake it all. It's just so quick and easy when the bread machine does all the work!

Annie

gibby, sorry to hijack your thread, but I thought it might be nice to get a good bit of answers in the same location.

I received a bread machine for Christmas and just pulled out my first loaf. Nothing fancy, just the Potato Bread recipe that came with the manual, but it is delicious! (So much for that New Years resolution!)

My question: What is the best way to store bread to maintain freshness?

Thanks!
~ Tracy

Gibby,

I put the bowl on the counter above my dishwasher while it's running. The counter gets pretty warm; varies by counter type so put your hand on it periodically to check.

Tracy,

I like to wrap my bread in a tea towel, put that in a plastic grocery bag, twist the top without tying and put that in the fridge.

~Amanda

Amanda!!! I'm so glad to see you again, how is that big boy doing?

Store bread? I just put mine into a lock and lock plastic box on my counter. My kitchen is pretty cold and it keeps relatively well.

In the summer time when the humidity hovers around 80 or 90% I haven't found anything that keeps bread fresh for more than a day or so.

Annie

I have gone round and round about the best way to keep bread fresh....my DIL swears that the temperatures of a refrigerator are the fastest to make bread go stale....she used to work for a bread wholesaler (selling her buns on the street!!)....and showed the scientific studies to prove it.
I say that bread with no preservatives is very quick to mold if not refrigerated.....she says....yes but it gets stale...I say toast it you will never know.
I keep bread in the refrigerator!....if I have room.
Linda c

Hi Annie! The big boy is great--and the reason I learned to bake bread. :)

I've been baking bread for about 20 years now sometimes using a bread maker and other times without using one. When not using the bread maker, I turn my oven on to the lowest setting, 150 degrees, for only one minute and then turn it off. Then, I place the bread dough, in a bowl which is covered with a damp towel, in the oven to rise.

Linda C's microwave method is what I have been doing.

Simple and works well.

Although I use at least two quarts of water. Just to be clear: Heat up the water first then put the dough in.

dcarch

Thanks for the storage suggestions. But at the rate I'm going it won't need to be stored (stored on my hips maybe!).
~ Tracy

"Posted by joy_unspeakable ------
My question: What is the best way to store bread to maintain freshness? Thanks!
~ Tracy"

I have developed a way to have fresh crispy bread all the time. I will start a new thread to show how when I have a little more time."

dcarch

We keep our house cool, too, and my challa rises fine on the counter. You can even do the second rise in the refrigerator overnight. I usually make a few at a time, so after the first rise, I shape the loaves and wrap (in foil) and freeze the extras. When I want to use them, I take them out and unwrap, put on a greased sheet or in a greased loaf pan, cover with the greased foil from the freezer, and let it sit 6 hours before baking. Comes out exactly the same as if I bake it the same day.

As for storage, I, too, had read that the refrigerator makes bread go stale fast. We keep sliced bread in the freezer, because we don't use it very fast. I toast it straight from the freezer or pack lunch sandwiches with frozen bread (keeps the filling fresh, too); to eat right away, I nuke it for a few seconds, but only as much as I'm sure we will eat. For the homemade or other special bread, we keep it in plastic bags in a breadbox in the pantry. I don't know why it's so, but a breadbox really, really does keep bread fresh so much longer.

Another option for rising is a heating pad. I put it on the lowest setting if starting with room temperature dough-- that way the top of the dough doesn't dry out from being too hot. If I'm taking a bowl of dough out of the fridge, I put it on a higher setting until the bowl or pan warms up, and usually put a wet paper towel over the top as a precaution.

I use the oven light and drape a towel over the bowl.
Mostly because the woodstove isn't usually going yet a 7am when I normally start my bread.
On a very cold day when the stove is going, I set the dough by the stove. My brother built me a baker's rack that just fits in a little niche in my living room and fits 2 half sheet pans. Perfect!
Deanna

I ended up turning the oven on 135 for a few minutes and then turned it off a while before I was was ready for the final rising. In the end the bread turned out great - honey wheat with half whole wheat flour - it was light and nice. I like whole grain but not the bread that feels like a rock and tastes like bark. The loaf was a bit asymmetrical but didn't look too bad. I'm going to make some more tomorrow and see if I can do a better job on the shape.

I have a griddle ( covered when not in use ) on my stove top that I place my dough on to rise... I usually turn the burner on, take the dough out of the bread machine, place it on parchment paper, shut the burner off, form the loaf, put it back on the parchment paper on a heavy cookie sheet then place it all on the covered griddle, cover the loaf with a mixing bowl and cover it all with a couple terry dish towels.

As for keeping the bread fresh I've been adding Vital Wheat Gluten and that helps a bit... I keep the bread, usually sliced, in a cereal bag, the kind corn flakes come in, sitting on the counter... I've had Buttermilk Rye last as long as 5 days...

Rita

As for storing bread, what gellchom said. Due to a complex chemical reaction, the temperature of a refrigerator promotes staling, it needs to be either at room temp or frozen. I either keep the bread in a zip-loc bag on the counter if it's going to be eaten quickly, or pre-slice and keep it in the freezer and take out what I need as required. Only takes a couple of minutes to defrost a slice of bread.
Bread here takes a fair amount of time to go moldy on the counter, depending on the time of year sometimes it never does. I think that's more a climate issue.