Bread Machine, but baking in the Oven
Jasdip
14 years ago
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susan_on
14 years agoMarilyn Sue McClintock
14 years agoRelated Discussions
When it's cold out, bake! :) 2 pics
Comments (12)Yum! We didn't have school yesterday. I baked a blueberry braided bread and an apple pie. Only a small sliver of pie was left this morning!...See MoreBaking Challah in a bread machine?
Comments (15)My stacked 200 series oven and combi-steam are 45" together, with about an inch of trim between. (I think the sizes are the same as the current models.) There is a tank version of the combi-steam if you don't want to plumb it, though having the plumbing means descaling once in a very blue moon (like years) and otherwise forgetting about the water. You do have to have space nearby for the trap and valve if you plumb. Mine does go down through the floor to the main drain which starts at the cleanup sink, and meets the prep and combi- at the island, then runs through the laundry. If it's not easily retrofitted, it's probably not worth the bother. I did get a little "pizza stone" (quote marks because it's thin) to fit in the combi- but I have it purposefully high, and I haven't gotten around to trying to bake in it. For crusty breads and toothsome pizzas, I use the dedicated pizza stone and electric coil that are an extra you can buy for the regular oven. Rhome410 isn't enthusiastic about hers (and she liked her Wolf ovens better than the Gaggenau before they failed), but I think they're fantastic! The thing about the combi-steam is that it doesn't do anything you can't achieve by other means. It's just easier. For a lot of things that people want steam on, like crusty roasts and breads, I've always said, "Just put a ramekin of water in your regular oven." I've only recently gotten into the crusty bread thing, and I was a little concerned with the pizza stone in its required bottom position since all the instructions say that the steam pan should be below, but when I put my ramekin of water on a high shelf with the bread on the stone, it gets as nicely crusty as one could wish. I haven't compared to the alternative method, but it compares well to bakery/restaurant crust. The greatest tricks the combi-steam does are regenerate and steaming. Regenerate mode lets you put in a composed plate to heat up. Meat, veg, starch, it all gets warm without getting overcooked or weird. I decided I didn't care how much it cost when I was microwave steaming vegetables for salad for the holidays and my very favorite glass pot broke. It was too much cold/hot/cold/hot stress. I hate steaming on the stove. There is no work to making vegetables for a couple dozen people in the combi-steam. Prepping, them, yes, but steaming them is a bagatelle. Almost an afterthought. It also makes excellent poultry. I once did three turkey half breasts and three thighs for Passover. Dead easy. The combi- will hold my 17" Pyrex dish and my 8 qt. Graniteware roaster (with foil on--the lid doesn't fit easily), so most years it gets either the kugel or the brisket. My "goose pot", when I go for the whole turkey has enough room around it in the big oven for a few baked potatoes, or other small oddities, but the combi- year, I put the potatoes on the edge of the turkey pans and they came out fine. (I have a couple of non-meat eaters.) The first fault I've found with my regular oven is that with the fan on (which includes with the pizza stone setting), the hot air hits the door and reflects at a particular angle, so the right front edge of the bread gets a little browner. Not enough to bother me, but not as even as baking without the fan. The oven will do fan only, fan and some or all of bottom heat, bottom heat only, and top and bottom heat. And that's just for baking. :) You get to choose. And, yes, unless you can find a good closeout, Gaggenau will cost you more than anything else, and the combi-steam is a premium beyond that. More than you wanted to know? I'm still holding good thoughts for the recovery of your Miele. :)...See MoreWhole grain artisan bread
Comments (17)1. What you are probably experiencing are rancid oils in the whole wheat flour from exposure to oxygen and heat, combined with an odor from over-proofing. Wheat as a grass and wheat as the hard seed, have nothing in common for flavor. Trust me on this one - I grew up in the middle of wheat fields and participated in wheat production from seed to harvest. I grow wheatgrass for juicing and 25-years of milling my own flour and making all our breads and baked goods with it, and I've never experienced any flavors or aromas like you describe. Try another loaf using a dough rising bucket to control your first rise and see if you get different results. Dough can over-proof during the first (second, optional rise, although it's not often used anymore) and the final proof/rise (after it's formed for baking). 2. Purchased commercial flour isn't "fresh". It may have been recently purchased, but the only way to get "fresh" flour is to mill it yourself, or purchase it at the mill as soon as it's been processed and bagged. We have no idea when commercial flour was milled, conditions during transporting and warehousing (temperature/humidity) and how long it's been sitting on the shelf in the store. Depending on how it's bagged and stored, flour can also absorb strong household, refrigerator or freezer odors. --If you are considering adding bulghur, that's another wheat product I would suggest making yourself from whole wheat berries - fresh is best. It's susceptible to quickly going rancid from exposure to heat, light and oxygen; and it's mainly adding "tooth" (a grainy, chewy texture, as well as additional fiber), but not a lot of flavor. I do have a good recipe for Bulgur Wheat Loaf if you want me to post it. You can't mask rancid oils or that vinegar scent from over-proofing dough. As a foods judge at fairs, smelling the bread is an important part of judging, and can tell you a lot about it. 3. "Artisan Bread" means it's made by hand. After that, it's up for interpretation, and that interpretation gets very broad. What you are describing is a lean, light wheat bread, free-formed into a boule (ball). The term "artisan" is more commercial than anything else. Up until bread was made with some kind of machinery, it was all "artisan" bread - made by hand. Some claim an "artisan bread" has to be made with a starter, not baker's yeast. Another interpretation may mean it's formed by hand, but the dough can be made with the assistance of a machine (stand mixer or bread machine). Panned soft sandwich bread can be an "artisan" bread. It doesn't have to be formed into a boule. 4. Poking dough with two fingers after the first rise in the bowl is an inaccurate method for testing dough for reaching "double" - use a dough rising bucket instead. For the final proofing (after the dough is formed) to show the loaf is ready to bake, testing it by gently pressing it with a finger and leaving a slight indention on the surface is not much better for accuracy. You really need to be able to eyeball the dough, and make sure you are using the correct size pan for the correct amount of dough, and know the dough's rising characteristics. For instance, using a no knead - Bread in 5-minutes a Day recipe, those loaves generally don't "double" in bulk before they are ready for the oven. You'll also get a big difference if you form a flat-ish boule instead of a high dome. They also take different baking times, so bake bread to the correct internal temperature, not by time, looks, or the ever inaccurate - tapping on the bottom. --Cover formed dough for the final proof with plastic wrap - it's not possible to put it in a dough rising bucket. The dough rising bucket is used for the first (and second - if using it) fermentation of the bulk dough, not formed for baking dough. --Where many people go wrong -- they allow the dough to rise to the size they want the finished loaf. In an approximate, rule-of-thumb measurement, the dough represents 1/3 of the finished size, you allow the dough to double in bulk and that = 2/3 of the finished size. The last 1/3 is accomplished through oven-spring when the dough finishes rising in the oven. 5. Since bleached/unbleached flour is no longer bromated (added chemicals), it doesn't have the extensibility it once did and it doesn't stretch as far before over-proofing as it once did, so just UNDER double is actually a better gauge, and just UNDER double is nearly always a better gauge when using 100% wholegrain flour, or a mixture of wholegrain and bleached/unbleached. Whole wheat flour isn't as extensible as bleached/unbleached flour because of the bran. 6. A dough rising bucket is nothing more than an opaque plastic tub with straight sides and a tight fitting lid. They are available through King Arthur Flour, but I got mine from the local restaurant supply store for about half the price, where they are considered - food storage containers with a lid. I like those with graduated markings on the side, but a recycled plastic ice cream tub will work just fine. --Just make sure the container you use has straight sides. A slant-sided bowl is also an inaccurate gauge because it's smaller at the bottom and flairs out at the top, so it's very difficult to gauge "double". --I have these plastic food storage containers in several sizes to accommodate different amounts of dough, and also have round as well as square containers. It's all about the straight sides. The one I use the most is 2-quarts. My standard recipe for 100% whole wheat bread makes about 1-quart of dough. I know it's double when it reaches the 2-quart line. --If you use an unmarked container, just use a ruler to measure where the dough is in the container. You could also tape a 6-inch ruler on the side of the container. Double the measurement of dough pressed in the bottom of the container and mark it on the container. So if the dough measures 2-inches, it will be "doubled" when it reaches the 4-inch mark. If you mark it with a piece of masking tape, mark whether the top or the bottom of the tape is the measure, or you can accidently be adding the width of the tape and over- or under-proof the dough. Beth Hensperger's "Bread Made Easy" - A Baker's First Bread Book - shows step-by-step pictures and includes pictures proofing dough in a dough rising bucket (pg. 32), with the two-finger test as the option. Keep at it.... Bread is the most humbling food we make :-). A trip to your local library may also provide books and videos that can help. Information and experience..... -Grainlady...See MoreDoes anyone have a bread machine that bakes really well?
Comments (16)Shambo, on Amazon's home page--at the very top of the screen next to where it will say 'Shambo's Amazon.com', click on 'Today's Deals'. The first set of 'deals' will be the 'Gold Box Deal of the Day.' Just below the Gold Box Deal will be the Lightning Deals. There will be a bunch of these limited time deals...scroll across to see all the current ones and upcoming ones. They have a time limit on claiming the deal & completing the purchase. I think it's a couple of hours but you'll see that when you click on an item & add it to your cart. Another tip...when you get to the Lightning Deals, look over on the right hand side of the screen--Click on 'Sort by Category' to hone in on your area of interest (vs having to scan thru a bunch of junk you have zero interest in.) Yesterday, there were a bunch of small appliance deals (Zo, Panasonic, Cuisanart, etc.)--not so much today. :-( Anyway, happy hunting....See Morephyllis__mn
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