Good morning Eduarda ~ Did you find one yet? If so what kind did you get? We did some shopping at SAM's club here Monday, (a place you pay a yearly fee and buy quantity and get a better price). I got a 25 lb. bag of bread flour for around $5 or $7, I think, and 2-1 lb. pkgs. of instant yeast for around $3. I keep the yeast in the freezer, except for a small container in the fridge for dipping into to make bread or pizza crust. Made pizza dough yesterday afternoon for pizza last night and it is such a treat to make in the machine. This week I want to try a feta/dill bread. Got the feta cheese at SAM's also. I will post that recipe also when I make it. Happy bread making. You are in for a treat! FlowerLady

AM, my Zo has a special setting for quick breads, so I'm assuming it's a quick mix, no rise and a bake cycle. I haven't used it because I just don't bake that many quick breads. I think whether you allow your kids to use an oven and at what age depends on the kids and on your "worry level". I used the stove and oven way before I was 12. Amanda did too, but she was a very responsible and meticulous child. Ashley was/is prone to being distracted. I've come home more than once to find something turning to charcoal in the oven because she forgot it was there and went somewhere with a friend, or (more likely), that she baked something but forgot to turn off the oven and it had been heating, empty, for several hours. sometimes she turns the oven on, gets distracted and decides not to bake, but forgets to turn the oven off. And, because I am a worrier, I worry all afternoon that something is in the oven or on the stove and I'm going to come home to a house full of smoke, which has happened more than once. Anyway, if you have bread machine recipes, I'd try one of those and see how the machine works. I do have a couple of bread machine cookbooks, I can check when I get home tonight. Annie

gldno1- Here's the 100% Whole Wheat Bread Recipe. It's designed to be made in a bread machine, but it can be made by hand. I have to give my friend, Mildred from Missouri, the credit for this great recipe. 100% Whole Wheat Bread Bread Machine (changes for by-hand at the bottom of the recipe) Sponge: 3/4 c. lukewarm buttermilk (I use homemade kefir.) 3/4 c. lukewarm water 2-1/2 c. freshly-milled white whole wheat flour (Prairie Gold from Wheat Montana is my favorite wheat variety) 1/4 t. ascorbic acid* 2 t. SAF-Instant Yeast Mix these ingredients in the bread machine pan and set the machine to QUICK DOUGH. As soon as the mixture is well mixed, stop and unplug the machine and allow to sit (with the lid closed) at least 2-1/2 hours, or up to 12 hours (or something in between). I'd suggest at least 12 hours if you are using a whole wheat flour milled from red wheat varieties, for a more mild flavor. After the sponge has set, mix these ingredients into the sponge: 2 T. melted coconut oil (or butter or veg. oil) 2 T. agave nectar (or honey) 1 egg (I also add 1/3-1/2 c. chia seed gel. **) Add to the top of the sponge mixture in the pan: 2-1/4 c. freshly-milled whole wheat flour 2 t. salt (on top the flour) Set the bread machine on regular DOUGH cycle and process. Check the dough to make sure it's formed into a nice soft ball and adjust the hydration as needed. My changes: I process the dough in the bread machine until the dough is mixed and kneaded. I don't let it rise in the machine. I place the dough in a dough rising bucket, place the lid on the top and allow the dough to ALMOST rise to double. Whole wheat dough does NOT have the extensibility that white bread dough does, so try not to let it go more than double. Using a dough rising bucket helps you to accurately judge when dough has doubled. Place the dough into a dough rising bucket. It should come up to the 1-quart line. It's doubled when it reaches the 2-quart line. You can get plastic food storage containers (with a tight-fitting lid and graduated measures on the side) at restaurant supply stores (or through King Arthur Flour - aka dough doubler). For this recipe a 2-quart container works perfectly.) After the bread machine finishes the dough cycle (or has doubled in the dough rising bucket), dump the dough onto a Silpat and with oiled/greased hands deflate the dough by pushing it in the middle with your fist then drawing all edges of the outside dough into the middle (turning the dough inside-out, so to speak). Divide the dough into portions (I scale the dough for accuracy.) Round each portion (make it into a smooth ball) so that all the gluten strands are going into the same direction. Cover and allow to rest 10-15 minutes so the gluten relaxes. Form dough (oil your hands when you handle the dough), pan, cover with plastic wrap for the final proofing - etc.... I make this bread into 3 small loaves (7-1/2x3-1/2-inch pans - 350°F for 20-25 minutes), OR one 1# Pullman Loaf and use the other 1# of dough for 6 pecan rolls OR an 8-inch pan of dinner rolls - sometimes I use a portion of the recipe for hamburger or hot dog buns. If making two regular loaves, bake in a 375°F oven for 25-minutes. A very versitile dough. ------------------------------------------------------ * ascorbic acid powder is available at most health food stores. It's a very important ingredient when you make yeast bread that includes wheat germ (which is in whole wheat flour). There is a substance in wheat germ called Glutathione. This substance breaks down the gluten and can result in a short loaf. The bran in whole wheat bread can cut the gluten strands, which results in a short squatty loaf. The sponge helps to soften the bran. The addition of 1/8 t. ascorbic acid per loaf of bread will counteract the negative effects of Glutathione. It will help prevent the gluten bonds from breaking down and will also help repair gluten bonds that have been broken. The ascorbic acid also helps sustain the leavening of bread loaves during baking. Yeast grows longer and faster when there is also ascorbic acid. Do not add it to sourdough recipes because they are naturally an acidic atmosphere. ** Chia seed gel is a mixture of chia seeds and water (1 part chia seeds to 9 parts water). This mixture thickens as the seeds absorb the water and adds hydration to the crumb of the loaf. It looks like poppy seeds in the bread after it's baked. Excellent nutritional boost and additional fiber. --------------------------------------------------------- BY HAND, place sponge ingredients in a glass or plastic bowl and mix the sponge ingredients together with a Danish dough whisk or a wooden spoon and beat the ingredients about 100 strokes. Cover, and allow to sit at room temperature at least 2-1/2 hours, but up to 12 hours. After the sponge is done: add the flour gradually to the sponge mixture using a Danish dough whisk (or wooden spoon) and carefully beat in each addition of flour before adding more. You may end up beating the dough 500-800 strokes, but do as much mixing as you have the strength to do. If you need to stop and rest, that's fine. The rest will allow the dough to hydrate. Towards the end of mixing, add the salt (DON'T FORGET!!!). The gluten will tighten up and make mixing harder after adding salt. The better job you do of mixing the dough and developing the gluten while it's in the bowl, the less time you'll need to knead it. When you knead the dough, avoid adding a lot of bench flour. If you have a problem adding too much flour during kneading, grease/oil your hands during kneading instead - especially during the last 2-3 minutes of kneading. -Grainlady

Most quick bread recipes will call for the traditional 9"x5" loaf pans, OR standard size bread pans - 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" - according to the recipe instructions. These pans are not interchangeable because they do not hold the same amount of batter. I personally don't like 9x5 pans for quick breads because the large slices tend to split when being cut into thin slices, and the serving sizes of the breads baked in a 9x5 pan are generally much larger than I'd like to serve. I use a pan called a Danish Loaf Pan (also called a Tea Loaf Pan) that holds the same amount of batter as the 9x5 pan but is 12"x4". The longer, narrower loaf is much easier to cut into easy-to-manage playing card size slices. You can also cut very thin slices and they will hold together nicely with the narrower breads. Using the Danish Loaf Pan, the quick bread also bakes in 25% less time than when using a 9x5 pan. You can also use this pan for 2-pounds of yeast bread dough if you would like small bread slices for serving sandwiches. Once again, it's easy to slice the bread into very thin slices. It's also a nice size to use half the loaf and freeze the other half of the loaf. I also like to divide a quick bread recipe into smaller pans (7-1/2"x3-1/2" or 5-3/4"x3-3/4" or 4-1/2"x2-1/2") and use these loaf pans for holiday gift-giving sizes, or when I want to use one and freeze the rest. Quick breads can be baked in a wide variety of pans, including Bundt pans, muffin pans, mini-loaf pans, springform pans, disposable aluminum foil pans, 1- and 2-quart fluted tin molds with clip lids for making steamed breads, coffee and soup cans..... The rule of thumb is to fill pans no more than half to two-thirds full, leaving room for expansion. If you are substituting another shape, make certain the pan holds the same volume of batter. You can do that by measuring how much water each pan/container holds. If it's a springform pan, then measure how much rice it holds since a springform pan won't hold water. Adjust baking time accordingly if altering the pan size from the original recipe. I wrap quick breads tightly in plastic wrap (no plate). If freezing, I wrap them in plastic wrap and then wrap them in foil. I think acidic ingredients, as well as nuts and fruits in quick breads tend to react to foil and get a metalic taste, so I never use foil directly in contact with the quick bread. I think you'll get the same texture using a Tupperware storage container that you get when using your wrapped plate method. You have too much air circulating around the quick bread, which quickly dries the bread out. A close wrap, such as plastic wrap around the bread loaf itself, will solve the problem of all the moisture in the loaf migrating to the crust of the loaf and then expelling into the Tupperware container. -Grainlady