Bejay- "Best method" is subjective. It's more important to understand what characteristics each method brings to your bread and let you decide "best". As Shirley Corriher says in her excellent book "CookWise", "Give ten bakers the same flour, yeast, salt, and water and have them make bread with just these ingredients and they will make ten different loaves of bread." There are three basic methods of breadmaking: -Straight or direct-mix method (relatively fast method most often used today) -Sponge Method (all of the liquid, yeast, and part of the flour are beaten together and allowed to ferment - anywhere from 30-minutes to 12-24 hours) -Naturally-leavened (sourdough or starter) As a bonus not normally lumped into these standard bread methods, I'll add the No-Knead Bread Method - a modern version of the sponge method made by retarding the mixture in the refrigerator. Each of these methods impart their own "stamp" on breads. If I want to make light, high-rising loaves of 100% Whole Wheat Flour Bread, and avoid those whole wheat "bricks", I'll use a sponge method which is better suited for this type of bread than using the straight-dough method. Even as little as a 30-minute sponge will improve your bread. "Experts" say the optimum amount is 2-1/2 hours for a sponge. For whole wheat bread I prefer an overnight sponge, but 2-1/2-hours works well enough. When dough is chilled (retarding the dough), it influences the dough in three ways: -Enhances the flavor (the yeast goes into dormancy so it no longer consumes all the available sugar and the bacteria present can feed and produce flavorful acids. -Reduces ovenspring and loaf volume -Opens texture slightly There are those wonderful recipes for Cool Rise Bread that helped the busy homemaker in the 1950's. The recipe from Kitchen Aid for "Quick Mix Cool Rise Bread" was very popular. When it comes to the sourness of your starter, that can determined by the amount of hydration in your mixture. It gets more acidic the less water is in the mix. Once the yeast has consumed the sugar, the yeasts die off. The bacteria have a chance to develop that "sour" taste and will consume the dead yeast and produce lactic acid - the same souring acid found in yogurt and kefir. Adding yogurt is a modern adaptation, but when it comes to starter, they are about as varied as the people making them ;-). In my grandmother's day, they used starter all the time and never called the bread "sourdough". When the bread took on an acidic flavor we think of as "sourdough" bread, they did what was called "sweetening the pot". They took a tablespoon of the starter, and with consecutive feedings, developed that small into their usual amount of starter for the typical mild-flavored breads they made back then. Before the advent of fresh and dried yeast products, there were any number of methods for making naturally-leavened bread. "Old dough" (a lump of dough packed into flour and kept cool until the next baking day when it was used to make a starter), homemade yeast products made with hops and cornmeal, dry homemade yeast as well as liquid homemade yeast and starter.... I can make a naturally-leavened bread by using my homemade kefir + flour for the starter. There are lots of friendly bacteria in the kefir and lots of yeast in the whole wheat flour - more than enough to make bread rise. -Grainlady

Scotty : In the Restuarant, I did it like Kframe19 but I seasoned the flour with some onion and garlic powder. Shake it and into the egg mixture and then into the seasoned bread crumbs. Cover with the crumbs and Pat them a little. Then into the hot frying pan. I took them out, onto paper towels to absorb some of the oil. For the bread Crumb Mixture : I used San Georgio Italian Seasoned Bread crumbs and added a tablespoon of flour, some Garlic Powder ,Onion Powder, Parmesan Cheese,Black Pepper, Parsley Flakes and Salt. I have tried the Cheaper store brands but didn't like them. I think they are made with White Bread crumbs. If you are using a cast Iron Frying Pan , get it hot first before you put the oil in the pan. Cook the chicken in hot oil but not smoking hot. Hope this Helps, LOU said all of that ????? PS: Don't forget to say Thank You to someone.

Only time I had that problem was the first time I used the bread machine. I followed the recipe exactly, tossing in the ingredients, in the proportions called for by the recipe book that came with the ABM, turned on the machine and let it do it's thing. I realized immediately what the problem was. There was too much liquid. Using a bread machine doesn't mean it's a science, breadmaking is still an art. You need to monitor the mixing process, making sure that the proportions are correct, just as you need to adjust your bread recipes everytime you make them by hand or in a mixer if you want them to turn out perfectly consistently. Next time, keep an eye on the dough as it mixes, adding more liquid or flour as needed, and I don't think you'll have any more problems. I never had another failed loaf with my machine once I started keepin an eye on things.

I don't know about the US, but a Canadian bread company switched their bread clips to cardboard ones that are 100% useless. But they save trees.... So, when we buy bread that still uses the plastic ones we save them. I bake bread and need them. The plastic clips also have the expiry date on them which is harder to put on a plastic bag. they're also colour coded for the bread guy when he goes into stores to check for expiries to buy back from the store.