vaccumfreak-- I made it this weekend to try it out. I'm making the 4 loaves for the Girl Scout's Thinking Day on Thurs. Our troop is representing Sweden. I googled and chose this recipe as most of them are braided and I figured this was easier to slice in small samples (they expect over 300 girls!) This is not really sweet at all--I actually threw in another T of sugar for the next few batches. the first batch seemed a little dry as it kneaded, so I threw in an extra T of water (actually I "rinsed" out my measuring cup with the T of water, so it picked up a little milk, a little egg...) It's a nice firm bread, good for toasting--I like it plain or with a little butter. My Swedish friend said it needs lingonberry jam--not something I have in my pantry!

What kind of bread? Free form or panned? Be sure to check your user's manual for more information. The quick answer is, you bake bread to an internal temperature and take that temperature with an instant-read thermometer. For a panned loaf somewhere between 190-200-degrees F. (it will be more moist at 190 and dryer at 200). The internal temperature is the only accurate method for checking for doneness. Thumping on the loaf, or checking the color aren't accurate methods. -Baking breads at a lower temperature (325-350-degrees) creates a thicker, chewier crust. -Baking breads at a higher temperature (375-425-degrees) produces a thinner, crisper crust. -The temperature most commonly used for baking breads is 375-degrees F., but it's also common to use 350 or 400-degrees. -A sweet bread or a quick bread is baked at a lower temperature - 350-degrees F. -400-425-degrees F (or higher) is used for breads with low or no sugar, such as French or Italian bread. -I would check a loaf of bread containing 3-cups of flour after 25-30 minutes. Oven temperatures often vary. -Be sure to cool the loaf on a rack until it's completely cooled before slicing. If you slice into a hot/warm loaf of bread you will destroy the crumb and it will appear to be gummy or under-done. -Cool to an internal temperature of 90-100-degrees F, then wrap to keep the crumb from drying out. The longer you leave the bread unwrapped at room temperature, the drier the crumb will be. The moisture in the crumb will migrate through the crust. -Grainlady

Here are the recipes I made today. They come in Sampler Loaf, Regular Loaf and Large Loaf. I made large loaves. Country White Bread Large loaf 1 1/3c water 1 1/2t salt 1 1/2T sugar (I used 1 T of blackberry Raw honey) 1/2c barley or oat flour (I used oat this time.) 3 1/2 c bread flour 2t yeast To mix in mixer Heat the water until warm, between 105F-115F; pour into warmed bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to bubble. Add the salt, sugar, barley flour, and half the bread flour. Beat with paddle until smooth. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Slowly add the remaining flour, and beat until soft dough forms. Knead the dough in the mixer with the hook, on medium to high speed, adding flour as necessary, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. ~I then shaped into 9 large burger size rolls and let rise on cornmeal dusted baking sheets until the size I wanted. Baked at 350F until golden brown. However the instructions contiune: To Shape and bake in the oven Lightly grease a baking sheet, or cover with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or lightly oiled surface. Punch the dough down and shape into a round loaf, dusting in on all sides with flour. Place the loaf, with the smooth side up, onto the baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 375F. Using a sharp knife or razon slash a 3" circle on the very top of the loaf. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the loaf is golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean and dry. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Light Wheat Brioche Large Loaf 4 large eggs plus water to equal 1 1/3c 2 t salt 2 T sugar 1 c whole wheat 3 c bread flour 3/4c butter, softened 1 1/2 t yeast To mix in mixer Warm the eggs under hot tap water, and crack into measuring cup. Heat the water to 105-115F, and add it to the eggs. Pour the mixture into the warmed mixing bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes, until yeast begins to bubble. Add the salt, sugar, whole wheat, and half the bread flour. Beat well. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Slowly add the remaining flour, and beat until soft dough forms.~change to dough hook~ Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the dough. Knead the dough in the mixer with the hook, on medium to high speed, adding flour as necessary, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. To shape and bake in the oven: Lightly grease a fluted brioche pan, a 9" round cake pan or 9x5 loaf pan. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured or oiled surface. For traditional brioche shape, punch the dough down and pinch off one-quarter of the dough. Shape the remaining dough into a round loaf. Place the loaf, smooth side up, in the brioche or cake pan. Make an indentation in the center of the loaf. Form the pinched-off portion into a teardrop shape, and place, pointed side down, into the hole in the loaf. Or press the dough inot the loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled about 1- 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush or spray loaf with water. Bake 45-50 minutes, until wooden skewer inserted through the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool on wire rack.

Did this oven come with a new house? Was it a gift? I'm asking because it seems like the kind of thing serious bakers buy after they've already done a lot of work with bread rather than those wanting to avoid working with dough. Maybe it was bought for some other reason? Regardless, don't be afraid of dough. People have been baking bread and adapting it to the tools and conditions at hand for centuries. You take some flour and water, add a little salt and maybe introduce some leavening or not, and you can make a seemingly endless variety of things all called bread. If the pioneers made bread, you can make bread. If my 19 yr old video binging, game playing college student is learning to make bread, you can do it. Now, that said, it can be confusing. There are different schools -- traditional techniques that are still needed to make sandwich loaves and enriched breads (brioche, challah and such). That's where folks like me learned to make bread, and I think those skills and the comfort level with working with dough still serve you well when working with other types of dough. But there are a lot of people who have been introduced to making bread through no-knead breaed techniques -- and boy, , are there a host of books to consult on that. Artisan Bread in 5 Minues a Day is possibly the most approachable to the average person. I made some good bread with their basic recipe -- my son loved the ciabbatta. But there are literally dozens more. A lot of the recipes use Dutch Ovens, Lodge multi cookers or some other covered method (I've seen folks use a clay pot or metal bowl upside down on a baking stone to capture steam from the bread and get much of the result your CSO will give -- often without buying anything new. The only store bought dough I've ever seen is frozen white bread (Rhodes?) or Sister somebody's dinner rolls. I know some pizza places will sell you the pizza dough, and some bakers have had success buying some starter from a bakery, but that's all I've ehard of. That frozen bread dough is the opposite of anything that you would want to take advantage of your CSO. It is soft white dough designed to be baked in a loaf pan or possibly divided into soft rolls. It will never be a crusty artisan loaf -- and it sound like that is what you want from the CSO. I have a Wolf convection oven without the steam. I would trust their recommendations (maybe they have a basic recipe?) as a starting point. I'd never used a convection roast cycle before -- had always preheated to a high heat to sear and then reduced the heat when we put in the meat. The convection roast preset is a lower temp, but a bit higher than we'd used. Since this was different, we tried the preset. Roasts a whole chicken in an hour or a little more, crispy skin and juicy inside with no fuss. Our turkeys have been so easy and so good -- I digress, but hope you get the point. Explore the options. You should be very happy. You might find Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day at your library (and it's on Amazon, including Kindle if not). I would suggest cecking that out and trying to work with what you already have before buying equipment (make half their recipe and you shoulf have something that will hold it without buying large bins or clearing a fridge to hold a 5 gallon drum). After trying it, you can see if you need to buy anything new. Very litle expense -- very little effort really, and you might decide you like woring with dough enough to try the old school stuff too. I like both.