Isabelle Prescott

I stopped making the no knead bread because the crust gets weird. You have to eat it the first day. Anyone else feel this way?

I was not the person asking the question. I was trying to give KaffeeKlatch an idea of how I bake my white bread. I've been baking at 425 for over 50 years and it turns out great at 28-30 minutes.

I always bake my white bread at 425 degrees f for 28-32 minutes . Have you tried different temperatures? Also, can you test competition oven for accurate temperature? I know nothing about bread competition... just my thoughts.

What is the purpose of first mixing the dough in the KitchenAid before putting it in the bread machine?

They talk about professional bakers using the "high heat dry" milk. Well, I like the taste of home made bread much better that what the professional bakers make.

I'm going to do an experiment and make the same recipe with instant powdered milk and the same recipe with instant powdered dry milk that has been reconstituted and heated per The Fresh Loaf to see if it makes any difference. (Sometimes we complicate bread baking to a point of being ridiculous.🌭)

A quote from The Fresh Loaf: "Bakers use the "high heat dry milk" to get assurance of the reproducibility of the rise of their bread. The high temperature in the process changes the glutathione to a compound that will not affect the gluten structure. Glutathione reacts with the gluten to reduce the gluten structure so that the dough does not rise as much as it might. You can get the same effect by using milk that has been scalded for ten minutes, i.e. temperature held at 190°F for 10 minutes, then cooled to a safe temperature, say 85°F. You can mix ordinary dry milk with water and scald that, if you wish. You can make great bread with or without scalding your milk. But scalding will deactivate the glutathione in the milk. If you deactivate the glutathione, the loaf will have, at least, somewhat better height. That doesn't mean that using non-scalded milk gives you unacceptable height -- but there's at least some difference. You as the baker get to decide whether it is worth it."

How long do you let it mix in your KitchenAid? I time it for 7 minutes on medium speed after all the flour has been added so the gluten is well developed. After I shape it into a round ball and place it in a greased bowl I let it rise until its about doubled in bulk before punching it down and shaping it into a loaf. I heat a measuring cup of water in the microwave for 2 minutes and then place the bowl which I cover with saran wrap and a towel in the microwave to rise. It can take from 45 to 60 minutes to rise. And I don't let it get much past the top of the pan once its been made into a loaf (maybe 2 inches at the most). It can take about 45 minutes. The amount of flour varies depending on the humidity in the air and each bag of flour is different depending on how and where it was grown and the amount of moisture in it. Its a little guessing game each time, so I go by the feel of the dough. I've been baking bread since I was 21 and I'm now almost 84 so I've learn from my mistakes.

May I suggest you are letting it rise too long in the pan before baking it. Once the gluten has reached its peak of expansion it will deflate, hence the bread will fall. I find its better to let it rise too little rather than too long. You can also add some vital wheat gluten to you flour mixture. I do when I'm making whole wheat bread to insure it doesn't crumble when sliced. Also, I bake my bread at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

These are only good the first day. I'm 83 years old and have been making them forever.

There are many recipes for cruffins on the internet. Google and you will find them.

Adding gluten will let the loaf rise higher. Whole wheat bread does not rise as high as white bread unless you put in additional gluten due to the bran and wheat germ in the flour. Also, bread that does not have enough gluten will be crumbly when you slice it..

Yes. I'm not sure if I can put it up here since it is from a book. How do I get your email so I can scan the recipe and attached it to an email. The recipe is adapted for 7 different bread machines... DAK/WELBILT, HITACHI/REGAL, PANASONIC/NATIONAL, ZOJIRUSHI, MAXIM/SANYO, SMALL WELBILT AND SMALL PANASONIC/NATIONAL.

My Zojirushi bread machine booklet has a recipe for100% whole wheat fruit bread that includes Allspice and chopped dried fruit. I have a recipe for Spiced Pumpkin bread with cinnamon, allspice and canned pumpkin. I have a recipe for Alsatian Apricot Spice Bread I got from the Bread Machine Baking Perfect Every Time book by Lora Brody & Millie Apter which has Gewurztraminer, vanilla, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg and Dried apricots. These are all yeast breads.

Thanks. I'm not that scientific about my bread baking. I keep my starter in the refrigerator and feed it about once a week. Originally made it from Nancy Silverton's recipe using flour, water and grapes. It took about 2-3 weeks for it to get to the place where I could bake with it. I've had it for maybe 8 years and it just keeps on going as long as it is fed. I start my bread the night before I'm going to bake it. Its a simple recipe using starter, flour, water and salt. I suggest Soupcon just dive in and try baking with the starter. It takes longer, usually, than when using yeast for the bread to rise but totally worth it.