They say that once you start making your own bread at home you never want to go back to buying those bland and quickly hardening supermarket breads. And it is that make homemade bread hooks up. Not only because you can choose the ingredients for your bread yourself, but because it allows you to enjoy the comfortable feeling of doing things yourself. Not to mention that delicious aroma of fresh bread that permeates the entire house.
Why make bread in a bread maker?
Though making bread at home is simple, many times we do not have an essential ingredient to make it: time. For that reason it is very practical to have a bread maker, which simplifies the process considerably. among all the different bread maker models that exist in the market, you will surely find the perfect one for you.
A bread machine is nothing more than a kind of miniature oven that is capable of carrying out the complete process to obtain a loaf. In other words, it is the machine itself that mixes the ingredients, kneads, controls the fermentation process and cooks the dough. We practically only have to worry about choosing the ingredients with which we want to make our bread.
And do not think that they are only useful for making simple breads, far from it. The possibilities are endless. Most models are capable of pausing after kneading so that we can incorporate different ingredients to personalize our bread: nuts, seeds, etc. Also, they usually offer the possibility of choosing the level of toasting of the crust: lightly toasted, medium or very toasted.
What are the advantages of having a breadmaker?
- It is very clean. The bread maker kneads the bread in the same container in which it is baked, so there is no need to remove remains of dough stuck to any place. Once the bread has been removed, the inside of the pan can be easily cleaned with a sponge and a little soap. It is the machine itself that kneads the bread, so you won’t even get your hands dirty.
- Its handling is very simple and you do not need previous knowledge to make bread. You simply add the ingredients, programs and that’s it. Do not forget to take a look at the instructions of the machine beforehand.
- can be programmedso that we do not have to be aware of the process and we can take advantage of that time to perform other tasks.
- has several programs to choose according to your needs or the type of bread you want to make. You can even use it only for kneading and proofing if you prefer to bake bread in your usual oven.
- Doesn’t give off as much heat like the oven, so making bread in the summer is not so overwhelming.
- It is not only used to make bread, but also pastries made with leavened doughs such as briochessweet breads, etc.
What are the disadvantages of having a bread maker?
- It takes space in the kitchen. Although they are not large appliances, they are usually the size of a fryer, it is true that it is one more device to find a place for on the countertop or inside a cupboard.
- The upper part of bread always it stays whiter than its sides, which are in direct contact with the walls of the bucket.
- If you carry out the complete process with the bread maker, your breads or pastries will always have the same rectangular shape. However, as I mentioned above, you can shape the dough outside the machine and bake it in your oven.
- The breads they are left with a hole in their central part lower. Why? Because the kneading paddle at the bottom of the bowl stays inside the bread when it is baked. This, later, must be removed, so it leaves a small hole under the piece.
Bread recipe in bread maker
Surely after reading all this you have wanted to make your own bread. Next I will explain the recipe that I usually make at home. It is a wheat bread made with a small part of wholemeal flour, to which I add nuts and raisins.
Ingredients to make homemade bread with walnuts and raisins
- 400 g of strong wheat flour
- 100g whole wheat flour
- 250g of water
- 50g olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white sugar, brown sugar, or honey
- 70 g of raisins
- 70g shelled walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 g dry baker’s yeast
Procedure to make homemade in breadmaker
To make this bread, I recommend that you follow the procedure indicated on your breadmaker model. However, the general steps you should follow are as follows.
- pour the wet ingredients in the machine, that is, water, olive oil, sugar or honey. Mix them together with the yeast.
- Add the mixture of two flourswhite power and integral.
- Select the program of corresponding kneading.
- When the machine stops and beeps, stir in raisins and walnuts slightly split. Once you have finished mixing these ingredients, you can bake the bread in the machine itself, or stop the breadmaker, shape the piece out of it and continue the process in the traditional way.
- Once it’s ready, take the bread out of the bread maker or oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. This will prevent moisture from condensing at the bottom. Finally, enjoy your homemade bread made with a bread machine.
Some tips for making bread
- What makes bread fluffy is the flour gluten. That’s why gluten-free breads tend to be flatter and caked. If you are going to combine several types of flour, make sure that one type of flour with gluten always predominates.
- Never use chemical yeast, also called baking powder. This type of yeast is only valid for making biscuits, muffins, etc. Always use fresh baker’s yeast or, alternatively, dry (lyophilized).
- Instead of water you can use other liquids like beermilk, whey, etc.
- If you don’t have experience making bread, start with simple recipes and easy. You’ll have time to complicate yourself.
- Not all flours absorb the same amount of liquid. In this, in addition to the type of flour, the environmental humidity influences. That’s why you may have to adjust the ratio between flour and liquid compared to what the recipe says. If the bread is too dry, next time add a little more water. If, on the contrary, you see that the dough sticks to the walls of the bread maker at the time of kneading, add a little more flour.
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