One of the things I have been working on lately is getting back to doing my own bread baking. I baked bread regularly when I was single, and occasionally after I married. For a while we had a bread machine. The reasons I gave it up were that I didn't find a bread recipe that my much-pickier-than-me husband really liked, and that I had more important things to struggle with accomplishing, once the babies started coming.
Now that I have the luxury of several older children in the house, along with the luxury of a mellow baby that loves to sleep, I can make bread if I really want to.
I am using a basic traditional 2-loaf white bread recipe, but adding in sunflower seeds, and also some wheat berries and oat groats (both coarsely ground). For a grinder, we have a Komo grain mill (I am not an affiliate of anything) which was very expensive, but which works well and should last, although I believe it is possible to grind these grains in an old-fashioned meat grinder as well.
I went with my husband on the grain mill purchase because of some homeschool mom's book that I read (I may have the title and author written down somewhere, but not in my head), which said that the two best dietary changes she made for her family were to reduce their dairy consumption, and to switch to whole-wheat flour.
I figured that since her family in the book sounded like mine, that her advice was likely to work for us. And I believe it does, although we can't always afford to stock up on wheat or other grains (which we mostly order online from Breadtopia, or occasionally buy under the Bob's Red Mill brand at the grocery store; I am not an affiliate of anything).
I found that sunflower seeds from the bulk section were cheaper than the pre-packaged ones. (I should probably write a post sometime about how I do math in my head at the grocery store.)
Since we have other bread-eaters in the house now, besides my husband and I, we can easily get through two loaves of homemade bread in a day or two.
My goal here is to get back into the practice of breadmaking far enough to be able to whip through making a batch without having to think about it much.
I believe Friday was the traditional baking day in the Wash-on-Monday routine, and Friday (or Saturday) works well as a baking day for our family.
I love baking bread. But I have a hard time getting a traditional "sandwich loaf" type of bread. Mine is more like a side piece or piece with jam. I have done oven and bread machine. I like oven better. I think I need a different loaf pan.
ReplyDeleteMy bread works better on the side, too, although the kids do make peanut butter sandwiches with it.
ReplyDeleteI think I can probably get a better sandwich-type bread if I work at being more careful at certain points in the process: with letting the dough rise long enough, with not getting too much flour on the dough right before I roll it up (so that a slice will hold together better), and with closer attention when I am cutting the slices off the loaf.