Bread Woes
Maybe someone can help me out. Whenever I make white bread in the bread machine it works great. The bread rises well during both rise periods and a nice loaf comes out. Whenever I make wheat bread it’s another story. I grind the wheat, make the bread according to the recipe, it rises well during both rise cycles, not as well as the white bread, but still it rises to the top of the pan. Once the heater turns on the bread drops, it ends up being about half a pan full of bread, whereas the same amount of flour for the white bread makes at least a pan full. The frustrating thing is that the bread has risen to the top of the pan before the oven starts. It seems like the heat makes it shrink for some reason. I enjoy making bread but I am by no means an expert. I can put the ingredients in the pan and push the button. Any help would be appreciated.
Bread is Good
Laurie bought a bread maker at a yard sale last Saturday. It is an older model, but seems to work great. I’ve made three loaves already, a wheat bread and a white bread. Actually I didn’t make the bread, I just put the ingredients in the machine, and 4 hours later a fresh loaf of bread was waiting for us.
We have a wheat grinder as well. It is such a wonderful feeling being able to take something from it’s original state and make bread, or cookies, or whatever out of it. Too often we get used to going to the store and buying whatever we want that we forget what went into making it. I feel that it is important that we at least understand where our food comes from. It is even better when the food comes from our own labor. When it starts in our garden and ends on the table we have so much more appreciation for it. I believe that we enjoy our food much more when we grow it ourselves, or at least make it ourselves. There hasn’t been one piece of wasted bread when I made it. The store bought loaves usually get thrown out half way through from becoming stale or moldy. The vegetables from the garden haven’t gone to waste as store bought ones often do. They get eaten and enjoyed. Having a garden really is a great blessing. We know what we’ve grown, how it’s been grown, what chemicals (none) have been applied to them, and most important of all, they are harvested when they are ripe, and prepared or eaten fresh. That provides the best nutrition for our growing family.
