Bread Machines & Sourdough

[Guest guest]

I have made bread for years, as has my spouse. When we got

together, he came with his own sourdough starter. He regenerates

his with milk rather than water, however, which gives the bread a

much richer and better flavor...with a slight cheesy flavor if the

starter is allowed to mature a couple of extra days before use.

 

If you know someone you can get a start from, that would be the way

to go. I've tried making my own starter in the past and failed

miserably with it. But once you've got it, you can hardly ever

kill it, even if it sits for months unused. You just regenerate it

(temps need to be right), and a few days later you're ready to rock!

 

I had surgergy on one of my wrists years ago, and was unable to

kneed the dough, so I broke down and bought a bread maker. I guess

for the average family, it is adequate...better that having to buy

from the store. But it takes such a long time to make A loaf of

bread! I never make a single loaf. In fact, we make a six loaf

recipe at a time and freeze or refrigerate the extra. It would

require making a loaf of bread every couple of days, using a bread

machine. I'd rather do it all at once.

 

Another thing I remember is that it left a hole in the end of the

loaf. That was due to the paddle device that does the mechanical

kneeding. Maybe they have models now that do it another way, or

multiple loaf machines. Don't know as I am back to doing it myself

or letting my spouse have fun with it. Gotta keep him useful, ya

know!

 

One more thing I need to mention here is that sourdough and

stainless steel don't get along. The stainless steel kills the

natural bacteria (yeast) that makes the sourdough rise. So if you

do it by hand, make sure you use a plastic, wooden, or enamel bowl.

You may not be able to use sourdough in a bread machine because I

think the interior of most, if not all, are stainless. Make sure

that any other equipment you use is also not stainless, like spoons,

etc. Once the dough has risen, however, it is perfectly safe to use

regular bread pans to bake it in.

 

Also, to make it the healthiest bread possible, try to use

unbleached white flour, unbleached wheat flour, or wholewheat

flour. Bread with the best texture can be achieved by using high

gluten flour. Most of these tend not to be available in regular

grocery stores, so it may be necessary to find a co-op or bulk foods

source. We're lucky because we have Amish and Menonite communities

close by, they buy in bulk, grind their own flour, and sell to

customers outside of their communities.

 

Turtle

 

, " Bill West "

<coffeemon2002 wrote:

>

> Apologies in advance (I may have seen it here) but does anybody

make

their own bread? Are those bread machines worthwhile? Anyway I saw

an article which said the best bread was homemade sourdough, with

homemade yeast culture. (from flour and water??)