Read Bread Machines For Dummies Online
Authors: Glenna Vance,Tom Lacalamita
Bread Machines For Dummies (43 page)
M
aybe you're one of the many people who have discovered that the bread you've always had in your diet is causing you distress. Your doctor or dietician says, “No more wheat bread.” Sounds simple, until you begin a diet without it. Pretty soon you're craving bread, and even cheating and sneaking some into your diet, only to wish that you hadn't.
If you know that your body simply can't tolerate wheat-based bread, you'll appreciate your bread machine even more than you used to. Thanks to the bread machine, you can have breads made with flours other than wheat, oats, barley, and rye. Of course, these gluten-free breads feel and taste different than traditional, wheat-flour breads, but they are quite good and they're good for you. Try a few of them, even if you're able to eat traditional bread. You may be surprised at how good they are.
Wheat flour is the only kind of flour that contains protein that becomes gluten when wet, is elastic when kneaded, and forms the honeycomb structure in breads. In preparing recipes without wheat, we used xanthan gum as a bonding agent because it also becomes elastic and stretches to form the structure of the dough in gluten-free breads. While many of the gluten-free flours are available in the dietetic health food section of your supermarket, you probably will have to purchase xanthan gum at a health food store or through a mail-order catalog. (See Chapter 3 for a mail-order source.)
We've provided a well-rounded variety of breads so that you can have a sandwich, a great piece of toast, a pizza, a sweet bread with your coffee or tea, and a spelt (mock whole wheat). Some of you may not be able to use the spelt recipe because spelt is a distant cousin of wheat. However, many people are discovering that spelt is okay for them, even when wheat isn't.
For more information on alternative flours, see Chapter 3.
Before you begin making gluten-free bread, we suggest that you read the following list of cooking tips to avoid any unnecessary problems:
To bring cold eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of very warm water for several minutes. This method is safer than having eggs sit out for an extended period of time.
The easiest way to thoroughly blend the dry ingredients is to place all of them into a gallon-size, self-sealing plastic bag, seal, rotate, and shake. Some people like to mix the dry ingredients using a wire whisk in a bowl.
You can prepare several bread mixes at one time by measuring the dry ingredients into the self-sealing bag and storing in your freezer for future use. Do not mix the yeast into the mixture, although you can freeze yeast. We place one unopened package of active dry yeast in each bag of mix. Bring the mix to room temperature before using. Open the yeast and add to the mix before pouring it into the liquid ingredients.
Open the lid of the machine while the dough is mixing. After five minutes of mixing, the dough consistency should look similar to a pancake batter. You should see a swirl forming that slightly cones in the middle. If the dough is too thin and does not swirl with a cone, add more flour; if it's too thick, add water.
If your bread machine has two kneading times, be sure to open the lid of the machine when the second kneading begins. You may have to use your rubber spatula to push the top of the dough down to mix with the lower portion that is churning around with the kneading blade.
Some people prefer to remove the kneading blade from the machine after the first kneading. This prevents the machine from kneading twice and there is less disruption to the dough with just the small shaft leaving a hole. If you do this, be sure to thoroughly clean the shaft inside the pan after use.
To test your bread for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, the bread is done.
There is some inconsistency in the labeling of potato starch and potato flour. Be sure you buy potato starch and not potato flour. Potato starch looks and feels like cornstarch. Potato flour looks more like coarse, white, wheat flour.
All gluten-free recipes in this chapter are written for a 1 1/2 pound loaf. Larger loaves do not hold their shape well and do not bake through without a prolonged baking time, resulting in a thick, hard crust.
Put the Gluten-Free White Bread to good use by making one of our favorite sandwiches: grilled ham-and-cheese.
Toast the bread slices before making the sandwich. Spread mustard on one piece, then add the cheese of your choice and a slice of ham, and top with the other slice of bread. Melt a pat of butter in a frying pan on medium-low heat and place the sandwich in the pan to brown the bread and melt the cheese. Flip the sandwich to brown the opposite side.
If you've never made gluten-free bread, we suggest that you begin with this white bread. It's a very basic bread, and when you get used to eating gluten-free bread, you will find that this will be your standard recipe.
Actually, we don't need to eat gluten-free bread and we find that we really like this one. It's quite versatile and can be used for a meal accompaniment, a sandwich, or toast.
Preparation time:
20 minutes
Approximate cycle time:
2 1/2 to 3 hours
Yield:
12 to 16 slices
Wet Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Dry Ingredients
2 1/4 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup dry milk powder
1 tablespoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 Be sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.
2 Combine the wet ingredients and pour them into the bread machine pan.
3 Measure the dry ingredients, including the yeast, and mix well to blend, and then place them in the pan.
4 Place the pan in the bread machine.
5 Select the Normal, White, or Basic cycle and press Start.
Tip: If your machine is programmable, use a 20-minute knead time, a 70-minute rise time, and a 60-minute bake time.
If your machine has a Bake cycle, begin by using the Dough cycle. When it ends, select the Bake cycle. If the bread is not done at the end of the baking time, reset the Bake cycle and continue baking the bread until it is done. (Use the toothpick test to determine whether or not the bread is completely baked. The toothpick will come out of the bread without any dough on it.)
When the bread is completely baked, take the pan out of the machine and place the pan on a wire rack. Do not take the bread out until ten minutes have passed. This allows the structure of the bread to firm up so that it won't fall apart when you remove the bread from the pan.
Allow the bread to completely cool â it should take about an hour â before cutting it.
Per serving:
Calories 180; Protein 4g; Carbohydrates 32g; Dietary fiber 2g; Total fat 4.5g; Saturated fat 0.5g; Cholesterol 55mg; Sodium 190mg.
