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white sandwich bread
There are few things that make a whole house smell good like baking bread. Perhaps its only rivals are apple pie and spaghetti sauce. There are also few things that taste as good as homemade, fresh-baked bread, especially when comparing it to store-bought loaves. Still there was the time factor to consider. All that kneading and rising sounded like it would take forever and who has the time?
That’s why I was so happy to find this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated for “American Loaf Bread-Standing Mixer Method”. (They also offer a food processor method and a hand-kneaded method, but they warn that it is easy to add too much flour with hand-kneading.) Yes, I know not everyone has a standing mixer, but I had always hoped to get one and was fortunate to have received a KitchenAid Stand Mixer as a wedding gift. The bread comes together quickly and the longest times are spent waiting for the dough to rise and the bread to bake, so you can be doing something else during that time.
The measurement for the flour is by weight not volume since I’ve found that volume can vary so much. I’ve included the volume if you just don’t have a kitchen scale. I also include microwaving times for the heated ingredients, but be aware that these are for my microwave and based on taking the butter and milk directly from the refrigerator. Your times may vary so keep a close eye on them. I recommend using an instant-read thermometer to make sure they’re not too hot, killing your yeast.
The honey is much preferable to regular sugar because it adds moisture and a great taste, especially when toasted. It doesn’t come out like a dessert bread, but it does have a great sweetness.
Ingredients:
17-1/2 ounces (or 3-1/2 cups) bread flour
2 teaspoons table salt (not kosher salt)
1 cup milk (warmed to 110 degrees in the microwave for 1 minute)
1/3 cup water (warmed to 110 degrees in the microwave for 15 seconds)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted (in the microwave for 30 seconds)
3 Tbsp honey
1 package (or 2-1/4 tsp) rapid-rise, instant, or bread-machine yeast
Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain heat 10 minutes, then turn off oven heat.
2. Mix flour and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Leave on lowest (stir) setting until liquid ingredients are ready. Mix milk, water, butter, honey, and yeast in 1-quart Pyrex liquid measuring cup. Turn machine to low and slowly add liquid in a very thin stream. If you add it too fast, it will become soupy and take much longer to come together. If it does, use a spatula to help it along while the dough hook works.
When dough comes together, increase speed to medium (setting number 4 on a KitchenAid mixer) and mix until dough is smooth and satiny, stopping machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook if necessary, about 10 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead to form smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
3. Place dough in very lightly oiled bowl, rubbing dough around bowl to lightly coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
4. Form dough into loaf by gently pressing the dough into a rectangle, one inch thick and no wider than the length of the loaf pan. Next, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the dough seam side up and pinch it closed. Place dough in the pan and press it gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Finally, place dough in greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. I use a stoneware pan because it hold heats but is porous, letting the bottom and sides toast well.
5. Cover with plastic wrap; set aside in warm spot until dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes. I put it on my stove top near—but not on—the vent from the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing empty loaf pan on bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil.
6. Remove plastic wrap from loaf pan. Place pan in oven, immediately pouring heated water into empty loaf pan; close oven door. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted at angle from short end just above pan rim into center of loaf reads 195 degrees, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove bread from pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.
COMMENTS
Bread machines are pretty particular. With breadmaking it’s as much about the techniques as it is the ingredients and I’m fairly certain that the breadmaker would not knead the dough the same, would not combine the wet and dry ingredients the same, and would not keep it at the same temperature.
I’m pretty sure that bread maker recipes and traditional loaf recipes are not interchangeable without a lot of tinkering.
I am glad you like the traditional loaf. Keep trying. Every time I make a bread recipe the first time through there’s a problem, but the second time it’s better. If your first time was 90 percent, your second time should be great.
Here’s the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for bread machine bread (for a 1 pound loaf):
3/4 cups water
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk , plus 1 teaspoon
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast
Add ingredients in order suggested in owner’s manual; continue process with machine on basic/standard bread setting.
Notice the dry milk. That’s probably why your dough was very wet.
Posted by Domenico Bettinelli on 11/22/06 at 06:36 PMJohn,
That’s pretty cool. I had not seen that before. Here’s the direct link to the recipe and this is the article.
I like the scientific explanation and the notice that this is no gimmick. It takes a long time, but most of that is unattended. If you make a loaf everyday, you just always have a loaf rising. I’m going to try this.
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