Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Well of course!

P.S. And I hope she reads this: Everything I learned about bread making I learned from my mom so thank you Mom!! And she learned it from her mom. Isn't that cute?


Now for the highly anticipated bread recipe. A couple things though: We use white wheat. White wheat unlike red wheat offers a lighter texture and flavor. Most store bought wheat will usually be the red wheat variety. I'm sure the bread will still be delicious if you use red wheat flour but know that you are missing out on the deliciousness of white wheat homemade bread!

Edited to add: After a bit of research I found that King Arthur flour is made from white wheat.

You can buy white wheat pails online from emergency preparedness stores. I highly recommend that you do!

Next :If don't have one, invest in a wheat grinder. If you're really set on making homemade bread all the time then you'll absolutely need one. I use my mom's electric wheat mill but if the power goes out she has a hand grinder as well. (I better not ever move away! ha ha) With the electric mill it seriously takes a little over 5 minutes to grind about 12 cups of flour.

So the two keys to delicious bread: white wheat and a wheat grinder.

Without further ado here is my Grandma's Whole Wheat Bread recipe:

4 cups warm water (too hot will kill the yeast, too cold will not activate it)
2/3 c. honey
3 tablespoons liquid lecithin (you can find this at stores like Whole Foods in the vitamin sections)
2 tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
12 cups of flour

Now my mom has a knock off Bosch. That's what makes making bread so easy for me. You can dump all the ingredients together and then it will do the work and knead it for you. I love it!

But if you don't have $400 to spend on something like a Bosch then use your trusty KitchenAid (assuming you have one). Mix wet ingredients together. Add salt and then yeast. Slowly start adding flour. Secret time: I don't actually MEASURE the flour, I just keep adding scoops until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. That means no dough is sticking to the sides. It's one big lump.

I suppose at this point you would take it out and knead it but I've never actually done that. ha ha. If I had to I would though because it's worth it! So knead that dough! Then let it sit and rise until about double the size.

After it's risen punch it down a bit, form into bread loaves and put in pans; let them rise again. I have no idea what the dimensions of the bread pans I use are but they are on the larger side. This batch of dough makes two large loaves and one smaller loaf. Note: Evenly coat the pans in crisco or else your bread will stick to the pan when you try and take it out.

Once they are done rising for the second time, pop in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. As SOON as they come out of the oven, shake the pans and slide the loaves out. If you let them sit in the pans they will sweat and the bread will become mushy and saggy. Gross!

Finally, do yourself a favor and cut off the end of one of the loaves, slather on some butter and enjoy. DE-LISH!

*Now this all seems like a lot of work and initially it is but as with anything new, the more you do it, the easier it will become. Recently here at a women's fireside Julie Beck, the Relief Society General President said that making bread was "while work." You can get other things done with the bread rises and bakes. Saving 4 bucks on a loaf of bread is good incentive too.

So go out, buy your wheat and your wheat grinder and you're set! Ha!

14 comments:

Rob said...

Whitney and I use our bread maker. Dump everything in, set the timer, wake up in the morning to a fresh, hot loaf.

This is my favorite recipe for a bread machine:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Bread-Machine-Bread/Detail.aspx

Lindsay said...

Note: you don't have to knead your bread by hand with a Kitchen Aid. It will do it for you with the dough hook on the 2nd speed. It's supposed to take about 5 minutes, but it always takes at least 10 for me. The trick is that you have to decide when you think it's kneaded enough. The dough should be stretchy and not too sticky; when you put it between your thumb and finger, it should strech and not separate too easily. Getting it the right consistency is pretty important to a good loaf of bread; I'm still trying to get it perfect.

debora said...

The whole point to the kneading is to develop the gluten in the dough. Lindsay is right. The dough should be stretchy and have a slight sheen to it. Not enough kneading will cause the bread to be dry and crumbly. Practice makes perfect.
Lucky for me, my machine has a timer setting that stops when the dough is just right.
Rob do you make the bread? Brings back memories of seminary mornings. Good job!

Rob said...

Yes I make the bread.

Emili said...

So, what is the lecithin for? Does it do something special or have a certain taste to it? Am I an idoit for not knowing this?? I've been making my own bead for a while now, but I learned quite a few things from this post, thanks for the BM 101! Totally making bread tomorrow (after running to the health food store for some lechithin apparently).

Aly said...

YUM!!! I've been trying to find a good bread recipe. And if the Crockett's enjoy this recipe then it must mean it's AWESOME! Thanks for sharing! Appreciate it mucho!!!

Carly said...

Emili-lecithin serves the purpose of a dough enhancer. It has no taste. It basically holds the dough together but gives it nutrients too.

Lindsay, thanks so much for your input! I was hoping you'd hop in here with your information.

Kelli said...

Mmmm now I really want some, thanks.

So mom, if you're reading this, I think an early birthday present for me is in order, in form of a wheat grinder. Kay thanks!

debora said...

One last tip from me. I always add some of the flour before putting in the yeast. That way the salt won't inhibit the yeast from activating.

Lindsay said...

Yeah, Mom, I don't know if I can wait all year for a wheat grinder. I may just have get my own--I have all these wheat that is just longing to be made into bread.

I understand the lecithin to be like oil. You can actually use oil in place of it, but I guess lecithin is healthier.

debora said...

How about an early, early Christmas present. I'm going to ask Grandma if we can get a good deal(someone in their ward sells them) on wheat grinders for all the married kids. Will that do Kelli?
You're right Lindsay. The lecithin replaces the oil, its much more nutritious. There is NO fat in this bread.

Bob_C said...

The whole point of needing is to want it enough. Do you really really want it? If so, you need it. (Really, you should learn to spell and quite using a "k" and an "a"). Put your finger and thumb in the dough, plop it into you mouth, and your needing is fulfillment for a few seconds.

Kelli said...

Haha oh dad. You're just so hilarious. Maybe you should learn to spell "quit" without the E.

Early christmas present sounds perfect, Mom. :)

Sophia said...

Can I be one of your kids this Christmas Debbie!! HAHA! I go over to my moms to use hers too. I can never move away as well!! You should start a recipe blog, I started one with my sisters only because I want to eventually print all my favorites into a book!!

LW

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