Bread recipes ...

Carrs Breadmaker bread making tips

You don’t have to be a scientist to bake bread but it does help to appreciate that it is the magic of basic chemistry which turns flour, yeast and the other ingredients into bread.

The ingredients work together in such a way that inaccurate measurements, or indeed putting the wrong ingredients in, can make a real difference to the quality of the bread.

A short explanation of how some of the main ingredients work may be helpful:

Yeast

Yeast is a living organism and is one of the key components in a bread making recipe. It produces the gas, carbon dioxide, which naturally expands the dough helping to give the loaf a good volume. It also matures and develops the dough whilst providing flavour through the production of complex compounds.

We recommend that you use 'Fast Action' or 'Quick' Yeast when making bread in a breadmaker.

Salt

Salt inhibits the gassing action of the yeast but is needed for flavour - a balance to keep in mind if you want to experiment with sugary fruit recipes, or salty savoury breads.

Sugar

Sugar is the essential food for yeast but too much of it will kill the yeast off. Flour has a natural fermentable sugar content of about 1½%, therefore use sugar sparingly if you are adding fruity ingredients otherwise the taste may be too sweet, and the action of the yeast is impaired.

Butter/oil

Fat is used to improve the crumb texture and softness of the loaf. It can also enrich the dough. Some people use butter, others like to try flavoured oils.

Measuring

Bread machines do require one thing: precision. Careful measurement can make the difference between a lovely loaf or something really disappointing.

For dry ingredients use an accurate measuring cup/spoon and make certain the top is level. For key ingredients like sugar salt and yeast use small exact quantities.

Water temperature

Use tepid water in your machine. Cold water will not activate the yeast, and hot water will speed its action too much, very hot water will kill it.

What is the difference between Wholemeal, Wholewheat and Brown Flour?

The difference between wholemeal and brown flour (which used to be known as wheatmeal) is that wholemeal is 100% of the grain ground up and will contain approximately 75% flour, 23% bran and 2% wheat germ.

Wholewheat is a relatively new term for a wholegrain product and has the same constituents nutritionally as wholemeal; i.e. 100% of the grain. The particle size of this flour may be coarser than normal wholemeal flour.

Brown flour is actually white flour to which a percentage of bran has been added (usually 10-15% bran), this bran may be either fine or coarse, hence the terminology ‘fine brown flour’ etc.

Getting the ingredients in the right order

Always load ingredients in the right order. The rule of thumb is that it is either liquids first and yeast last, or yeast first, and liquid last. All other ingredients come in the middle.

Because moisture activates the yeast, it is important that the yeast is not in contact with any liquid ingredients, especially when using a delayed time bake setting.

Always follow the instructions that come with your machine.