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[Guest]

6 years on (from being pregnant!) I can finally take the smell of baking bread in the house again and have started using the breadmaker.

 

As you all know I@ve been dieting for the past 11 months and am now working on being a "skilled weight holder" so bread is rationed and needs to be thought out carefully.

 

I hate the idea of putting sugar in so I used low GI Hermasetas sweetener stuff instead.

 

No butter either on or in the bread for me, I used olive oil - really cheap olive oil too that I get from Asda to use to mix the hens food...

 

The bread was DELICIOUS but I'm not sure how much healther. It was good enough to eat "naked" though which is an added bonus. I used Hovis Seeded bread flower as I like seeds in bread (I know they are added fat etc but as a veggie they are VERY good to include in my diet)

 

Do any of you have any tips? I'm "allowed" 2 slices per day although TBH the 2 I had today were both rather thick....

[chickencam]

Making your own bread will give you a better quality product with a lower GI than bought sliced stuff anyway. It will take longer to digest because it has some subtance.

 

The sugar added to bread is usually there for the yeast to feed on as it works therefore sweeteners won't have the same affect. If the bread rose ok without sugar I would just leave it out, after all bread in it's true sense is just flour,water,salt and yeast. Other ingredients such as sugar and fat are added to help texture, flavour and keeping.

 

I use olive oil in my bread just the bog standard cheap stuff.

 

The seeds are a great idea because they add extra interest and nutrition and the fats in them are the essential ones that actually benefit health. Wholemeal bread has a lower GI than white or granary try doing 50/50 mixes they work pretty well in a breadmaker.

[surferdog]

If you're using dried yeast you don't need the sugar as it includes all it needs to help it rise. I don't put fat in mine either or milk. For basic bread I use the following

 

1lb bread flour

1/2 pint warm water

1tsp salt

1/2 sachet dried yeast

 

I mix it to the dough stage in the bread maker but then bake the dough in the microwave in a sandwich box - 4 mins at full power. Tip out of the box and cool on a wire rack.

 

At this stage you can either have soft bread (like the plastic supermarket bread) or finish off in the oven for 20 mins on 200c.

 

I normally do three at a time and freeze a couple to give my own 'part-baked' bread which only needs defrosting and finishing off in the oven.

 

If you wanted you can also let this recipe go 'full-term' in the breadmaker (or if you're really diligent skip the bread maker altogether and make it by hand!)

[chickencam]

Intriguing.

 

Warning! Lots of questions about to be asked

 

What kind of sandwich box do you use?

 

What size is box?

 

Do you allow it to do it's second rise in the box then cook?

 

Is the box covered at all?

 

You said that you can eat the bread once cooled without further cooking, is it like supermarket bread?

 

How long would the part bake version keep without freezing?

 

Ok that will do for now I am sure that I will think of more.

[Guest]

Thanks for that - I'm also intregued by the microwave method and whether or not it needs to rise.

 

As was said the sugar isn't needed for the yeast, the packets say no sugar needed but the recipies all include it - the sweetener worked just fine and I think I could use less.

 

I'm definately going to try less oil next time.

 

Oh and I bought my own seeds as the flour with seeds in is significantly more than without - adding the seeds yourself is cheaper.

 

I also managed to buy yeast in a packet today rather than sachets, it said perfect for breadmakers and there should be a huge cost saving over using the sachets - if it works!

 

Then I spent £6 on a Lock n lock which is just the right size for a breadmaker loaf....

[surferdog]

Intriguing.

 

Warning! Lots of questions about to be asked

 

What kind of sandwich box do you use?

 

Just a standard deep lunch box

 

What size is box?

 

Roughly about the same size as a standard loaf tin but a bit shorter and wider (I tend to use any box I can find that is similar size to loaf tin)/color]Do you allow it to do it's second rise in the box then cook?

 

No - just put it straight in the microwave from the bread maker dough stage and it puffs up as it cooks

Is the box covered at all?

No just pop it in the microwave in the same way you'd put a loaf tin in the oven

 

You said that you can eat the bread once cooled without further cooking, is it like supermarket bread?

 

It's more like homemade bread but without the crusty exterior and obviously because it's done in the microwave the outside doesn't colour. I always finish mine off in the oven as I prefer the crusty version.

How long would the part bake version keep without freezing?

Not sure as mine either goes in the oven or in the freezer but I'd guess a couple of days.

 

Ok that will do for now I am sure that I will think of more.

 

 

Hope that helps! I lifted this recipe from a book called 'Stories from a Small Holding' or something similar, but apparently it's based on Delia Smith's basic bread recipe.