Bread Machine (63 page)
Bread Machine Baker’s Hint: Dough Enhancers
Bread machines seem to produce the best results with the addition of dough “enhancers” or “conditioners,” which are simply ingredients that help the loaf rise high and even. Professional bakers have used these ingredients, like gluten, malt powder, ascorbic acid, and lecithin, for a long time, and bread machine recipes respond well to the extra punch. Commercial bread machine mixes contain dough conditioners to assure consistent results. Although this is new terminology for home bakers, it is good information to have in case your loaves are not turning out the way you want them to. As you have already seen, I call for some gluten in all my bread machine recipes to give the extra strength needed to keep a good rise during the warm rest period. You can read about gluten in the Orientation chapter in the section on essential bread ingredients (see
Vital Wheat Gluten
). I always have some malt powder on hand because it is so tasty. Williams-Sonoma, the King Arthur Baker’s Catalogue, and other catalogs and retail stores offer Lora Brody’s Bread Dough Enhancer, which is a combination of most of these dough-enhancing ingredients.
Malt Powder
Diastatic malt powder is sprouted barley that has been roasted, ground, and dried. It is a favorite of American, French, and English professional bakers as it helps break down the starch in flour, improves texture, and acts as a sugar in relation to the yeast. Add a scant
1
/
2
teaspoon per 1
1
/
2
-pound loaf—this is powerful stuff. Buy Premier Malt where brewing supplies are sold or mail order it from The Baker’s Catalogue. It is excellent in bagels, white bread, whole wheat bread, French bread, and nut breads.
Lecithin
Lecithin, a soybean oil emulsifier that contributes to more efficient mixing and is often used in professional bakeries, is excellent for creating lowfat and whole grain breads; it yields a softer, more conditioned texture that contributes to higher rising without any added fat. The addition of lecithin enhances gluten activity. Widely available in health food stores, it is high in nutrients and comes in granule or liquid form: both need to be refrigerated. If using the granules, substitute the same amount of lecithin for the oil or butter measurement. If using liquid lecithin, substitute it for half the oil or butter, as the liquid is more concentrated. I use the granules; they are much less messy.
Ascorbic Acid
Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is a volume enhancer. It strengthens weak flours by changing the pH, and the yeast loves it. Use 1 large pinch per 3 cups of flour. Buy ascorbic acid in bulk, or you can crush some vitamin C tablets or take it out of a capsule. Hodgson’s Mill offers gluten with vitamin C added to it; it is available by mail order if it is not in your local supermarket. Never add ascorbic acid if a recipe has acid ingredients; it will be too acidic. This is a real professional bakery secret weapon.
Two tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice, or acid ingredients such as buttermilk and yogurt, are often added to heavy whole grain doughs such as pumpernickel, and have the same effect as ascorbic acid.
T
his bread has always been very popular in my baking classes. It is a real surprise; the wild rice and the coarse, dark rye flour make a dynamite taste duo.
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2
-POUND LOAF
1
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/
8
cups water
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3
cup raw wild rice
2
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/
2
tablespoons walnut oil
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2
3
/
4
cups bread flour
1
/
3
cup pumpernickel rye flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon gluten
1
1
/
2
teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
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/
2
teaspoons bread machine yeast
2-POUND LOAF
1
1
/
2
cups water
1
/
2
cup raw wild rice
3 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
3
1
/
2
cups bread flour
1
/
2
cup pumpernickel rye flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons gluten
2 teaspoons salt
2
1
/
4
teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
3
/
4
teaspoons bread machine yeast
Heat the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes, until the rice is tender. Strain the remaining cooking liquid into a 2-cup measure and add enough extra water to equal the original amount in the pan (1
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/
8
cups for the 1
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/
2
-pound loaf or 1
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/
2
cups for the 2-pound loaf). Set the liquid and rice aside separately to cool. You will have about
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3
cup cooked rice for the 1
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/
2
-pound loaf and 1 cup for the 2-pound loaf.
Place the ingredients, except the rice, in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer’s instructions. Set crust on dark and program crust on dark and program for the Basic or Fruit and Nut cycle; press Start. (This recipe is not suitable for use with the Delay Timer.) When the machine beeps, or between Knead 1 and Knead 2, add the rice.
When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing.
Gluten-free baking works beautifully in the bread machine. If you don’t have an allergy, this type of baking may seem superfluous to you, and the breads probably unpalatable. But if you are gluten intolerant, the idea of a slice of bread with dinner or toast for breakfast is euphoria. The challenge of gluten-free baking is to make a dough that has some of the stretchy quality of a gluten dough, so that the loaf holds together and is light textured. Gluten occurs in wheat, rye, oats, barley, and other flours, so this type of baking depends on rice, tapioca, potato starch, corn, and buckwheat flours with bits of xanthan gum and guar gum added to lend elasticity.
You need to have a strong motor in your bread machine to make these breads, one that is capable of handling whole wheat doughs, because the gluten-free doughs are like thick, sticky batters. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the pan after five minutes of mixing. These recipes have a total of 3 cups of flour, so they will make 1
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/
2
-pound loaves (which can also be baked in 2-pound-loaf machines); larger loaves will not bake correctly in the machine and will rise over the rim of the pan. The bread is dense and moist, so keep it in the freezer or refrigerator instead of at room temperature. If you want to make a 1-pound sampler loaf, reduce the recipe proportions by one-third.
The first three recipes, developed in the Red Star Yeast and Betty Crocker test kitchens, are included here courtesy of Lisa Brugellis of Welbilt of America. The recipes are included with the company’s Millennium bread machine models, all of which have a special Non-Gluten Bread cycle, which turns out bread in 58 minutes. If you don’t have this special cycle, use the Quick Yeast Bread cycle on your machine. For more information on gluten-free baking, look up the
Gluten-Free Gourmet
books by Bette Hagman (Henry Holt Publishers).
