Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Taking it Easy - Adventures in Bread Machine Bread

Today is not a recipe day; today is an adventure day.

A few months ago I got a hand-me-down bread machine complete with all the essentials except a manuel.  I have finally gotten around to making bread in it.  I adapted a recipe at Gluten-Free Goddess to ingredients I had on hand.  One of the main ingredients that I do not have is millet flour.  I still haven’t found it, so I substituted brown rice flour.  The first time I ran it, I used the medium setting as recommended.  Other than it being a little dense - mostly due to my not knowing what the machine signals are for done (as far as the flashing light) so I left it sitting in the machine too long before transferring to the oven to finish it - it came out really well.  She gives a lot of useful tips for perfecting and adapting the loaf for the oven, etc.
I also recommend not deciding to find out how a bread machine without directions works when it gets to be 7:30 at night...that was a little crazy.
{Imagine picture here; I forgot to transfer 
photos before coming to school today.}
I have a funky bread machine with a bucket that gives you an upright round loaf. 
Round # 1 - (*not in original recipe)
Wet Ingredients (bowl one):  
1 1/4 cup warm water (110-115°F)
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. (generous) of molasses*
1/2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 egg* (she uses an egg substitute, and recommends 1 egg and 2 whites if using eggs.  I just did not feel like have two extra yolks in my morning omelet; the product did not seem to suffer.)
Dry Ingredients (whisked together in a second bowl):
1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup brown rice flour*
2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
[[And somehow I never transcribed the salt... and I did not miss it.  This is the number one ingredient that I usually forget when I make a bread off the top of my head.]]
I put the wet ingredients in the bucket first, and added all the dry before starting the machine.  During the first round of kneading after the dough was incorporated, I scraped excess flour off the sides into the ball.  After the machine was done (when I finally realized the flashing light meant done, not processing) I put the loaf in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes.  I did not slice it until the next morning when it was fully cooled.  I took off the slice with the dough blade and removed it; I am still using that slice to keep the bread fresh like I would do with any other loaf.  It is not practical for me to remove it from the loaf before the baking begins because of the design of the pan - a bucket.
I have enjoyed it with Olivio Coconut Spread and/or my fruit butter that I just made.
Round # 2 - Just a few slight changes from above; and I tested the dark cycle.
Wet - So, it is almost time for exams, and I can no longer comprehend half transcribed words.  I managed to add a half cup of rice wine vinegar instead of the half teaspoon before realizing what I did.
Dry - I added 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed for fiber and all the other good things they contain.  I love flax seeds!
After the above mentioned snafu, I adjusted by adding 1/2 half cup of my home mixed gluten-free all purpose flour, and added 1/4 cup of raw sugar into the liquid ingredients after I poured them into the bucket and turned on the cycle.
This time I added the dry ingredient one scoop at a time as the blade is running.  I also scraped the the sides when I was done adding the flour.  There were a few spots where flour was still not quite incorporated at the top, so I just gently pressed towards the blade with the flat side of the spatula and reshaped the top.  It looked like it would be a little stiffer dough than that in round one.  The first time I did it the cough looked to be about the right consistency, but was a little dense, mostly due to me I think.
The loaf came out looking good from the machine, but it did not quite sound hollow when knocked on, so i sat it upright on the oven rack to finish for 10 minutes.  It was still pale on top, but the sides were dark form the bucket.  After finishing in the oven, the top was a nice light brown color.  When I turned it over the next morning to remove the blade, I discovered that the bottom was not flat because the blade does a final momentary scrape of the bottom before the final rising.  I may try removing the blade in the future before this happens.  The first loaf did not have this problem.
This second loaf tastes great and has a much better crumb.  It is kind of sweet and sour (not like sour dough) after the accidental excessive vinegar.  The next time I feel like making it so sour, I may go for apple cider vinegar.
I plan to do at least one more post after Thanksgiving, about the holiday of course, but after that posts will be infrequent as final exams draw near.

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