Monday, January 7, 2013

The Joy of Baking Bread


Fresh Baked Bread

Mixing the Dough in my Bosch Mixer
      My favorite passion in life is baking bread.  I love it,. I love the process of mixing the dough, forming the loaves, letting it rise, baking it, and especially the smell as it bakes in the oven.  I think I might even enjoy the smell more than the taste. Although I love the taste of warm bread dripping in butter, the smell is the most comforting smell on earth.


     It, to me, smells like home, and I feel safe and happy when I smell fresh baked bread. Every child should grow up with that smell in the home.  It is like an anchor to home, and mom or dad, whoever is the baker.  It really does not matter who bakes the bread, as long as it happens.  

     Let me share with you something I learned a long time ago.  Bread making can be fast and easy and anyone can bake wonderful bread with the right ingredients and the right equipment. In fact with the right equipment, a person can have 5 loaves out of the oven in one hour and 15 minutes from start to finish.  Amazing.  And that is only a few minutes of hands on, the rest of the time is rising and baking time.  So the excuse we don't have the time, no longer flies.  

      The right equipment of course would be the Bosch Kitchen Machine.  I  remember well my pre Bosch days, bread making was an all day experience for me. I made great bread, even whole wheat bread by hand, but it took the entire day.  Three risings to get the perfect dough, and it still didn't compare to what the Bosch does in 6 minutes.

You can make any kind of bread in a Bosch Mixer,  Braided Egg Bread

Cracked Wheat Feather Bread
      I still remember when I bought my first Bosch. My grandfather had given me some money, and I was terrified that I had made a mistake.  It was almost $500.00 back then which was a lot of money.  They assured me that I would not have to let the bread rise three times.  I was cautious, to say the least.  My bread was great and I knew that to have great bread you had to let it rise three time.  I told the sales person I would try it once.

      So home I went, worried that I had just made a huge mistake in spending so much money on a mixer. I mixed the dough as instructed and to my great amazement and wonder, it was the best bread I had ever made.  I have never gone back.  I love all my Bosch machines.  Yes I have six in all.  I've grow so attached I cannot part with them.  I use all of them from the compact to my Stainless steel version, oh I forgot,  I have a built in one in the closet that I will set up some day.

     I don't know what I love more,  my mixers or the bread it makes.  I guess it's an equal love.  The mixer allows me to make the great bread quickly, and the great bread makes me love my mixers even more.

     Life is great, especially when there is fresh baked bread, and when we have the tools to make bread that creates "Fond Food Memories" in the lives of our family and friends.

Happy baking.


     

4 comments:

  1. love homemade bread...such a treat!

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  2. Can I just say here, THANK YOU! I have never made bread in my entire life~ Your show inspired me to try it. Now there is no way on God's green and wonderful earth that I could EVER afford a Bosch, no matter how much I want or dream of having one, but I decided to give it a try by hand. I am happy to say, I DID IT! The recipe I used was for 3 loaves and it was an all day project and lots of work and a mess and did I mention lots of work?! My kids helped the second time I did it and that made it more messy but a ton more fun! But it was SOOOO well worth it. I used your advice and replaced a couple cups of WW flour with bread flour and it was fluffy and the kids LOVED it!

    I have to mention here to anyone who reads this or watches your show, don't wait until you get your Bosch, try it now. And when you get your Bosch, it will be that much easier and you will appreciate what you have learned from doing it by hand!

    My routine now is to make 3 loaves every Sunday after church for my family of 5. I cannot wait to try out some of the wonderful bread recipes you have on your site!

    Thank you so much for your inpiration! Someday, I may be blessed to afford a Bosch or even some sort of stand mixer, but for now, my hands will do the work and my family will reap the benifits of homemade, whole grain, breads!

    Thank you!

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  3. Can I just tell you that I have been dreaming of owning a Bosch mixer for a while and I guess it will be a while yet. I don't have time yet to make homemade bread on my own. Thanks for sharing your love of Bosch.

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  4. Got inspired by your programs on BYUtv to bake bread. We purchased a Bosch Compact and off I've gone. While I have had one notable failure, ( I didn't grease or flour the bread pans) the rest has been great. It is a bit difficult though converting bread recipes to fit the compact Bosch. I think Brad if you're going to sell both the Universal and the compact it would be nice if the recipes reflected that. We just purchased a Fagor Multi Cooker and it's fantastic as well!!!

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