What do you do in the Winter Time? Bake Bread

My favorite ingredients for baking bread.  

The Compact Bosch is great for newlyweds, small families, and empty nesters.  

Bread mixing in the Bosch

     I love baking bread, and winter time is the ideal time for baking. It warms the home and heart.  s there anything that compares to the smell of fresh baking bread? Nothing that I know of.

      Recently I discovered the most wonderful flour for baking bread. For years I have used Wheat Montana's wheat  flours and natural white flour, in fact their flour and wheats are mentioned in many of my recipes. Natural white is a pure white flour, free from any chemicals and bromains. When I use white flour, and it is only when baking yeasted breads, Wheat Montana's Natural White is the best and only one I use now. I have used King Arthurs in the past, but now Wheat Montana is so available that it is the only one I use.  You can even find it at Wal Mart.

      So back to my discovery. I generally don't use red wheat for baking bread. I love the Prairie Gold hard white wheat and that is what I have used for years. So the discovery was when I was given a bag of Bronze Chief Flour from Wheat                          

The dough kneaded for six minutes.

                                                                   Montana. I was teaching a class and used the flour because that was all I had.  I was a little nervous using a flour that I have never used, especially when I was teaching a class. But having no choice ,I went ahead and baked the bread. Oh my, when the bread came out of the oven I was totally amazed, it was the prettiest bread I had baked in a long time. The people were delighted. I loved it.

     I thought it might have been a fluke, the weather, the humidity, etc. So when I got home the first thing I did was make a batch of bread at my house just to see if it was a fluke or not. It was amazing again. I have done it several times and have had a great experience each time.  The Bronze Chief is an amazing flour for baking. I use it,  and add just a small amount of the Natural White. Perfect bread every time.

The dough oiled and ready to divide.

 

   Here the dough has been mixed for six minutes in the Bosch mixer. I love the Bosch and have used one for years. It is amazing. The Bosch combined with Wheat Montana is a sure recipe for success. I always use oil on the counter after I knead the dough. More flour will make it stiff. This is eleven pounds of dough ready to divide into loaves.  

Dividing the dough.

      I use this wonderful stainless steel dough divider to divide the dough into weighed pieces. Depending on the size of the pan with determine how much dough you will put in the pan. I always weigh the dough to make sure it is the right amount. It makes all the loaves turn out the same. My favorite pan holds 2 pounds of dough. I have smaller pans that hold 10 oz. of dough, which is the perfect size to give away.

Weighing the dough.

     So I actually have a small kitchen scale I use to weigh the dough. Kitchen scales are a must to have in the kitchen. I cut and weigh the dough and put them on the oiled counter ready to form the loaf.

Forming the loaf.

      After the dough is weighed out, I form the dough into  loaves and put the dough in the appropriate size pan. The pans have been sprayed to keep the dough from sticking.




     

Letting the bread rise in the pans. 

       

         The dough is divided and placed in the pans. I was able to do 3 - 2 pound loaves and 8 - 10 oz. loaves.   Now I let the dough rise until double, this will take about 25 minutes.

The bread has risen.  Ready to bake.

 

      The dough is now risen double and ready to bake.  I always preheat the oven to 400 degrees to start. Once the bread is placed in the oven I drop the temp. to 325 degrees. The bread takes about 25 minutes to bake. The internal temp should be 180 degrees on the inside. I use a meat thermometer to check to make sure the bread is done. Simply place the thermometer in the end of the loaf when you think it might be about done.  If it is 180 degrees or more it is done. Under 180 degrees the bread will be doughy on the inside.

The bread is baked and out of the oven.

 


      The bread is done. Notice how each loaf is the same size, weighing the dough really works. Notice how the sides of the loaf are perfectly formed. Letting it rise and putting it in a hot oven does that.

Fresh Baked Bread,  Perfect every time with Wheat Montana Flour

Bronze Chief Fresh Baked Bread

8 cups hot water

1 cup oil

1 cup Xagave

2 tablespoons salt

1/4 cup yeast

20 cups of Bronze Chief Flour  (That would be 5 pounds)

4 cups Natural White flour, about

In Bosch bowl, (do not try this recipe in a Kitchen Aid)  place hot water, oil, xagave, and salt.   Add Bronze Chief flour and place yeast on top.  Turn on mixer and start mixing.  Adding white flour just until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  Knead for 6 minutes.   

     Making bread is fun and enjoyable. The secret to success is quality ingredients and the Bosch mixer.   I think every family in the world should experience fresh baked bread. It is a tradition that I love and hope my children carry on well after I am gone. What do you do in the Winter time? I hope you bake bread.

Enjoy  Chef Brad ~ America's Grain Guy