Calling all bakers!!!

[ewp11100]

Hola my fellow bakers! We were baking our own read to save money then got lazy. Looking at an impending lay off with my business not quite off the ground we need to get back to the grind (pun intended). I know we are all in search of the "perfect sandwich bread", slices well, soft but holds shape, mostly if not all whole wheat, nothing fancy just a good PB+j maker. I have used many different recipes and I stumbled on to this one I will post below. We had some crystallized honey we bought in bulk a while ago I needed to use up so I could by more we could use for tea. This bread is really yummy, lol better be with 1/2c of honey!, even my "I-only-eat-white-bread" dh likes it. But it crumbles really badly. Should I add an egg? I used the machine to knead but baked in the regular oven so I could have a regular shaped loaf. Any suggestions?

Help me with this delish bread recipe!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's so yummy, but it's super crumbly
Honey Wheat
•1-1/2 cups warm tap water
•1/2 cup honey
•1 tablespoon oil
•1 teaspoon salt
•4 cups whole wheat flour
•2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Measure the ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed. Make a well in the flour and sprinkle the yeast into it. Set the machine to it’s Whole Wheat Cycle. On my machine this lasts for 3 hours and 40 minutes. Press Start, and let the machine work it’s magic. Remove the cooked bread from the pan after baking and allow it to cool before slicing. Makes a 2 lb loaf.


Post your favorite sandwich bread recipe, so we all might perfect our own and possibly help the novice save money.

[JTA Mom]

I learned these tips from everydaystorage.com (I think that's it). She uses dough conditioners to make non-crumbly bread.

Use the same amount of vinegar as yeast. So 1 tbs of yeast = 1 tbs of vinegar. A packet of yeast, btw, is 2 1/4 teaspoons. This makes the gluten strands stronger.

Add a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per cup/2 cups of wheat flour. This gives the bread more gluten. Whole wheat flour, due to the bran, contains a bit less gluten per cup.

Add about 1/4 c of instant mashed potatoes OR sub the water in a recipe with the water potatoes were cooked in. This coats the air bubbles yeast produces, making them sturdier. Wheat bran is SHARP and the potato starch coats them, so less bubbles get 'popped'.

If you use these three 'dough conditioners' you should have non-crumbly bread that you can slice thinly for sandwiches. I started using the EZ whole wheat bread recipe, but started tweaking it. As long as I kept to the above rules, no matter what else I did, the bread came out non-crumbly and sliceable.

Ami

[living_organic]

Wow! Thanks so much for all of that info! I'm not the OP, but I too have the problem of yummy, crumbly bread. Thanks again!

[ewp11100]

Thanks for the advice! I tried the vinegar and gluten as they were on hand and that helped. While I was at the store today I picked up a little box of instant mash potatoes and will see if this helps more. I wonder if I made a big batch of mashed potatoes if I could freeze some in ice cube trays for latter thawing?

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

I wonder if I made a big batch of mashed potatoes if I could freeze some in ice cube trays for latter thawing?

When I made bread on a daily basis, I did this. I either froze potato water in ice cube trays or kept an old juice bottle in the fridge, full of potato water.

These days I'm mostly making no-knead bread. So yummy and so easy. Not necessarily the best sandwich bread, though.

[MamaChicken]

YAY! I was just wondering this same question this weekend. I make a lot of bread and have been having the same problems. I will try this!

[mommajb]

We will use either honey or molasses but only 2-3T per loaf, not 1/2 cup. I've seen the suggestion for oj to clean up the bite of whole wheat if that is why you are using the sweetener.

White wheat flour works for us and can sub in for all purpose in most quick bread/cookie recipes too.

I make the dough in the bread machine but bake it in the oven in a long loaf pan so that I can get nice sized sandwiches for the 2-6 yo crowd. Others might require 2 sandwiches to get full but it works.

[MamaChicken]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

I learned these tips from everydaystorage.com (I think that's it). She uses dough conditioners to make non-crumbly bread.

Use the same amount of vinegar as yeast. So 1 tbs of yeast = 1 tbs of vinegar. A packet of yeast, btw, is 2 1/4 teaspoons. This makes the gluten strands stronger.

Add a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per cup/2 cups of wheat flour. This gives the bread more gluten. Whole wheat flour, due to the bran, contains a bit less gluten per cup.

Add about 1/4 c of instant mashed potatoes OR sub the water in a recipe with the water potatoes were cooked in. This coats the air bubbles yeast produces, making them sturdier. Wheat bran is SHARP and the potato starch coats them, so less bubbles get 'popped'.

If you use these three 'dough conditioners' you should have non-crumbly bread that you can slice thinly for sandwiches. I started using the EZ whole wheat bread recipe, but started tweaking it. As long as I kept to the above rules, no matter what else I did, the bread came out non-crumbly and sliceable.

Ami

Just thought I would report that I tried these tips and they worked FANTASTICALLY!!!!

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by MamaChicken

Just thought I would report that I tried these tips and they worked FANTASTICALLY!!!!

Yay!

It's amazing how thin you can slice 'em, huh? When I used to make bread (grain free right now), each time I'd make a batch I'd challenge myself to make more and more slices. Hubby was not impressed.

Ami

[ewp11100]

Originally Posted by MamaChicken

Just thought I would report that I tried these tips and they worked FANTASTICALLY!!!!

Yes I forgot to come back and say that yes the tips were very helpful and has made this bread our staple sandwich bread! I've been fussing with recipes for more then 2 years, finally have a match! Thanks ladies

[newbymom05]

For those adding wheat gluten, are you already using bread flour, or all-purpose? I'm using bread flour and adding gluten (although not as much as PPs rec'd), wondering if that's overkill.

ETA this is re: making white bread, not all-wheat, maybe I'm the only unhealthy bread baker, lol.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

For those adding wheat gluten, are you already using bread flour, or all-purpose? I'm using bread flour and adding gluten (although not as much as PPs rec'd), wondering if that's overkill.

ETA this is re: making white bread, not all-wheat, maybe I'm the only unhealthy bread baker, lol.

The wheat gluten helps with whole wheat bread a lot.

If you are using bread flour, I wouldn't add extra gluten. For all-purpose flour, if you want a higher rising, 'chewier' bread, I'd add it.

Ami