[syllymom]

Hi, I'm still pretty new to all this stuff and having lots of fun learning and trying. So I now know that I need to soak flour/grains for several hours before baking. I love using a bread machine so I have tried 2 times now to soak the flour with the liquid required in the recipe. When I mix the flour and water it becomes a stiff ball of dough (I add 2tbsps of yogurt as well). I then put it in the bread pan of the machine and put all the other ingredients on top making sure the yeast isn't sitting on the dough to get wet. I then set the timer for having the bread done in the morning. I did this after supper so the flour is 'soaking' for atleast 6-7 hours before the process starts. The first time I did it the bread came out beautiful!!!

The second time I tried a different recipe and added some sunflower seeds and flax seed as well. This time the bread had fallen/sunk on the top.

but was still able to eat... just denser. I"m not sure why it didn't work the second time, but I'm giving it a try again tonight with the original recipe.
So does this sound correct for 'soaking' flour? When I hear soaking I think of a more liquid type dough, but that won't work for bread. Am I on the right track with what I did?

Sylvia

(PS. I do want to try sourdough but not there yet.... and I do like the convience of the bread machine. Anybody use their bread machine with their sourdough?)

 

[2sweetboysmom]

:

 

[dvons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by syllymom (PS. I do want to try sourdough but not there yet.... and I do like the convience of the bread machine. Anybody use their bread machine with their sourdough?)

I don't know about the soaking question but if you want to learn some more about making sourdough in your breadmachine there is a book called Worldwide Sourdoughs from your Bread Machine It's not available new anymore but there's lots of used copies out there on Amazon and Half.com. I thought it had a lot of info.

Deb

 

[syllymom]

Ok, so I'm still wondering about this but I guess most of you guys don't use a bread machine and just do it the old fashioned way.

So let me ask.... when it comes to soaking flour how 'wet' does it have to be to be considered soaked? And are there certain time frames for different flours?

Thanks for any input,
Sylvia

 

[yitlan]

I use a bread machine with SPROUTED flour. I just don't know enough about the science and art of baking to figure out soaked. So instead I use sprouted with the usual recipes (including yeast) in the bread machine. My family likes it and it's our "compromise" bread!

 

[melamama]

Hey Sylvia--have you been using your bread machine for your soaked flour?

I wanted to ask the exact title of this thread. I was thinking of doing a combination of the "no-knead, long rise" bread from the NYTimes artcle and my regular WW loaf. So I'm thinking I can program for a long delay, then a long rise, having cut my amt. of yeast down.

Anyone?

 

[syllymom]

I did come up with my own way to do this. I combined the flour with the wet ingredients only and let it sit, usually over night. I also would add yogurt. Then when I was ready to start I added the remaining ingredients and started the machine. Sometimes I broke up the lump of dough before starting because I thought is might be hard on the machine but then I stopped as I started setting the timer to start during the night. So in my mind, if I used all the proper ingredient and let it soak/sit for a length of time it what all the other recipes are talking about for NT bread.

BTW, I should add that my bread pan started leaking black stuff around the part that turns turns the paddle. Not sure what the problem is but I'm I'm guessing the bearings are wearing out, leaking grease. From what I heard to replace the bread pan, it's about the half the cost of a new machine.

: And then there is the teflon/no-stick coating on the pan that got me making bread the ole fashion way and using stone loaf pans. I don't mind doing this now but I have to say that the convience of the bread machine is still real nice.

Let me know how it goes and what you think. I'm bet there are others wondering the same thing with bread machines.

 

[provocativa]

sometimes things like sunflower seeds and flax seeds can actually cut the strands of gluten and gliaden, so they're not strong enough to hold in air, and the dough doesn't rise as much. my baking guru cookbook says they're best kneaded in gently by hand, after the machine has done the hard kneading. www.baking911.com has good bread machine instructions, sourdough and all. I use mine just for mixing and kneading, then I slow rise overnight and bake in the oven. My local water kills the sourdough, and my filter broke recently.