Hints when using a Bread Machine

 

Henk’s Handy Hints for making good bread in a machine.
 
 
Henk Glimmerveen is assistant deputy miller at The Watermill and an expert in using our flours in a breadmachine. He uses a Panasonic SD-254 (the SD-255 has the extra ingredient dispenser).
 
·         Always follow the recipe in the book that came with the machine. Some machines require all the dry ingredients to go in first followed by the liquids. Other machines operate the other way round.
 
      Always choose the “Short” cycle, except for Unbleached White Flour.
 
 
·         Follow the quantity of ingredients as advised in the recipe book. Such as 375 grams flour 25 grams butter. 320 ml water. There is some freedom in the amounts of salt and sugar or you can leave them out as required.
 
·         Any mixes of flour work fine in a Panasonic bread maker. This means any mixes of white and 100% stoneground flour. I have managed to make perfectly good loaves combining 3 flours.
 
·         Pre-mixed flours such as Watermill Granarius, Four Grain and Harvest work fine on their own but will produce a flatter and compacter loaf. This is because there are additional ingredients in the flour such eg sunflower seeds that affect the rising process. To help this process along you could add ¼ of white flour and add some more water (330 ml instead of 320 ml).
 
·         Watermill Rye and Spelt flour will produce a loaf in the Panasonic bread maker but as the recipe book states it will be more compact and dented at the top. The recipe book indicates that these flours should be used in the Panasonic SD-255. When used in the SD-254 (the machine without the dispenser) the result was a rather flat, dented loaf that tasted fine. But we recommend that these flours are best made by hand, not in a machine.
 
·         Watermill Unbleached White Flour : produces a well risen, fluffy white loaf ideal for toasting -  
     Select “Long” cycle for best results.
 
·         Watermill 100% and 85% stoneground flour: produces a very tasty loaf. To let it rise a little more add some white flour
 
·         Granarius, Harvest and Four Grain Flours: all three produce a great tasting loaf but again add some white to assist the rising process.
 
·         Rye and Spelt: although they produce a loaf, it remains very compact in the SD-254 bread maker. Try the SD-255 for which the recipe is written or make a great loaf by hand.
 
·         Special Blend, Millers Magic and Bakers Barley: these are more suited to making loaves by hand. The machine produces a loaf that is tasty but very compact.
 
The Panasonic recipe book states that “strong white flour is needed”. Strong flour is milled from wheat with a higher protein and gluten content, and requires a hot climate to grow well, eg North America or Australia. It enables the dough to stretch more and hold more air bubbles during rising, making a lighter, higher loaf.  Our flour is milled from British wheat, renowned for its great taste, but not so “strong”, and therefore not able to rise as much. Nevertheless our flours work perfectly well in any bread machine to produce a nice, tasty loaf.
 
NB All Watermill Flours are Stoneground from organic and/or biodynamic (which is also organic!) grains. Stoneground flours have been found to have a higher nutritional value than roller milled flours, and the retention of the germ (the part of the grain which contains the lifeforce which sprouts when you put it on wet blotting paper!) gives it a delicious nutty flavour.
 
Do contact us if you have any specific queries – we’ll do our best to help.