Solutions For Bread Flops

There are few things nicer than pulling a beautiful homemade loaf of bread fresh out of a warm oven! There are few things as disappointing as finding out that the loaf of bread you worked so hard on is a flop. Perhaps it didn't rise enough and is flat, or maybe too much and it got air holes in it; you forgot salt (no biggie? just taste it and you'll recant), it's too dense, or perhaps it falls apart when you slice it. You're discouraged and now hungry from the smell of bread.

Photo Credit: Emily Carlin

Trust me, it happens to everyone once in a while, even seasoned bread bakers. Sure it happens more often when you're just starting out and learning all the little tricks that make the difference in a successful loaf or not, but sometimes things just happen. Bread can be finicky. (And sometimes it just gets stale!) Don't throw it away or feed it to the chickens just yet! Convert that loaf into something that works...


Solutions For Bread Flops


• Croutons: Cut into squares, toss with some olive oil and seasonings (or omit them), bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes, turn and bake another 15 minutes. All this is by preference, so experiment and see what works best for you as far as time and temperature.

Photo Credit: ilmungo

• Bread Pudding: Okay, this isn't my speciality because it is not my favorite, but I'm probably the only person on earth that doesn't like bread pudding. So I'm afraid your own your own for finding a recipe, but perhaps I at least planted the idea in someone's mind.

Photo Credit: Charles Haynes

• Bread Crumbs: I use bread crumbs in my meat loaf recipe as well as a topping on squash when I bake it in a casserole dish along with cheddar cheese. Occasionally I take chicken, dip it into a milk and egg mixture and then roll my chicken in the bread crumbs for a crusty coating on baked chicken. To make really nice bread crumbs, I just tear the bread into pieces and drop it in my VitaMix, turn it on low, and voila! Bread crumbs!

To store your bread crumbs (or croutons), freeze them in zip lock bags so you have what you need anytime your heart desires.

• Tuscan Bread Soup: I have an awesome Rachel Ray recipe for this delicious tomato soup that I'll try to post really soon. Usually I make it with a sourdough bread, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with any firm bread (perhaps an over cooked or dense loaf?). Funny how I don't like bread pudding, but I love this soup. And if you don't tell your family, they'll never know it's in there. 

Photo Credit: Muy Yum

• French Toast: How about covering that mistake with a lot of maple syrup? Turn that failed loaf into breakfast quick as a wink!

Photo Credit: jspatchwork

So now you have no excuse not to try making a loaf of homemade bread, right? 


How do you use your bread flops?

This post has been added to Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS™

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

When you mill your own grains sometimes the recipe just don't come out the same. So whenever I find a whole wheat recipe that works, and works well, I'm really excited. Sue Becker of Bread Beckers has a cookbook of recipes she has compiled that is worth every penny of the $6 she charges for this little gem. Zucchini Bread is just one of many I make regularly as her recipes have become a part of our every day life.

Zucchini Bread
(makes 2 9" x 5" loaf pans)


3 cups grated zucchini or carrots (or both)
1 cup olive oil or cocoanut oil
1 cup raw honey
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups freshly milled flower
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts (I like to use walnuts)

Beat oil and honey together, then add eggs and vanilla. Stir in grated zucchini and/or carrots. Combine dry ingredients then add to liquid mixture. Stir in nuts and/or raisins. Pour into buttered 9" x 5" loaf pans or you may use muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes (12 - 15 min. for muffins) or until tester comes out clean.

As you already know, zucchini bread is a great use of all that squash coming out of the garden. Make bunches of this and freeze it for breakfast later on. But of course, you'll want to eat some as you go.

 

Bread Bag Tutorial

When I wrote last week's post Bread Storage Without Plastic , I had hoped to find some time this weekend to make some bread bags. And fortunately, I was able to do so.

On Saturday, I stopped by a favorite antique store in town and found an old vintage linen table cloth that must have been about 4' x 4' (just guessing). It wasn't a tea towel, but it was a lovely linen fabric, some of the best I've seen. The edges had a nice binding which meant less finish work for me! And it had a simple but pretty hand stitched pattern that looked a bit like wheat to me (just a bit; just imagine that it is!).

To make a bread bag, I suggest you bake a loaf first so that you can use it as a guide for how big  you need to make the bag. I wrapped the fabric around my bread and then added a bit for extra room and to make it easy to get the bread in and out. So sorry I don't have any exact measurements for you, but as long as you make it big enough, you can always cut it down later if it's too big.

Next, use pinking shears or a serger to finish of the edges that are not already finished. This will prevent raveling when you wash your bag.

Press the top edge over about 1 1/2" toward the inside of the fabric (also known as the wrong side of the fabric). 

Fold the fabric in half lengthwise so that the right side of the fabric is now on the inside. (This is really hard for you to tell in the photos because the linen is the same on both sides. I had to keep looking at the embroidery to tell which was the right side!). The top portion that you pressed down in the prior step should now be on the outside.

Pin and stitch on three sides, leaving the top open. (It doesn't really matter how far from the edge you stitch on this project).

Using your pinking sheers or scissors, cut a diagonal across the bottom corners to reduce bulk when you turn your bag. Just don't cut too close!

You should now be able to open your bag at the top and see the correct side on the inside of the bag.

Press open the side seam at the top of the bag as far as you can (if you have a pressing ham, you can get all the way down. I just pressed about 5 or 6 inches down.

Now, turn the top down again on top of itself, so that it are three layers of fabric at the top. (Does this make any sense? I don't think I'm explaining this very well. Think of rolling a cuff on a sleeve two times.)

Go back to your machine and stitch two rows, taking care to space evenly. Leave enough space between the two rows for whatever string you are going to use - and leave extra room. For example, if your cording is 1/4", leave 1/2" between the two rows.

I hope you can see in the above photo that I stitched over this area back and forth a couple of times right at the seam to reinforce the horizontal stitching that runs parallel to the top of the bag. Next, turn the bag right-side-out and use a seam ripper to open up the side seam only between the two rows you just stitched.

Add a safety pin to your cording or ribbon and thread it through this opening (the casing) and back around to the other side. Knot the ends or tie them together.

Press side seams and voila! You're done! Now you can enjoy your bread bags. Hopefully, for many years to come. Since I used a tablecloth instead of a hand towel, I was able to make two loaf size bags and a square artisan bread bag. 

Please feel free to email me if you are having trouble with this project and I would be glad to try and help you. Or perhaps a seamstress friend can do a better job explaining it than me! 

Let me know if you make some bread bags. I'd love to see pictures. Amber, a long time friend and fellow blogger, already got on this project. Be sure to see her bread bag and reorganized pantry at More Than Rubies.

May God continually fill your bags abundantly with bread!

Bread Storage Without Plastic!

Laryssa asked a great question on Tuesday's post regarding the use of plastics in food storage because of the concern of BPA: 


"We switched to glass a few years ago and never looked back. The only thing that's still plastic are the zip top bags. I use them to keep my freshly baked bread in. Do you have any suggestions for something I could use instead?"

Photo Credit: Emiline220

If you're using Ziploc brand bags, according to their website, none of their products contain BPA. Here's the quote from their website:


"SC Johnson does not use BPA in its plastic products, Ziploc® Brand Bags and Containers. SC Johnson is a leader in providing high-quality products. All of its products are extensively evaluated for toxicity and safety and comply with—and often even exceed—applicable quality and safety regulations. "


This is really good news because most of the plastic that the majority of us use is probably from SC Johnson. If you are using another brand, you will want to go to their website and verify that they are BPA-free as well.


That said, I'm still on a mission in our home to reduce the use of plastics because I like knowing that I'm not constantly adding more to our landfills than necessary. And believe me, I could go through a lot of plastic bags if I wanted! I try to wash and reuse as many as I can, but to throw them away after a few uses is not being a good steward in my own mind. This is personal, friends. I can't tell you that everyone must do this. It has to be your own conviction or you won't stick with it, so it wouldn't matter anyway.  And honesty, this didn't bother me so much a year ago. I don't really know why, but now it does. 


So, if anyone out there is interested in some alternatives for your bread, I have found a couple of ideas for short term storage, but none that I've actually tested. However, I plan on trying something, immediately! Hopefully I'll be posting followups to this with some real results.


Sandwich Bread 


• While the sandwich may have been around since the late 1700's, commercially sliced bread was not in vogue until the late 1920's when a machine to slice bread was patented. It was sold in a wax paper wrapper that was not easily resealed. In the mid 50's, bread was sold for the first time in plastic bags. So sliced bread has mainly been a novelty supported by plastic in terms of commercial production.


• Prior to plastic, this kind of bread must have been consumed at one sitting by an entire family.


• If you have some fat in your bread (butter, oil, or other source), then it will help keep the bread a bit more soft and moist. Still, without preservatives, it will go rancid after a couple of days.


• Any remains could be used for breadcrumbs in other recipes, toasted or for french toast the next day, or in recipes such as bread puddings.


• Air is the enemy! It will quickly go stale when left where air can dry it out.


• Don't slice it all at once; only slice what you need at the moment. 

Artisan Bread

• Artisan breads should be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

• Unlike sandwich bread, artisan breads need a little air circulation.

• Always store in paper or in a cloth bag.

Storage Options

• If you wish to try and save the loaf for a second or third meal, try wrapping it well in a linen tea towel or cloth bag and storing it in a stainless steel box (a tighter seal would be good for sandwich bread, but perhaps not for artisan breads). Here are a couple of examples by Polder :

• Some stainless steel bread boxes offer a bit of protection but also have some ventilation in the bottom as well (good for artisan breads, not so much for sandwich breads). Brabantia is an example of just such a box:

Some think that stainless steel doesn't allow it to get enough air circulation, but ceramic should allow the bread to breathe without drying it out (might work for both sandwich and artisan breads?). And I love this ceramic version from Andrea by Sadek at Madison Avenue Gifts! However I think it will only hold one loaf at a time.

• Nigella Lawson has a ceramic bread box with a wood lid that doubles as a cutting board. Ingenious! But pricy and hard to find. It seems that the British have embraced this and it is more widely available across the ocean, but a few stores may still carry it stateside.

• Be sure to check out Soule Mama's blog post on how she stores her bread in a tea towel converted to a bread bag. Darling! Can I say that again? Really darling! I'm definitely making some of these soon - hopefully this weekend!

If you are milling your own flour and it is truly the whole grain, your bread needs to be consumed within two or three days unless you freeze it. So these options are only temporary measures to keep your bread reasonably fresh during that short duration. I'd love to hear how some of you are storing your breads without plastic. Please chime in!

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

As promised, I'm posting a Whole Wheat Bread Recipe for making a loaf of sandwich bread that I like to use. I believe I got this from Sue Becker's Cookbook, so I want to be sure to give her credit. She has several very informative articles on her website, Bread Beckers, that you might wish to read sometime! As I go through the recipe I will be highlighting tips that will really make a difference. Be sure to read through these a couple of times before you begin. Also, I've added as many pictures as I could so that you could see what it should look like.

Whole Wheat Bread
2 C. warm water (110 - 115 degrees)

1/3 C. olive oil

1/4 C. honey (I like to use raw honey)

1 egg

3 1/2 tsp. yeast

5-6 C. whole wheat flour (I like to use Prairie Gold freshly milled)

2 tsp. sea salt

Tools Needed:

mixer with dough hook

bowl or container for proofing

two loaf pans 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2"

basic measuring spoons, cups, etc.

tip: bring all ingredients to room temperature so that a cold ingredient doesn't deactivate your yeast. I keep my yeast in the freezer to keep it fresh and so this is very important.

tip: grease your mixing bowl generously with olive oil as well as the dough hook. This will keep the dough from climbing the hook while you are kneading it! It may get near the top, but it shouldn't go over and into the mechanism.

Combine water, oil, honey, and egg in mixing bowl.

Add yeast and then three cups of flour and salt.

tip: if your mixing bowl is stainless steel and the temperature in your room is causing the bowl to be very cold, either heat the bowl with warm water before beginning, or be sure that your water is right at 115 degrees because the cold bowl can bring down the temperature.

tip: measure your oil first and then honey using the same measuring cup. This will help the honey come out easily and completely.

tip: always add the salt with the flour so as not to kill the yeast. I usually add it to the third cup of flour.

Continue adding two more cups of flour. On the sixth cup, add only as needed. Starting timing your kneading process with a timer for 10 minutes. Watch the dough as it kneads and add just a bit more flour here and there as you see it getting too sticky and leaving too much on the sides of the bowl.

tip: several factors will determine how much flour you must add at this point. Try not to add any more than necessary as it will make your bread heavy. It should be a bit sticky, but not so sticky as to leave dough on your hands when you touch it. Eventually, the bowl sides should be fairly clean by the kneading process.
Transfer dough to a well greased container for proofing (rising). Roll the dough over to coat it with oil. Cover and place in a warm location. Proof until doubled in size.

tip: I like to use a food grade commercial tub with a matching lid. These come in various sizes with quart and liter markings on the side. You can purchase these through King Arthur Flour or at Smart 'N Final or at a restaurant supply store.
Note: my oven has a special proofing feature on it that sets the temperature at just the right amount for rising bread. Most ovens do NOT have this feature and do not attempt to use your oven for this if you don't have this setting unless your oven is gas and you use ONLY the pilot light. If you get your oven too hot, it will kill your yeast. Some options for warm locations include, above a refrigerator, dryer, or in an Excalibur dehydrator. If none of these work for you, I use to put a cooling rack over my sink that was filled with very hot water. I placed the dough in a shallow bowl on the cooling rack and covered the entire sink with a large light weight kitchen towel. This worked just fine before I was blessed with this new oven.

After the bread has doubled in size, turn out, punch down, and shape into two loaves.

tip: cut the dough into two loaves that are close to the same size as possible. Don't worry about a lot of kneading at this point, but you need to get the air pockets out. I like to roll the bread out into a rectangle and then start on the narrow end and roll tightly keeping it from growing longer than my loaf pan.

Place into loaf pans and brush with melted butter.

Proof again, letting the loaves rise to just above the top of the loaf pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and then turn out of the pans.

tip: don't allow bread to rise too high or it will start to collapse over the sides of your loaf pan and become difficult to remove. 

tip: bread will be done when you tap on it and it sounds hollow.
tip: To remove bread from pan, slip a flat edge tool around the sides to loosen. When you turn out the bread, lay it on a cooling rack on its side to prevent it from collapsing while it is hot.


tip: 
resist all temptation to slice hot bread! It will cause it to be gummy! Allow it to cool completely before slicing. (Unless you like gummy bread of course and you're not using it for sandwiches or toast.)

I hope you will find all these tips helpful. I can't think of anything more frustrating than spending all that time making bread only to have it come out so-so or poorly. I know, because it's happened to me. And sometimes, for strange and unknown reasons, a loaf will have a "bad day" and just won't be what I expected. But over time, my breads have come out consistently nice and with just the texture I need for making sandwiches. If you still have a problem, check out the Baking911 troubleshooting page. It is very informative and should help you determine what went wrong.

In the future, I will be posting additional articles that contain more information for making homemade breads. I hope to explore sour doughs, artisan breads, and more! After all, bread is the staff of life, right?