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orchid

Well-known member
Hubby has had a job change and is closing out an American Express account with stupid amounts of award points so I’m getting lots of new toys. The Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker arrived yesterday so I made my first loaf last night but was not completely satisfied and I’m hoping that I can just bypass the trial and error with help from those of you who make bread with a bread machine. Now first of all, I’m bread challenged so I wouldn’t buy a bread machine if I wasn’t. So when the loaf was kinda sunken in the top, the book says that the dough was to wet and to add flour as needed. Well….if I knew how the consistency should be I wouldn’t need the machine, seems to me. And after the first knead I could see dry flour in each corner so I scraped it down and into it. Is that normal? I followed the direction exactly for the order for adding the ingredients in. I know that the next time I will measure the flour by scale instead of measuring cup. I know that’s important. The bread was really good, very happy with the taste, but it was a bit denser than I would like for sandwiches. The book says that Lecithin will help make the bread lighter but doesn’t say how much to use. Also, Vitamin C. Should I get these when I go shopping tomorrow? Here’s the recipe that I used. Any tips and help? And the link is for the machine I have. TIA

Basic Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Small-1# loaf

1 cup water

¾ tsp. salt (I used Kosher because it has less sodium)

1 ½ Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. Honey

¾ cup bread flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. bread machine yeast

http://www.breadmachinedigest.com/reviews/reviews/cuisinart/

 
Thanks Sylvia. I was hoping someone could tell me if it's normal to have

flour left in the corners or if it is supposed to get it all incorporated.

 
Hi Orchid. I think time will tell. I use 1 c. liquid to 3 cups flour. So we're really confusing

you I suspect. If I add an egg, I cut down a speck on the liquid. To that I often will add 1 T. soft butter but that's in addition to the 1 c. liquid.

I think you just have to keep trying until you begin to recognize what consistency works. It's very difficult to describe. I find that after the first 5 minutes or so, the dough has become smooth, fairly elastic and not tacky. But to describe the consistency ... maybe ... it resists a slight squeeze between the fingers and you have to know how tight. I keep my machine in the basement and the bowl in my kitchen. When I go to the machine, I always go armed with extra liquid, so that must mean that I start out with a scant amount. I find I often add up to 1/4 c. But it depends.....

Sometimes there may be a bit of flour in the corners. Not to worry about it unless it looks like an amount that might change the texture of the bread. The amount of liquid may depend on the weather, so it really is something that you just have to learn.

I had exactly the same machine in the Caribbean as up here and I used the same favourite recipes. But the quantities varied like night and day. One difference, besides the big one of weather, is that there, we bought US flour, which is still not as hard as Canadian flour, so I had to make adjustments.

Don't fret. It won't take long to know but do give the dough a squeeze after every primary mix, so that you can tell what works.

 
Marg, thank you so much for your response. I made another loaf

yesterday with much different results! Yea! I weighed the dry ingredients this time and made a 2# loaf of that same recipe since we liked the flavor so much and added vitamin C. It was like night and day to the first loaf! It came into a ball almost immediately unlike the last time and I could tell I was on the right track. I don't really understand why the last one was so wet but I could tell this time it was right. I do wish it was a lighter bread, not so dense. I wonder how you get it like that? Oh well, fun learning! I've missed you and glad to see you posting again. (((thanks)))

 
Orchid, humidity has an effect on breadmaking, even with the machine. Maybe one day was more humid?

 
Hubby and I talked about that but because it's Aug. in S. Fl. we have the

AC on 24/7 so I don't think that would do it do you? It is horribly humid but the house is closed. Maybe weighing the flour made the difference?

 
Well guess what! I just went back and compared the two recipes and

there is obviously a misprint in the Cuisinart recipe book that came with the machine. The 1# loaf that I made first called for 1 cup of water to 2 1/4 cups flour. The 2# loaf called for 1 1/4 cup water to 3 3/4 flour. The second one was fine, the first one wet. Looks to me like the first one should be 3/4 cup water. Well at least now I know what it should look like. That's not a fair thing for Cuisinart to do to someone who is bread challenged now is it! LOL

 
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