Saturday, June 28, 2008

Making Whole wheat bread


Several years ago I wanted to learn how to make my own bread. I began by searching recipes and reading about it and talking with others who had this same passion. After much trial and error I finally found a mixer, a recipe and a supplier to provide me with all that I needed to succeed. Wheat berries, a wheat grinder, a bread mixer, dough enhancer, quick rise yeast were all I needed to accomplish my goal. Very quickly I became what is know as an urban homemaker. Now let me tell you just what that is. An urban homemaker is one who loves to cook from scratch, uses as many natural or organic ingredients as possible, obtains all such ingredients from the best possible sources (which may or may not come from ones own garden) and does all of this from home. I don't live on a big ranch or grow my own wheat or raise all my own food, but I do admire all those people who do. What I do like to do is obtain my food from known sources so that I can discern its nutritional value and substance. Basically I want to know what it is that I am eating and where it came from. Over the course of this life experience I have now become a proficient bread maker. My friends and family have become accustomed to the rich smell of freshly made bread wafting through my house. It all starts here...with hard spring Montana wheat berries and a good wheat grinder. In go the berries and out comes some vitamin rich freshly ground wheat ready for baking.

I invested in a heavy duty mixer that will make a large batch of dough. The recipe that I use will make 5 loaves of bread at a time. (I have a big family, so we use it!)

Here it is in whirling action.
Once the machine is done mixing and kneading (yes! this machine even kneads the dough for me) I can shape it into whatever it is that I want to make. Loaves, rolls, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, bears, whatever!

This is one big lump of dough! Today I made the entire batch into rolls. The recipe make 75 rolls.

The rolls as they begin to rise. This takes about an hour.


Sweet, golden deliciousness. With a little butter or peanut butter and some homemade jam, these babies will be gone in no time!

2 comments:

  1. Friday nights in Ferndale, Mark. You gotta' go sometime! That's where the rolls went.

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