Suzy Homemaker

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Recently I've started to make my own bread.  I finally took the plunge and bought a Bosch mixer and a Nutrimill wheat grinder.  Needless to say, making my own bread from freshly ground whole wheat makes me feel very Suzy Homemaker.  Seeing this is quite satisfying:

You start to feel quite impressed with yourself.  Virtuous even.  Like you could have been a pioneer - maybe even "Ma" on the Little House on the Prairie.  But these thoughts are fleeting, because then you look around and you realize the dirty secret they don't tell you about Suzy's kitchen: it's a disaster.  I'm pretty sure "Ma's" kitchen never would have looked like this.

Wow...how'd all that stuff get on my counter?

  

Yes, leftover bacon grease on the counter is essential as are not one but TWO pairs of scissors.  Because, when your kitchen is this horrific, you can hardly be expected to remember where you put the last pair.  Until you realize they were right next to what you were trying to open.  


Making bread is definitely an adventure and I'm even learning to do it without taking out every item in my pantry and covering my counters in goo.  I love the Nutramill.  It's truly amazing how much natural oil freshly ground whole wheat has! And I love the Bosch, I can make 5 loaves of bread in one batch.  We usually give one or two loaves away, freeze the loaves the other loaves and I only have to make bread about every 6 weeks!  


Right now I'm using a basic bread recipe from Shar's Bosch.

• 6 cups warm water, approx. 115 degrees
• 2 tbs. Sea salt
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 3 tbs. Dough enhancer
• 2 cups high gluten bread flour 
• 3 tbs. Saf instant yeast
• 6 to 8 cups of fresh ground flour - to start; I've used up to 11 cups before.

Everything goes right into the Bosch up to the fresh ground wheat.  I add the wheat quickly one cup at a time until it pulls away from the bowl.  It really is something that has to be gauged by sight and not measurement.  The first time I made it I thought something was very wrong that I added 11 whole cups!  But the bread was fantastic.  Once the mixture begins to pull clean from the bowl, I let the Bosch kneed the dough for about 8-12 minutes until the gluten has developed (you know it's developed when you can stretch the dough thinly without it tearing).  Then it's ready to get dumped on the counter (spread some vegetable oil on the counter first).  The bread pans get greased and the dough gets divided into the pans.  I like to weigh mine so that I know they are all the same size and then I know that the cooking time will be the same for them all.  Let them rise until the tops are about 2 inches over the side of the pan.  I cook the bread until the temperature is between 190-195 degrees.  Remember just like anything else the bread will continue cooking after it's removed from the oven so don't over cook it!  


The force is strong with freshly made bread.  But refrain from eating it right away you will.  What?  My Jedi mind trick didn't work?  Yeah, we've caved a couple times too.  But just know that just like anything else, the moisture needs to redistribute after cooking so if you slice it right away, all that steam will escape and the remaining bread will be a little drier than it otherwise would.  There's an easy solution for that...just eat the whole thing. Right away ;-).  


Oh, PS...Don't try this recipe in a KitchenAid, unless you want your motor to burn out!  This recipe is Bosch friendly only!