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flour
The type of flour used is important. You can’t use “ordinary” plain flour for making bread. Buy
flour with “strong” or “bread” in its title. The commonest is normally marketed as strong white
flour. These “strong” or “bread” flours contain more gluten than ordinary baking flour. Gluten is
the protein that gives the bread its structure and texture. It retains the carbon dioxide produced
by the yeast, putting the elasticity, the bounce, into the dough.
other bread flours
These include strong brown flour, strong wholemeal, and whole wheat bread making flours.
These have lower levels of gluten than strong white flour. Brown loaves tend to be smaller and
denser than white loaves. Generally, if you substitute strong white flour for half of the brown
flour in a recipe, you can make bread with a “brown bread” flavour and a “white bread” texture.
yeast
1 Yeast is a living organism. Given moisture, food, and warmth, the yeast releases carbon
dioxide, which make the dough rise.
2 We recommend using “dried active yeast”, also known as “dry active yeast”, and “instant
yeast” or “easy blend dried yeast”. These are usually sold in 7 gram sachets and don’t have to
be dissolved in water first.
3 If you don’t use all the yeast in a sachet, throw the remainder away.
4 Don’t use fresh or tinned yeast – they won’t work with your appliance.
5 Check the “best before” date on the sachet of yeast.
6 You may also see “fast action’ or “bread machine” yeast – really potent yeasts that can make
dough rise up to 50% faster. If you use these, you’ll need to experiment to get the best results.
You could start by trying them with programs 10 and 11.
liquid
1 The liquid ingredient is normally water or milk, or a mixture of these.
2 Water makes a crisp crust. Milk makes a softer crust.
3 Water/milk must be warm (20°C-25°C/68°F-77°F).
4 Some recipes call for hand-hot water (that’s 35°C-50°C/95°F-122°F), to speed up the process.
Only the fast yeasts can handle this temperature.
5 Don’t use milk with the timer.
butter/fat
These make the dough tender, enhance the flavour, and retain moisture, making the bread keep
fresh longer. Margarine or olive oil can be used instead of butter, but they are less effective.
Do not use low fat spread.
sugar
Sugar feeds the yeast, adds flavour, texture, and helps with browning the crust. Some sachets of
yeast do not need sugar to activate.
You may use honey, syrup, or molasses instead of sugar, provided you adjust the liquid
ingredient compensate.
Don’t use artificial sweeteners.
salt
Salt adds flavour, and helps control the yeast, to prevent the bread rising too much, then
collapsing.
eggs
Eggs make bread richer and more nutritious, add colour, and help with structure and texture. If
you add eggs, adjust the other liquid ingredients.
herbs and spices
These can be added at the beginning, along with the main ingredients.
Dried cinnamon, ginger, oregano, parsley, and basil add flavour and interest. Use in small
quantities (a teaspoon).
