Tips for baking delicious bread
Always respect this order:
- Take the bread pan out of the bread maker, before adding the ingredients, to prevent the ingredients from falling on the warm heating elements, which could cause a fire.
- Please make sure your ingredients are at room temperature and that they are carefully weighed.
- Add the ingredients in the right order.
- You should only use fresh ingredients.
- The yeast needs to be the last ingredient you put in the bread pan. Put the yeast into a little hole in the flour, thus ensuring it does not come in contact with the added salt, sugar, water or milk.
- You can verify the freshness of your yeast by submitting it to the following test: dissolve 1 teaspoonful of sugar in half a cup of lukewarm water and subsequently add the yeast to this mixture. If the substance starts bubbling and boiling after a few minutes, you can be sure that you are using fresh yeast.
- Approximately 5 to 10 minutes after your bread maker has been activated, you can equally test the quality of the dough. The dough should look like a smooth and elastic round ball. Open the lid and gently touch the top of the dough with your fingers.
- If the dough somewhat sticks to your fingers, this implies the dough is going to be fine.
- Should the dough, however, stick to the bread pan, then it is probably too moist.
- If the dough does not stick to your fingers at all, the pastry you are making is too dry.
- Salt breaks the effect of the yeast and sugar exactly does the opposite. If you are not allowed to use either sugar or salt for dietary reasons, you must not add the other ingredient either. Your bread will not contain sugar or salt.
- If you want to start baking another bread straight away, you will first have to allow the bread maker to cool down for 10 to 20 minutes.
- Different types of bread will have different structures and sizes, due to the different nature of the ingredients used. These differences are normal and need not worry you.
- Remark: never use larger amounts than specified. If too much dough is made, it may rise out of the bread pan and fall on the warm heating element, which could cause a fire.
- Home-made bread, made with a bread maker, does not contain any preservatives and is therefore perishable. If you wrap the bread in a vacuum package after cooling down, you will be able to keep it for a few days. Of course you can also freeze the bread.
- The bread maker may start to vibrate slightly on the kitchen counter when it mixes heavier dough or has longer kneading times. So make sure the appliance rests on a stable surface and is not too close to other objects or the edge of the kitchen counter.
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