Knead to Know

Jul 1, 2011 by Julie

I must admit, prior to receiving my bread machine, the very thought of even attempting to make bread at home was a little intimidating. Then, once I had it, I didn’t know exactly where to begin.  What ingredients would I need? Speaking of kneading-what exactly does that mean?! If it was something I had to do by hand, this process could take hours! Who has the time?

The Book

That’s when I happened upon this: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I had heard about this book on a couple of blogs, but could it really be true- 5 minutes?

I was intrigued.  Flipping through the pages, I was surprised to learn that the method presented could be done entirely by hand-a bread machine wasn’t even mentioned. Continuing on I began to understand just what that “Five Minutes” meant. It was the active time one spends hands on in this process. Certainly this was something I could do!

Returning home, I shared this triumph with my husband. Book-in-hand I was going to master the art of at-home bread making and revolutionize carb-eating as we knew it.

Looking over the recipes, most called for the same basic ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Flour
• All-purpose flour
• Yeast
• Lukewarm water
• Neutral-flavored oil
• Various additions needed to make each recipe unique.

But in between the basic ingredients and the additional, I noticed that one ingredient in particular was something I hadn’t heard of nor seen before “vital wheat gluten.”

What is that?!

I then realized every recipe in the book called for this. Vital wheat gluten wasn’t an optional addition, it was a staple item for the Five Minute method and I had to find it.

The Search

I set out for the health food store, down the specialty flour aisle and found this bag:

Okay, so vital wheat gluten is a type of flour. But this tiny bag was $6.29 and that’s not exactly cheap. Reading the description I found it was made from ground wheat berries. That’s when I light bulb went off in my head! Red wheat berries were just a few aisles away, in the bulk bins for only .99/pound- I could grind my own vital wheat gluten using a coffee grinder!

Now, I had everything I needed to make bread in Five Minutes a Day.

The Storage

The next step was figuring out the best way to store all of the dry ingredients.

Wheat Berries/Vital Wheat Gluten:

I transfer the berries from the plastic bag to a mason jar when I get home from Sprouts.

I hold off on grinding them into the wheat gluten until I need it in a recipe to keep it as fresh as possible. If I grind more than I need I store the extra in a sealed container.

Flours:

I also buy these from the bulk bins at Sprouts for $.89/lb.

All-purpose is stored in my regular canister.

whole-wheat is kept in a quart size mason jar

Yeast:

I buy this in bulk from Costco, about $5.00/lb.- much better than buying the packets.

Once opened I store the yeast in an airtight container:

Miscellaneous:

All other ingredients I use occasionally like brown sugar, rolled oats, etc I’ve found it is best to keep each in small sealed plastic container and place them in an easy to access location in the kitchen. For me this means stacking small snap wear containers in my bread basket, keeping everything together by placing it atop our bread box. This kind of   organization keeps it simple, quick and stress free when I go to make bread each week.

I share this with you because, perhaps this book/process is a more budget-friendly or storage/space friendly purchase for you than a bread machine would be. Whether you opt for a bread machine or go the Five-Minute route, let either of these methods be an encouragement to you to give bread-making a try!

What questions or suggestions do you have about bread-making?

Join in on the conversation by posting a comment!

A self-proclaimed foodie, Julie’s love of cooking and her travel experiences have sent her on a quest for creativity in the kitchen! Julie and her husband James live just outside of Dallas, Texas where they share a passion for serving others through their local church. As the Turner’s are newlyweds, Julie chronicles their journey together on their family blog www.theturnyeahs.tumblr.com

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