Kitchenaid Grain Mill Attachment = AWESOME!!!

Last week I broke down and bought a KITCHENAID GRAIN MILL ATTACHMENT WOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Okay, there are probably a few of you out there who don’t quite get the all-caps-league excitement. I’ll admit I pretty much nerded out on this one. But I’ve been thinking about this one for awhile now, and I believe it was a good move to bring more nutrition to our baked goods.

Here are some things I have recently read about flour:

- Whole wheat flour is not really “whole”. It has part of the germ removed because the germ, which contains oils, can go rancid quite quickly. So they remove this to make it more shelf stable.

- The germ contains most of the nutrition, including B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, zinc, copper, manganese and potassium. It also contains enzymes that help your body in numerous ways. None of this makes its way into store-bought flour.

- Store-bought whole wheat only has a fraction of the fiber that whole grain fresh flour has.

- Wheat berries are incredibly shelf stable, lasting years–possibly even decades!

I recently threw out most of a 10 kilo bag of (poor quality) whole wheat flour because it went rancid. For me, moving to grinding my own flour will mean producing less waste as well as better nutrition. It will also be cheaper than buying organic flour from the store.

And it makes AMAZING pancakes!

Plus, I’m hoping to be able to help out some of my friends who are gluten-free by milling flour for them. There are several grains that are gluten free, but finding these specialty flours is hard–not to mention expensive! So if you’re in need of some gluten-free flour, let me know and I’ll share the bounty

The only glitch in my plan is that I’ve found fresh flour acts quite differently in bread making than store-bought flour. This might be because the increased bran cuts more of the gluten strands, making it harder to get a light, airy loaf. It could be because the grind is not as fine as store-bought flour. Or, it could be that some oxidization actually helps the flour produce a better loaf, as posited by some users on The Fresh Loaf.

I read a lot of grain mill reviews before buying the Kitchenaid attachment. This one has many negative reviews due to people burning out the motors on their mixers. But knowing this gives me power–instead of going ahead and milling 10 cups on the finest setting at the highest speed, I’m choosing to mill smaller amounts at a time, doing two (or three) passes, moving from coarse to fine, at slower speeds. I was thrilled that my machine, a 325 Watt Artisan, didn’t even break a sweat.

The other benefit of the Kitchenaid Grain Mill is that it can mill very coarsely, which will be great for cracking grains for porridge or for multigrain mixes for bread. I’ve heard fresh-cracked corn grits are amazing!

I’ve now got some new challenges, and new projects ahead of me. I’m EXCITED!!!

Bread Machine Bliss

Okay, this was not done in the bread machine, but it was a loaf I baked on my holidays in my new cloche I got for four dollars.

In the middle of the first week of our holidays I took a trip to Value Village in my hometown. I was on a quest: for a bread maker. I had seen bread makers at just about every garage sale and I just KNEW I could pick one up at the second hand store.

Right I was–there were three to choose from on the shelf. The helpful employee told me they price them according to brand, and by how well they function when they are tested. (It seemed like they had a lot of bread makers in overstock–each time I went to the store, there were 3 machines on the shelf, but one was different each time.)

I picked up a West Bend model with the words “The Natural Choice” written in reassuring letters on the top. It was $17.99. Thus began the theme of my holidays: baking bread.

Of course I had to try it out right away, so I took it home to my sister’s house and quickly found a recipe online for whole wheat bread. I scanned her cupboards, found all the ingredients, threw them in to the machine, and waited . . .

“It’s not doing anything,” I told my partner after 15 minutes.

“It’s not doing anything,” I told him again after 20 minutes.

“It’s not doing anything,” I complained again after 21 minutes. “Maybe it’s broken.”

Which was when I took to the internet and found out that most bread machines have what is called a “rest period” where they let the ingredients come to room temperature before mixing. Aaah–it’s not broken.

20 minutes later, it sprang to life, mixing with vigour. Over the next 4 hours, it kneaded, rose, punched down, rose again, and baked, producing a lovely fragrant loaf of whole wheat bread. And all I had to do was measure the ingredients!

Now, let me just say, to maintain my bread cred, that I am very anxious to go back to my hand kneading, slow-rising, hearth baking ways–after the heat of summer has passed. The beauty and magic of the bread maker is that it doesn’t require me to heat up the oven, and hence the house. This means I can bake bread on the hottest day of the summer!! No more fooling around with baking in the slow cooker (that never really worked anyway).

I think I made bread every day after that, both there and at the cottage we stayed in on Manitoulin Island. Lots of sandwiches. Lots of toast. Lots of bread and butter.

Has my bread maker earned its keep? Without a doubt. I’ve read it uses about a nickel’s worth of energy to bake a loaf, and it probably takes less than a dollar’s worth of ingredients. Compare that to the $3.50 to $4 we usually spend for a loaf of bread, and you can see the evident savings.

The other factor is that when you make a lot of bread, you will eat a lot of bread, which means that you are probably replacing some more expensive foods with cheaper food. Mmm–pass the butter.

My next challenge will be getting my sourdough starter up and running, and then attempting to make some spiked dough sourdough in the bread machine.

How about you–any experience with bread machines? Any great recipes to share? Have you too experienced bread machine bliss??

Slow Cooker Bread–for real???

I believe it was Suzanne who left a comment on my “Heatwave” post about using a crock pot in the summer to avoid heating up the house. That got me thinking. I’ve been doing a lot of reading over on A Year of Slow Cooking, and have been feeling very inspired about my crock pot. Apparently they’re very efficient little cookers, letting off very little heat, which also means very little wasted energy.

And then, I think it was the Roasted Garlic Spoonbread recipe that got me thinking . . . is it possible to bake bread in a slow cooker? Is that crazy? Or is it a wonderful, wonderful way to make bread all summer long without heating up the house?

In the end, I think it is somewhere in the middle, or possible both: a little crazy and a little wonderful (though I’m willing to go a little crazy to try to amp up the wonderful, in classic Frugal + Urban experiment stylez).

Parchment-lined loaf pan baking inside my slow cooker

So what I did is this: I made a batch of miraculous no-knead bread and stuck it in the fridge over night. Then this morning, I hacked off a hunk of dough, shaped it and stuck it into a parchment-lined small loaf pan. I let it warm up to room temperature and then I stuck it into the slow cooker on high, which I had warmed up for 15 minutes beforehand.

My slightly misshapen loaf

After about an hour, the delicious aroma of baking bread started filling the house. I let it bake for about 3 hours total, until I could see the sides were browned, and it had a nice hollow thump sound when I knocked on the bottom. I removed it and let it cool out of the pan.

In the end, it tasted very good! A little misshapen, but that was because of my sloppy parchment papering. The weirdest thing was the crust: it was crunchy and browned on the bottom and sides, where it had come into contact with the heat of the pan, but soft and pale on top where no heating element had the chance to crisp it up, and where it may have been exposed to a lot of moisture falling from the lid.

That didn't last long!

But none of that stopped us from eating the whole loaf.

It was good enough to inspire me to try more experiments! For my next one (two loaves of bread in less than 24 hours!!!) I hacked off my hunk of cold dough, shaped it into a small boule, and stuck it directly into the cold slow cooker. I’ve turned it on low, and I’m going to leave it on all night. What will I be greeted with in the morning? Hopefully breakfast

The morning loaf, baked on low overnight

June 23 update: Another yummy loaf of bread! This one, baked right inside the slow cooker insert, without a baking pan, was only crisp on the bottom, and, maybe because I let it cook longer, the top was not as soft. I did vent the lid with a toothpick before going to bed (just used the toothpick to hold the lid open a tiny crack, enough for some steam to escape), which may have been a factor in the improved top crust. I didn’t leave it overnight, but woke up around 4 or so and went and shut it off. In any case, it worked out well because the loaf is halfway eaten already!

All this bread baking is a clear inspiration to go and pick some local strawberries and make a big batch of jam!

The miracle of life–a sourdough starter

I started my new starter three days ago, according to Peter Reinhart’s new “Artisan Breads Every Day”:

Day 1: combine 1 oz flour with 2 oz pineapple juice. Stir together and leave at room temperature for 2 days, stirring three times per day.

Day 3: add 1 oz flour and 1 oz pineapple juice to the Day 1 mixture. Stir together, and leave at room temperature until it becomes frothy and bubbly, stirring three times per day.

The idea is that the pineapple juice prevents the bacteria leuconostoc from taking over, and the stirring  prevents the mixture from getting moldy. The next step is adding 2 oz flour and 1 oz water, leaving for 1-2 days and stirring intermittently. Then adding 3 oz flour and 1 oz water to 4 oz of the previous culture, at which point you let it ferment and then it is ready to become your Mother Starter.

So today is day 4 and I am delighted to report that my goop is starting to bubble! It is delightful to be bringing a new starter to life. It holds the promise of amazing tasting bread to feed my family. The promise of not having to go out and buy bread because I’ve just baked up a couple loaves. Just the smell of sour yeasty goodness makes me verklempt. (Really. I get choked up very easily).

Now, if only I had thought of doing this at the beginning of winter instead of the beginning of summer!

Stepping back into Sourdough

I’ve lost my sourdough starter. By which I mean, it got so polluted and gross that it wasn’t working at all any more. So I’m starting my starter over. Again.

I actually gave it a try not long ago, and found my starter infected with leuconostoc, which imitates a true starter by getting bubbly and smelling sour, but it is actually bacteria, not yeast, which is bubbling. It gets very sour right off the bat, and doesn’t have that yummy beery/yeasty smell that makes bread taste like bread.

Peter Reinhart says to make the starter with pineapple juice, so that is what I am going to do. I’ll start it tonight and will report back soon. Once my starter is established, I’m going to follow the methods described in Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, which incorporates the no-knead approach with sourdough techniques, exactly what I set out to investigate last summer. Fortunately, Peter Reinhart, with his big team of testers, has taken the challenge instead!

I’ll let you know what happens . . .

Bread–upping the nutrition

Most of you who have checked out my bread recipes would notice one thing right away: they’re pretty heavy on the white flour. Most of my recipes are, in fact. And we eat a lot of bread, which means white flour constitutes a pretty large portion of our diets. Lately I’ve been thinking that’s not such a good thing.

The thing is, I really like simple bread recipes, ones that contain only 4 ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. Unfortunately this formula only really works with white flour (at least as far as I know).

Since my supreme enlightenment (discovering Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day), I’m completely sold on the no-knead method and the simple recipe, and don’t want to complicate it any more with shortening or sweeteners. I want my easy bread and the fibre/nutrient content too!

So I’ve begun another experiment: slowly increasing the amount of whole wheat flour I add to the mix. I’m trying to find how far I can go, what percentage whole wheat flour I can get to where the simple recipe and techniques still work.

Here is my progress, so far:

1 cup of whole wheat flour (5 1/2 oz) was barely noticeable. The crumb was glossy, and speckled with occasional flecks of bran, and the taste was fairly indistinguishable from the all-white version. A completely innocuous way to add a bit of fibre and nutrition to the recipe.

2 cups of whole wheat flour (11 oz, or around 30% of flour by weight) actually added to the flavour, I thought, making it slightly more complex. The texture was still great and the loaf was beautiful. 30% whole wheat is what you will see in most “light whole wheat” recipes.

3 cups of whole wheat flour (16 oz, or 50% of flour by weight) is just in the oven now . . .

Well, after baking and cooling and slicing and buttering and finally tasting, I have to say this is pretty darn good! Still a lovely lofty loaf, with a crackling crust and beautiful full flavour. I thought at 50% I would start to see some density happening, and start to taste some bitterness, but none of that has happened!

So I’ll keep pushing it–next time to 4 cups out of 6! If anyone out there has experience using whole wheat in the Artisan Bread in 5 recipes, please let me know!

Sourdough Bread in Five Minutes a Day: an Experiment

I’ve been enjoying the bread recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day so much lately–it’s all we’ve been eating for the last few weeks.  I’ve been baking the full batch (two 2-pound loaves) each time and freezing one loaf, but there have been a couple of occasions when we got through both loaves in about 2 days. We eat a lot of bread!

But since this revolution (REVOLUTION, I say!) of the no-knead, high-hydration, easy-peasy bread, I have been missing two things: the first is my sourdough. While the Artisan Bread does have a complexity that quick-rise breads lack, it still isn’t quite sourdough calibre. Second is whole grains. We’ve been eating a LOT of white flour. Delicious, sure; but it’s definitely less nutrient-dense and fibre-rich than whole grains.

So, I decided to finally give my latest experiment a try: merging the Artisan-Bread-in-Five-Minutes-A-Day techniques with my sourdough knowledge, to try to come up with a slightly easier way to make sourdough. I’m also hoping for a lighter, more holey loaf.

I took a look on the interweeb, and found a lot of sourdough recipes using the no-knead techniques discussed in the Mark Bittman New York Times article that made the no-knead bread famous. I find the Artisan Bread in Five techniques even easier and lower fuss, but didn’t turn up any results on a sourdough version.

So I gave it a try.  And the results were . . . well, they were okay. Quite sour, which might be due to the long rising time, or possibly because of the state my starter is in (I keep leaving it for weeks, and then just refreshing it a few times before baking; it will probably change with more use).

It also burnt a bit at the temperature I baked it at, while the inside is a bit undercooked, so next time I’m going to try 400 for a short time–maybe 20 minutes–and then 325 for maybe 40 minutes.

Also, it is more holey than my previous sourdoughs have been, probably due to the higher hydration and longer rise, but it didn’t get much oven spring, which I attribute to the “germ-added-back-in” organic bread flour. I just don’t find it has much gluten structure, no matter what I do to it. Next time I’ll try an all-white sourdough to rule out the possibility that the structure is simply breaking down from the longer rise. After that I’ll maybe try an organic all-purpose whole wheat, just to see.

In any case, here’s my recipe, which I did by weight because that was the only way I could keep the hydration (percentage of water) consistent with the original recipe.  Basically I substituted 6 oz of my 100% hydrated starter (that means a 1:1 ratio by weight of flour to water) for 3 oz of water and 3 oz of flour in the recipe.

Sourdough Bread in Five Minutes a Day

6 oz well-fed, fresh starter, 100% hydration

13 oz water, lukewarm

29.5 oz flour (for this I used about half white all-purpose and half of my “germ-added-back-in” bread flour)

1 1/2 tbsp salt

I dissolved the starter in the water, and mixed the salt with the two flours, then stirred the dry ingredients into the wet until combined. I let this sit out overnight for about 14 hours, after which I divided it, shaped it, and put the 2 loaves into their loaf pans. After a rising time of 4 hours, I baked the loaves in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 45 minutes, after which time they were almost burnt on the outside so I took them out.

See this recipe for more detailed instructions.

And if you have any other resources that might help me with this project, please recommend!!!

More bread

Aaah.  How good it feels to dump a bad mood.  I successfully got over my slump of yesterday.  My combination of techniques included:

- using my Dr. Burns triple-column technique,

- the luck of my daughter going to bed around 7:30 (she hadn’t napped in the day), giving me a whole evening of “me” time.  I think this had been lacking since I’ve been super tired and went to bed with her at 9:30 at least 3 nights this week.

- baking cookies and tidying the house (which I find very therapeutic), and

- rolling coins while watching the Futurama movie.  Yes, I find rolling coins soothing, which is incredibly geeky of me, I know, and almost *too much* in keeping with my frugal personality.  Anyway, 32 painless dollars for the college fund!

Okay, on to the bread.

I’ve now made 3 batches of the “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”, and I’m totally into it!  My sourdough starter is languishing in the fridge meanwhile, and won’t get much play until I figure out a way to marry the two techniques.

My copy of the book also came in at the library, so I have a few more tips to share. Also, my colleague attempted the previous recipe and had her questions. It immediately became clear to me that I had written the recipe for people well-versed in artisan bread-making, and Peter Reinhart’s writings in particular.

So here is a revised version of the recipe, with notes for making it in loaf pans instead of as free-formed boules.  That’s how I’ve been making it for the last 2 batches, and I’ve been doing 2 big loaves at a time and freezing one, thereby cutting down on the oven time.  (Sure, it’s nice to have fresh artisan bread every day, but I don’t really like running my oven at 450 degrees for an hour every day. Seems like a big waste of energy unless that daily fresh bread is *really* important to you.)

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Master Recipe (revised to be more reader-friendly)

6 1/2 cups (32.5 oz) white all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp yeast

1 1/2 tbsp coarse salt

3 cups lukewarm water

In a large food-safe container, stir together the dry ingredients and then mix in the water.  Stir until everything is hydrated–no dry spots–and then let it sit out for 2-5 hours, covered but not air-tight.  If you put together a new batch right away after finishing your old batch, you can use the goopy bits from inside your bowl or tupperware, without washing, and this will add flavour to your next batch, essentially “aging” it.  Just add your water first, scrape down the bowl, dissolve the yeast and salt in the water, and then mix in the flour a small amount at a time to form a soft dough.

Stick in the fridge at least overnight.  2 hours before you want to bake, cut off a “grapefruit-sized ball” with a serrated knife.  Form into a boule with a nice rounded shape and a tight surface.  Here are some very helpful pictures that guide you through this process.  One teacher I had describes the boule as a balloon.  You have to create a “skin” on the loaf that will trap the CO2 so the loaf rises.  If the skin is not tight, it will not “inflate” the balloon.  Make sure you pinch the dough together really well at the bottom to keep it tight & sealed up.

Let your loaf sit either in a pan (lined with parchment or it will stick) or on a cutting board or cookie sheet sprinkled liberally with cornmeal or coarse-ground flour for 2 hours.  After an hour and a half, start pre-heating your oven to 450 degrees F with a baking stone inside (I use upside-down ceramic tiles that I found in my closet when I moved in to this apartment.  I just didn’t put anything directly on them for the first couple months I used them–just in case).  Also put in an oven-safe metal pan–cast iron works well–some place where it will not interfere with your loaves.

At the 2 hour mark, slash your loaf with either an X-Acto blade, or a sharp serrated bread knife.  This will allow your loaf to rise in the oven without getting any weird lumps or formations to it.  Then, quickly stick it in the oven, pour about a cup of boiling water into your steam pan, and close the oven door.  Let it bake for 20 minutes, then rotate the loaf so it gets even cooking.  Leave it for another 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how big your loaf is.  (If it’s one grapefruit-sized loaf, check it after 30 minutes; if you do the whole batch like I do, it can probably do more than an hour, with the temperature turned down to 350 after 4o minutes).

It is done when the crust is nicely browned and it gives a lovely hollow sound when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.

I just discovered that Peter Reinhart’s bread books are available almost in their entirety, on Google Books.  God, I love Google Books.  These books are amazing references for bread baking techniques.

You can find my favourite here:

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (you can also search the text of the book so if there is any technique you are curious about, just enter the search term in the sidebar search.  Amazing!!).

Please let me know if you try this bread, or if you have any other questions about the technique.

Also, please share your method if you have figured out how to do “Artisan Sourdough in Five Minutes a Day”!

Miracle Bread!

Okay, I’ll admit I’m a gal who gets pretty excited about bread.  Maybe even more so than most people.  But I really think this is a bread to rouse the masses!  I mean, I feel religion calling, this is so revolutionary.

What’s the big deal?  It’s called “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and it will rock your world.  I’ll admit I haven’t actually read the book yet, since I’m on the waiting list at the library for it (though I’m sincerely tempted to go buy it), but the “master recipe” is available online (and below), and the website I linked to above has many variations to try as well.

The concept?  Basic mixing, no kneading, large batches which you refrigerate until needed for up to 2 weeks apparently, and the big one: totally amazing flavour and texture.

After doing sourdough for years, this is a big about-face for me, and one that I’m ready for given that I will soon be tandem nursing and crying over un-co-ordinated nap schedules (Tiny Baby is due late September).  It really did take about 5 minutes last night to mix up the dough, and maybe another 5 minutes today to tear off a chunk, form it into a ball, let it rest for a couple of hours and then bake it.

I should also mention that my 2-year-old daughter and I almost polished off half the little loaf in one sitting, it was that good.

So, without further ado, here’s the recipe that could very well change your life.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Master Recipe

6 1/2 cups (32.5 oz) white all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp yeast

1 1/2 tbsp coarse salt

3 cups lukewarm water

Stir together the dry ingredients and then mix in the water.  Stir until everything is hydrated–no dry spots–and then let it sit out for 2-5 hours, covered but not necessarily air-tight.

Stick in the fridge at least overnight.  2 hours before you want to bake, cut off a “grapefruit-sized ball” with a serrated knife.  Form into a boule with a nice rounded shape and a tight surface and let that sit either in a pan or on a cornmeal dusted board for 2 hours.  After an hour and a half, start pre-heating your oven to 450 degrees F with a baking stone inside, and below that, an oven-safe metal pan to be used as a steam pan.

At the 2 hour mark, slash your loaf, stick it in the oven, and pour about a cup of boiling water into your steam pan.  Let it bake for around 20 to 30 minutes.  It is done when the crust is nicely browned and it gives a lovely hollow sound when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.

To be good and frugal, consider roasting some veggies or apples alongside your loaf, or bung up a cake for after dinner.  Though no one will want cake at a meal where you serve this bread.  They’ll just want more bread.

Then smile knowing you still have enough dough waiting in the fridge to make at least 3 more loaves!

The “other” kind of tortillas

I didn’t mention yesterday but on Tuesday I actually went crazy and at the same time as making flour tortillas, I also made corn tortillas!  Bloggers, especially those living in New York City, really love their tortillas!  Here is a post about making corn tortillas on 30 Bucks a Week (thanks Tina!) and another on Homesick Texan.

I checked out Grace Ottawa after seeing it recommended on Ottawa Foodies as a place to buy Masa Harina–a specific type of corn flour that is recommended for making tortillas.  Sure enough, they had it (and many other wonders and goodies, which I will report on tomorrow) so I grabbed a bag of “Masa Mix by Mr. Goudas (2 kilos for $4) and made my way home.

Now these tortillas are also very delicious, and totally easy!  Even easier than the flour variety.  And the taste?  Well, I imagine the Mr. Goudas brand is probably not the height of flavour, but even so, they were completely delicious.  They smelled amazing and the texture was lovely and soft.  I can’t wait to try frying these babies to make hard tacos and home-made corn chips.

So, is it worth it to make your own tortillas?  Absolutely!  The flavour is incomparable, the ingredients are pronouncable and safe, they are fast and easy, and so CHEAP!  While I don’t see the corn tortillas replacing bread for me for summer wrap sandwiches (not like flour tortillas), I also don’t see myself spending another penny on Old El Paso any time in the near future.

I should add that I made them without the aid of a tortilla press, which Grace Ottawa also sells for $20.  I’m guessing a tortilla press would make them even thinner, and thus do even more for the texture and flavour.  I’m putting this gadget on my list of things to look out for at garage sales this summer.

Corn Tortillas

2 cups Masa Harina

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups warm water

Mix the masa harina with salt, then add water and stir until it comes together as a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes until smooth. Let it sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Divide into 12 round balls and then cover so they don’t dry out as you press and cook.

Next, flatten them into thin rounds using either a tortilla press with two circles cut from thick plastic wrap (like a freezer bag), or cover two heavy cutting boards with plastic wrap and use those to press the rounds.  Heat a heavy bottomed cast iron skillet on medium.  Cook tortillas 30 to 40 seconds on each side, or long enough to produce some browned spots on the surface.

Enjoy with your favourite tex-mex or Mexican food, or fresh from the pan with some butter and salsa.  Let me know if you try it!