More bread baking tips from Shirley Kacmarik…part 2

I mostly use bread flour to get good gluetin formation, but in pita and pizza and other flat breads I use half bread flour and half all purpose flour, and it makes the the finished product lighter. I don’t make wheat flour much because to be truthful my kids never liked it much when they were growing up and still don’t but I do love rye bread and make it once in a while still. I sneak in a few extra caraway seeds into my rye bread as I love them.

When I am making dough that will be used for sweet rolls, I add a couple of scrappings of nutmeg (depending on how much dough you are making). Never, ever use the canned stuff. There is just no comparison and the cost of a nutmeg grater is only a few bucks, and most supermarkets carry whole nutmegs now.

When using dry spices add them to the flour before adding it to the wet ingredients and mix well, as it is difficult to add dry ingredients and get good distribution after the wet ingredients have been added. Also make sure the salt is well integrated into the flour as it will kill the yeast if not mixed well before the yeast is added.

Truth be told about the only time I make bread or rolls anymore it at Thanksgiving and Christmas and not only for family but as little gifts for friends. Most of them say they love my bread thingys rather than more cookies and candy.

I’m thinking of getting a bread machine to do my kneading for me as the arthritis in my hands is making it more difficult for me to do it manually, although I love doing it. A couple of my friends have raved about the good job a machine does at kneading even if the baking leaves much to be desired.

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