Pat Stewart inquired about hints for a 2-pound bread machine. My
suggestions for her will also apply to anyone who has a bread
machine. Have you tried the recipes that came in the manual for your
machine? Generally, they should work well.
If you don't have one, I'll bet you can get one from the manufacturer. Use
these recipes as a guide to develop and tweak your own recipes. All
machines seem to have their own idiosyncracies and you will get a feel for
these over time.
When making the dough, leave the lid open and check the dough during the
first few minutes of kneading. Adjust the flour or liquid as needed so
that the dough looks like it is supposed to look. Then close the
lid. Don't just measure in the ingredients, close the lid, and hope for
the best! The moisture content of flour will vary by season, by the
barometric pressure, and the flour itself. Weighing flour is always best,
but consistent results can also be achieved if you measure it
carefully. Fluff up the flour in your canister and lightly spoon it into a
dry measure-type measuring cup. Don't jiggle or compact the flour, or it
will weigh more than 4 ounces. 4 ounces is what you want. Scrape off
the overflow gently with a chopstick to level it off. For bread, use a
good unbleached unbromated flour such as King Arthur or Sapphire. The type
of bread you are making will determine whether you want to use an
all-purpose flour or a bread flour. As for proportions, it is pretty safe
to presume that a 2-pound loaf will use twice as much flour (about 4 cups)
as a 1-pound loaf (about 2 cups), and the liquid might be almost double,
depending on the type of bread, but all the other ingredients increase at a
slightly smaller proportion. Hope this helps.
Carolyn Dandalides