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Re: Buttermilk Bread recipe

"Don Bischoff" <taktez@earthlink.net>
Sun, 12 Jan 2003 22:03:38 -0600
v103.n004.10
Jheri wrote:
 > Hi, Am brand new to bread baking.  Do you have a copy of your recipe
 > with more explicit instructions?  Sorry to be a pain - Jheri

Hi Jheri,

Believe me, you are not being a pain.  We all have to start somewhere and 
the beginning is he best place.  After all, we bread-heads need to help one 
another.

I have rewritten the Buttermilk Bread recipe to expand the directions for 
you.  Hopefully there is enough detail that you can now make the 
recipe.  Please shoot me an email if you have any more questions.

Let me know how it turns out and....

Happy Baking!!!

Don Bischoff

* Exported from MasterCook *

                          Dede's Buttermilk Bread

Recipe By     :Bread Machine Magic - Book of Helpful Hints - Rehberg & Conway
Serving Size  : 36    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Breads: Yeast

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   2               cups  water
      1/2           cup  buttermilk, dried
      1/4           cup  honey
   2          teaspoons  salt
   2        tablespoons  margarine, unsalted -- melted
   6               cups  bread flour
   4 1/2      teaspoons  dry Instant active yeast or dry active yeast

DIRECTIONS
1.  In your work bowl, put the two cups of  water, the yeast and just a 
pinch of sugar.  Mix it up and let it sit about 5 - 10 minutes.  This is 
called "proofing" the yeast.  It means that you are verifying that you 
don't have dead yeast.  After about five minutes it should be foaming and 
that indicates it is active.  If nothing happens the yeast is 
dead.  Speaking of dead, the temperature of the water is critical.  Between 
100 and 110 F is optimum.  Yeast dies at 120 F so be careful.  Better too 
cool than too hot.  While the yeast is proofing, get out the rest of your 
ingredients and utensils.  The proofing step is not absolutely 
necessary.  Many people don't do it they just add the yeast right to the 
dry ingredients.  I buy bulk yeast two pounds at a time therefore  I like 
to verify that the yeast is indeed active  therefore I proof it.

2.  Add in the oil, powdered buttermilk salt and honey to the work bowl and 
stir it up.

3.  Add in two cups of the flour and stir it in.  Add the rest of the flour 
a little at a time stirring it in until a shaggy mass begins to form and 
the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.   By that time 
you should have used about four to five cups of flour.  Now's the time to 
get your hands dirty.  Just reach into the bowl and start mixing it with 
one hand squeezing and pushing it with your fist adding more flour until 
you can no longer work it in the bowl.  Lightly dust your work surface with 
flour then dump the whole mess out on top of it.  Dust the top of the dough 
with flour and begin kneading the flour in using a fold, push, turn 
technique.  It will probably take a total kneading time of ten to twelve 
minutes.  When the dough has reached the proper consistency it will be 
tacky to the touch.  Not sticky, not dry, just a slight tacky feel.  When 
that point is reached, form the dough into a ball and set it aside.

4.  Select a large bowl for the dough to rise in.  Remember it is going to 
double in bulk.  Lightly grease the bowl using Pam, veg. oil, margarine, 
shortening etc.  Roll the dough ball around in the bowl to cover it 
completely with the oil then cover the bowl with cling wrap or a linen dish 
towel and set it in a warm place to rise.  No hotter than 85 F and allow it 
to double.  I like to let it ferment at room temp which is about 72 
F.  Now, get a cup of coffee and read your morning paper, this should take 
about an hour.

5.  Generously grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans with shortening and set 
aside.  When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and remove it to 
your work surface.  Knead the dough a few times to get the gas out of it 
then form it into two loaves and place it into the greased pans.  Loosely 
cover it with cling wrap or the linen towel, and let it rise in a warm 
place.  Again, not above 85 F.  Better low than high.

6.  Begin preheating your oven to 350 F.  Now get another cup of coffee and 
read more of your paper you've got another 45 minutes to an hour.

7.  When the dough has once again doubled it will have pretty much filled 
up the pans and the domed top will be about two inches or so above the tops 
of the pans.  Carefully remove the cling wrap or towel and place the pans 
on a rack in the center of your preheated oven to bake.

8.  Now here comes the tricky part.  Since all ovens are different it's 
difficult to give a time frame for baking.  My oven will bake a loaf in 25 
minutes.  This recipe tends to brown quickly so keep an eye on it.  When it 
is sufficiently browned, drape a piece of aluminum foil over each pan to 
reduce the amount of heat reaching the top of the loaf.  It will now bake 
primarily from underneath.

There's one sure fire, lead pipe cinch method for telling when your loaf is 
done.  Use a remote reading internal thermometer such as a Polder, Pyrex or 
whatever brand is available.  They are readily available in cooking stores 
such as Williams Sonoma but for your best price look at Wally Mart or 
Target.  The remote read thermometer consists of a temperature probe on a 
cable about 30 inches long and it plugs into a little electronic gizmo that 
accurately reads the internal temperature of whatever it's stuck into.

After the loaves have baked about twenty minutes, stick the probe into the 
very center of the loaf, run the wire outside to the readout device and 
close the oven door.  When the internal temperature of the bread is between 
190 and 200 F your bread is perfectly done.

9.  When the loaves are baked, remove the pans from the oven and carefully 
remove the loaves by inverting the pan and dropping the loaf onto one hand 
that is covered with a pot holder or oven mitt.  Place the bread on a wire 
rack to cool and get another cup of coffee.  It will take about an hour to 
cool.

10.  Some people like to slice the bread as soon as it comes out of the 
oven.  DON'T!!!  The baking process has not yet completed and the cooling 
portion is important for maximum development of flavor and crumb.  If you 
cut the loaf after waiting about an hour or so it'll still be slightly warm 
inside and at its absolute peak flavor.  YUM!!!