# Bread without a bread machine?



## pengyou (Aug 22, 2011)

In the past couple of years I have noticed that it is difficult to find a bread recipe without it being a bread machine recipe.  Is there a general set of steps I can use to use the bread machine recipe but do it by hand?  I have a Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook...and I'm not afraid to use it!!!


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## ChefJune (Aug 22, 2011)

Not sure where you are looking, because there are hundreds of thousands of recipes "out there" on the internet and in cookbooks for making bread the old fashioned way.

What kind of recipes are you looking for?


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## pengyou (Aug 22, 2011)

That is good to know.  I was just looking for high protein recipes and the first 7 of 8 were all bread machine recipes.  I guess I will just keep looking


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## Katie H (Aug 22, 2011)

I would also suggest you look at your local library in the cookbook section.  Even our meager little library here has a pretty good selection and I've had good luck searching their books for different things.

Also, if you have a bookstore, you could leaf through their cookbooks and determine if any of them are what you are looking for.  I do that and then, in most cases, find the book(s) for bargain prices on the Internet.


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## ChefJune (Aug 22, 2011)

There are a lot of tnt books in the library on bread baking.  Look for books by Peter Reinhart, Bernard Clayton, James Beard, to name a few.  Also Shirley Corriher's book, Bakewise.


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## justplainbill (Aug 22, 2011)

If you want to make a crusty artisan (free form) bread you should check out some of the 'bread in 5 minutes a day' recipes.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Aug 22, 2011)

Italian bread, using a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer:

*ITALIAN BREAD​*
_Starter:_
1 1/2 cups warm (105F) water 
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl and mix in a Kitchen Aid mixer, with a dough hook, on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes until a stiff, elastic batter is formed. Divide the starter into two equal pieces. Wrap one piece in oiled plastic wrap and freeze for later use. Place the remaining starter into an oiled glass bowl, cover, and allow to rise until triple in volume. This should take about 8 hours at room temperature or at least 14 hours in the refrigerator. 

_Bread Dough:_
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm (105F) water 
1 cup cool water 
Starter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups bread (preferred) or all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbs kosher salt

_Instructions:_

Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl and stir with a fork to dissolve the yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes.  Add the cool water and starter to the yeast mixture and mix by hand for about 2 minutes, breaking up the starter, until the starter is completely dissolved. Pour this mixture into the Kitchen Aid bowl, and, using a dough hook at low speed, add the flour and salt, scraping the sides of the bowl, until the dough gathers into a mass. The dough should be wet and sticky with long strands of dough hanging from the hook. Increase mixer speed to medium low and allow to knead for about 5 minutes, until it pulls completely away from the sides of the bowl and wraps itself around the dough hook. 

Move the dough to a work surface lightly dusted with flour and shape the dough into a ball. Allow the dough to rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Knead the dough by hand for 3 to 5 minutes, until it is stretchy and smooth yet still slightly sticky. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly oiled glass bowl, cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap, and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size. 

Place the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and shape into baguettes for bread, or into balls smaller than a tennis ball for rolls. Place the loaves or rolls on a heavily floured surface leaving plenty of space in between. Cover and let rise for about 1 hour. 

Preheat your oven and a baking stone if you have one, to 475F. If you have a baking stone, place the loaves or rolls directly on the baking stone. Otherwise, sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal, place the loaves or rolls on the baking sheet, allowing enough room for expansion, and place the baking sheet in the pre-heated oven. Using a spray bottle of warm water, quickly mist the oven, not the bread, 8 to 10 times, then quickly shut the oven door. Mist again after 1 minute, then again 1 minute later. Bake for about 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 450F, mist one more time, and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer for rolls, or 10 to 15 minutes for loaves, until the crust is well browned (if the crust is not completely browned, it will soften when cooled) and they sound hollow when tapped. Transfer to cooling racks and allow to cool for 15 minutes.


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## ChefJune (Aug 22, 2011)

This is my all-time favorite sandwich bread. It makes marvelous toast, as well.  No bread machine here. You could use a Kitchen Aid, but I never have. You'd need a super-sized one for the size of this recipe. So if you're going to use your mixer, better divide the recipe in half.

*Hearty Oatmeal Bread*
 
What a yummy bread this is. I used to make this bread every single week.  Because it was time consuming, I enlarged the recipe to make 4 large loaves, and because it’s so moist it freezes well.  It is so delicious it can turn an ordinary sandwich into a banquet!
 
makes 4 9 x 5-inch loaves
 
1 quart + 1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups rolled oats – NOT the quick kind
1/2 cup raw wheat germ
2 teaspoon sea salt
10 ounces unsulphured molasses (Grandma’s yellow label)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dry yeast 
about 12 cups whole wheat flour
 
1. Pour boiling water over oats, wheat germ, molasses, oil and salt.  Cool to lukewarm.  Stir in yeast to dissolve.  Then add flour to form a stiff dough.  Knead well – about 20 minutes. You will get a workout!
2. Place in greased bowl and seal the top with oiled plastic wrap to rise until double (at least 1 hour).
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch down (get most of the air out).  Form into four equal loaves.  Put into 9x5-inch loaf pans.  Let rise until nearly double.  (Unless your kitchen is exceptionally warm, this will take about 40 minutes to an hour – but watch them.)
4. Bake for 1 hour or until the loaves “tap hollow.”
 
*Teacher’s Tips:*  1. This bread will take a LOT of kneading, so be patient.  The longer you can knead it, the more fabulous the texture will be.
2.  For a softer crust, put a pan of water on the lower shelf and cover each loaf with a “tent” of aluminum foil (shiny side in).


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## pengyou (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks!  I can almost smell the bread baking now


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## Steve Kroll (Aug 29, 2011)

This site has some very good bread recipes...

Bread-baking tools and resources for making and enjoying great bread

There is one bread machine section, but mostly it's recipes are for handmade artisan breads.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Aug 29, 2011)

BTW, even the instruction booklet for my bread machine gives you recipes to mix in the machine, but form by hand and bake in the oven.


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## shnooky (Oct 12, 2011)

Thanks for the hot oatmeal bread recipe! Never made it before


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## texherp (Oct 12, 2011)

I'd like to recommend the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day".  It really simplifies bread-making to the point you really could do it on a regular basis.  They basically give you a no-knead approach to making the dough.  You can make a batch of dough and keep it in the fridge and pull out a hunk and bake it whenever you want.  My friend has the book and I tried their brioche recipes.  It came out great and I even made beignets out of the leftover dough.


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## Aria (Oct 12, 2011)

I have been making BREAD for many years. Simple and quick: Great Homemade Bread Using Your Food Processor, Author Charles Van Over.

You can use any bread recipe. All ingredients in your food processor. Let rise in ungreased bowl covered with plastic wrap. Shape into loaves. Let rise. Bake. Succes every time. Regards, Aria


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