Basic Ingredients

A few key ingredients are used to make bread – including various types of flour, which you will want to experiment with to get the most out of your Panasonic Breadmaker.

So, without further a-dough (sorry) here’s The Ideas Kitchen rundown of the elements that go into the mix, with an explanation of what each adds to the baking process.

FLOUR

Only strong flour is used to make bread (not plain or self-raising) and it is milled from hard wheat. The high protein content is necessary for the development of gluten, which works with yeast to ensure your dough rises. There are several varieties:

• White – is sifted wholemeal flour so excludes the bran and wheat germ, which makes for light, well-risen loaves.
• Brown – has 10-15% of the wheat grain removed during milling.  It is basically sifted wholemeal flour with some of the bran put back in.
• Wholemeal – is exactly what it says on the tin; so includes the entire wheat grain grounded up which includes the bran and the wheatgerm. It is defined as having an extraction rate of more than 80% and can be stoneground or machine ground, and produces bread that remains quite dense, but is richer in minerals.
• Softgrain – is strong white flour with wheat and rye grains added to provide extra fibre, texture and flavour.
• Granary®/malted grain – has crushed wheat or rye grains added together with malted wholewheat .  This makes the brown bread flour coarser and moister with a nuttier flavour.
• Spelt – is an ancient wheat variety and is made from a different type of wheat. The protein in spelt flour is gluten however it has a different polypeptide chain which makes it easier for some people on special diets to tolerate. Check the label before you buy, to confirm suitability for baking.
• Rye – is another type that makes dense, heavy bread with a sunken crust, as it contains less protein.
• Stoneground – as the name suggests, this indicates flour ground with traditional millstones rather than modern steel rollers.
• Other Flour – Corn meal, rice, millet, soy, oat, buckwheat and barley flour can also be used in bread. These do not contain protein that form sufficient gluten and therefore should not be substituted for bread flour in the recipes.

FLOUR TESTS

This month we have been looking at how to help you save pennies whilst getting the best from your breadmaker. We have tested various own branded flour which in our opinion give you a fantastic result without stretching your budget.

• Wholemeal flour tests

  	Carrs wholemeal	Morrisons strong wholemeal	Marriages strong wholemeal	Marriages very strong Canadian wholemeal	Tesco strong wholemeal	Sainsburys strong wholemeal	Allinsons Premium wholemeal very strong
  Appearance	Good even rise	Small but even rise	Uneven craggy top crust	Stretched on top crust	Lumpy top Poor. Sunken top crust	Even but small rise.	Craggy uneven top. Cratered
  Height in cm	17	13.5	15	14	13	12.5	11.5
  Texture	Good	Very good	Good	Good	Good	Very good. Close texture but chewy and moist.	Good but a bit moist.
  Flavour	Bland, lacked wholemeal taste	Good light Wholemeal taste	Stronger wholemeal taste. Good.	Good wholemeal flavour.	Bland	Good but to moist.	Good
  Overall	Good appearance but bland in flavour	Recommend for closer wholemeal flavour	Good, may benefit from 20ml more water.	Good, may benefit from 20mls more water.	Poor results.		Poor appearance.

• Strong white flour tests

  	Morrison’s strong white (Exp Sept 12)	Sainsbury’s strong white (Exp Sept 12)	Marriages Finest strong white flour (Exp Aug 12)	Allinson’s Premium white very strong bread flour (Exp Aug 12)	Carrs strong white flour (Exp Sept 12)	Shipton Mill Traditional Organic white flour (Exp June 12)	Tesco strong white flour (Exp Sept 12)
  Appearance	Slightly sloped. Stretch around ¾ of top crust	Even but crinkly top crust	Flap around whole of top crust. Even. Golden	Flap around 1 long and 1 short side. Very good appearance	Small. Even.	Sloped. Flap around 1 long and 1 short side. Nice and crusty.	Good rise. Even. Level. Golden colour. Flap around 1 long and 1 short side.
  Height in cm	14-15	14.6	17	16.6	14.9-15.3	15.5	16.4
  Flavour/Texture	Pleasant. Good.	Bland. Very moist crumb. Slightly creamy.	Mild. Crispy crust.	Good. Crispy crust. Firm to close crumb. Slightly chewy	Very good creamy	Mild	Bland with crispy crust.
  Overall			1. Beast Appearance	2	4. Best for flavour		3

• Granary style flour tests

  	Waitrose Love Life Crunchy Mixed Seed Red Bag (Exp Aug 12)	Waitrose Love Life Crunchy Mixed Seed Red Bag (Exp Aug 12)	Waitrose Love Life seeded and malt bread flour Green bag (Exp Aug 12)	Waitrose Love Life seeded and malt bread flour Green bag (Exp Aug 12)	Waitrose Love Life seeded wholemeal bread flour Orange bag (Exp May 12)	Waitrose Love Life seeded wholemeal bread flour Orange bag (Exp May 12)	Allinson seed and grain white bread flour (Exp May 12)	Allinson country grain bread flour (Exp Sept 12)	Allinson country grain bread flour (Exp Sept 12)
  Recipe program menu water	4hr Basic 350ml	Granary recipe 5hr 340ml	Granary recipe 5hr 340ml	100% wm 5hr 370ml	Granary recipe 5hr 340ml	100% wm recipe 5hr 370ml	Basic white recipe 4hr 350ml	Granary recipe 5hr 340ml	Basic recipe 4hr 350ml
  Appearance	Good slightly detatched top crust	Good	Even good with small stretch very slight slope next try 350ml	Poorer appearance than 340ml . large stretch on top	Some stretches on top	Even	Ok small stretch at one end	Unacceptable	Unacceptable
  Height in cm	15.5	17	15.5	15	14	13	14	13.5-9	10
  Crumb texture	Even. Closer texture than 5h	Lighter than 4h	Even	Very Light	Even	Very light	Swirl in crumb. Really crunchy good crust. Good small seeds	Sticky yeasty damp crumb. Bitter flavour	Sticky yeasty damp crumb. Bitter flavour
  Flavour	Good light. Like the poppy seeds. Sweet sesame nutty		Sweet. Large pumpkin seeds. Personal taste but prefer closer texture of 340 to 370ml	Both 340 and 370ml crusty.	Good wm flavour with small seeds . crunchy crust.	Lighter slightly more moist crumb than 340ml
  Overall	Best for white seeded				Best for wm seeded		Best for crust	Poor overall	Poor overall

• Strong brown flour tests

  	Morrisons strong brown	Morrisons strong brown	Sainsburys strong brown	Sainsburys strong brown	Carrs strong brown	Carrs strong brown	Tesco strong brown	Tesco strong brown
  Cycle	Bake rapid	Basic 4hr	Bake rapid	Basic 4hr	Bake rapid	Basic 4hr	Bake rapid	Basic 4hr
  Appearance	Small even rise	Even rise flat top	Detached top crust	Good even rise some stretching on top. 20ml more water needed	Detached top crust. Stretching across top. Could benefit from 20ml more water.	Uneven rise. Cratered top crust. Poor. Could benefit from 20ml more water.	Good even rise	Good even rise
  Height in cm	10.5	13.5	14	16.5	14	17-14 sloped	15	17
  Texture	Good	Good	Good	Light	Good	Good	Good	Good
  Flavour	Good	Good	OK	OK	Bland	Bland	Bland	Bland
  Overall	Small even rise, but good texture and flavour	Acceptable	Acceptable	Acceptable	Acceptable	Poor appearance. Good rise, not even	Acceptable	Best overall appearance, texture and rise

• Nutritional values

  • Bran is all round the germ and the endosperm and has four main layers of skin.  One layer is the aleurone layer which contains vitamins, fat and minerals.  Many nutritionists feel this is necessary.

  • Wheatgerm is rich in protein, vitamins and oil.
  • Vit B1 helps with the release of energy from carbohydrates
  • Vit B3 is used to reduce bad cholesterol.
  • Calcium is necessary for healthy bones and teeth.
  • Iron is necessary for healthy blood . It is particularly important for young children to intake sufficient quantities of iron.
  • Non starch polysaccharides (non soluble fibre) is important to help maintain a healthy digestive system. This also helps you to feel full. It is different from the soluble fibre found in fruit and veg.

  	CA Calcium mg/100g	FE Iron mg/100g	NSP Fibre mg/100g	Thiamin Vit B1 mg/100g	Niacin Vit B3 mg/100g
  Bread brown	186	2.2	3.5	0.22	2.8
  Bread wholemeal	106	2.4	5.0	0.25	3.8
  Bread granary	209	1.9	3.3	0.24	2.7
  Bread white farmhouse or split tin	172	1.3	2.1	0.19	1.4

YEAST

• A live product, yeast makes bread rise during baking by instigating fermentation, which produces carbon dioxide that’s trapped in the elastic network of gluten.

DAIRY PRODUCTS

• Fat – adds softness and flavour to your bread. You can use butter or margarine, or oil (with 2 tbsp equivalent to 25g).
• Milk – can be used instead of some or all of the water in the recipe when mixing dough. It will add nutritional value to your bread. As milk may not keep fresh unrefrigerated, though, it’s not suitable for your breadmaker’s overnight timer function

SALT

• As well as adding flavour to taste, salt increases the strength of the gluten, so aiding the rising process.

SUGAR

• Sweetening your bread, sugar will also increase its softness and add colour to the crust. Try brown sugar, honey or molasses.

LIQUID

• Cold tap water should be used. For BAKE RAPID, lukewarm water should be used, especially during the very cold winter months.
• Too much liquid will cause the dough to collapse, giving a poor appearance.

OTHER ADDITIVES

• Bran and wheat germ – will add fibre and nutty flavour, respectively. Try either or a combination, up to 50g in total for a loaf.
• Eggs – will improve the nutritional value and colouring of your bread. Beat them thoroughly and use to replace some of the liquid in your dough mix.
• Spices and herbs – will enhance the flavour, but use them sparingly (1-2 tsp).

BREAD MIXES

• Some commercially available products incorporate various of the ingredients listed here. So, check the label and don’t add things – especially the yeast – that are already in the mix (or possibly supplied as a separate sachet, with instructions). Specialist breads may require a specific product – for example, brioche mix.