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Author: Aldrin

… Wants to Bake Pain de Mie (Pullman Regular Sandwich Bread)

Posted by | Jun 5, 2012 | , , , |

Here’s the recipe by the good people at King Arthur Flour, for making a traditional Pain de Mie using a 13″ long Pullman lidded loaf pan. This recipe is reproduced and adapted from their Bakers’ Banter blog, while this other post on their blog has great photos of the Pain de Mie being made and what it looks like after baking. Pain de Mie (Pullman Regular Sandwich Bread) (adapted from Pain de Mie (Pullman Loaf or Regular Sandwich Bread) by King Arthur Flour) Prep & Rise: About 1 1/2 to 3 hours Oven: 350°F (180°C) Bake: 45 minutes Makes: 1 large loaf Ingredients 2/3 cup (5 3/8 ounces) milk 1 cup (8 ounces) water 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter (86g) 2 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar 1/4 cup (1 1/8 ounces) Baker’s Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk (4 Tablespoons) (I’m using full cream milk powder instead) 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour 4 3/4 cups (20 ounces) King Arthur Flour Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I’m using 665g of my bread flour instead) 2 teaspoons instant yeast This recipe has separate instructions for the Manual Method, using a Mixer and using a Bread Machine for the initial steps (steps 1 to 3), while My Method used both a mixer as well as kneading by hand. Manual Method 1. In a large bowl, combine the...

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… Wants to Bake the Softest White Sandwich Bread (Trial #2)

Posted by | Jun 5, 2012 | , , , , |

Okay, with the results of Trial #1, I’ve decided to increase the amount of sugar (to make the bread sweeter) as well as increase the potato flour to improve on the softness of the bread. Here’re the ingredients and method for Trial #2 … Soft White Sandwich Bread Trial #2 (adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (2007) by Jeff Hertzsberg & Zoe Francois, page 204, and Pain de Mie (Pullman loaf or regular sandwich bread) by King Arthur Flour) Prep: About 15 minutes Initial Rise: About 2 hours Rest: About 40 minutes Oven: 350°F (~180°C) Bake: About 40 minutes Cool: About 1 hour Makes: 2 1-lb loaves Ingredients (changes in ingredients from trial #1 are in bold italics) 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water 3/4 Tablespoon instant yeast (~12mL) 1/2 Tablespoon salt 2 Tablespoons sugar 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) olive oil (110g) 3 1/2 cups Pillsbury BEST Bread Flour (450g) 2 1/2 Tablespoons lecithin granules (~24g) 1 Tablespoon potato flour (~14g) 2 Tablespoons soy flour (~16g) 2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten (~22g) 4 Tablespoons milk powder (~32g) 1. So, this time, I remembered to add the oil and milk powder when they were supposed to. The salt, sugar was dissolved in the water followed by stirring in the yeast. Then the oil was spooned in and whisked into the water just before the dry ingredients were added. 2....

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… Wants the Results of the Softest White Sandwich Bread (Trial #1)

Posted by | Jun 5, 2012 | , , |

It’s the next day, so let us see how well my first try at making the Softest White Sandwich Bread is. A slice of Trial #1 is on the left and a slice of store-bought bread is on the right in comparison … Other than the store-bought slice being much whiter, it looks like the hole structure and thinness of the crust between the two are very similar. Texture wise, Trial #1 feels not as soft and is a bit “gummy” or sticky to the touch. Here’re the same slices, this time with some margarine (100% non-hydrogenated, of course … trans fats are worse than saturated fats, health wise) spread on them … The margarine spreads just as well on Trial #1 as on the store-bought one. Here’re two more slices, toasted at the same time, in the same toaster till the store-bought one (on the right) is lightly browned … You can see that it’ll take longer for Trial #1 to brown … letting it toast further (total toasting time about double that for the store-bought one) results in some charring along the crust and a bit of browning in the crumb … And here’re the toasted slices, spread with some margarine, with the longer-toasted Trial #1 on the left … As already expected, Trail #1 is not as soft as the store-bought one, and is a bit...

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… Wants to Bake the Softest White Sandwich Bread (Trial #1)

Posted by | Jun 3, 2012 | , , , , |

Okay, here’s my first try at making the softest white sandwich bread possible. I’ve just returned from the supermarket, laden with Bob’s Red Mill Potato Flour & Soy Flour along with some organic lecithin granules and other groceries (I can never resist stocking up on groceries 🙂 ). I already have Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten, bread flour, olive oil and full cream milk powder, so I’m ready for Trial # 1. Soft White Sandwich Bread Trial #1 (adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (2007) by Jeff Hertzsberg & Zoe Francois, page 204, and Pain de Mie (Pullman loaf or regular sandwich bread) by King Arthur Flour) Prep: About 15 minutes Initial Rise: About 2 hours Rest: About 40 minutes Oven: 350°F (~180°C) Bake: About 35 minutes Cool: About 1 hour Makes: 2 1-lb loaves Ingredients 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water 3/4 Tablespoon instant yeast (~12mL) 1/2 Tablespoon salt 1 Tablespoon sugar 4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) olive oil (110g) 3 1/2 cups Pillsbury BEST Bread Flour (450g) 2 1/2 Tablespoons lecithin granules (~24g) 2 teaspoons potato flour (~4g) 2 Tablespoons soy flour (~6g) 2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten (~22g) 4 Tablespoons milk powder 1. In a container, the salt & sugar were dissolved in the water, and the yeast was stirred in. 2. Using a whisk, the flours, lecithin & vital wheat gluten were mixed...

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… Wants The Secret to The Softest White Sandwich Bread

Posted by | Jun 3, 2012 | , , , |

Since I’d started baking bread again after discovering the bread in just 5 minutes a day technique, I’ve been wanting to wean my significant other and our daughter from store-bought sliced sandwich bread to something more wholesome and maybe even cheaper. The recipes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day as well as the authors’ follow-up books (Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day) are great and delicious, but as they are artisanal French breads, they are best eaten the day they are baked … they do not keep well for more than a day, becoming dry and stale. Assuredly not what my significant other and our kid like to eat, which is pillowy soft and light like Wonder Bread … here’s a picture of some store-bought sliced white sandwich bread. On the other hand, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day does have a recipe for Soft American-Style White Bread, which has sugar & butter and makes good sandwiches … on the first day. However, it does not stay soft on the 2nd day onwards, not like the store-bought kind. So, this got me thinking that there must be a way to reproduce the longer lasting softness of store-bought sliced sandwich bread, but without any artificial preservatives or additives. So, I’m now on a mission … to...

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