food and nutrition


Whole

Question: How do I make whole wheat bread in my machine if I have no whole wheat cycle? I recently purchased a toastmaster bread box 1150 used. It has no whole wheat cycle. Can I still make whole grain breads? I'd like to avoid using white flour as much as possible, but the manual that came with the machine doesn't have 100% whole wheat recipes I can adapt. Should I just give up and buy a newer machine?

Answer: There shouldn't be much difference between using the regular cycle for wheat bread. I also mix whole grains into the bread recipes I'm making - but I don't usually bake the bread in the bread machine unless I'm short on time and need bread. The best advice I can give you is to experiment and get to know the bread machine. You'll be able to tell if you have a good dough going and what cycle to best use. Humidity, or lack of, changes everything. You don't need to follow recipes in the book for that machine - you can buy a bread machine cookbook, or search online. I have my favorite recipes and I adapted them. I use a white bread recipe and swap out part of the white flour for unbleached all purpose white flour, bread flour and rye or wheat flour. I usually use a total of 3 cups of flour. I use at least 1 cup of wheat flour, but have used 1 1/2 cups (half the flour). I also adjust the water and add more going by the humidity and by watching the dough form to know it needs more water - especially when using the whole wheat flour. You don't need a new machine. You just need to experiment with the one you have. If something doesn't come out right, you can always make bread pudding, bread crumbs, french toast and croutons out of it.


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