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droesink badge: Community Member

zojirushi bread maker-Help!

I purchased the Zojirushi bread maker over a year ago and tried it once and never used it again. It was alot of money for me to spend, and to now have it sitting in a closet is bothering me.

Can anyone help me with some tried and true tips for getting good bread from it? If I need to start with white bread and graduate to wheat, I will. (I prefer wheat for health reasons)

I really don't know where to start and could use guidance on everything from recipes, to flour, to yeast and also baking methods and techiques.

I almost listed it on ebay, today, but really don't want to.... Thanks in advance!

Replies to This Discussion

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kittykat3308

I also have the Zo and the first thing I would suggest is to read the instruction booklet that came with your machine. We have had quite a few discussions here in regard to the Zo. If you will click on Baking, Bread Machine in the left hand column it will bring up some of those discussion and I think they will answer your questions. For recipes, I would suggest some of the King Arthur ones. I have never had a problem with their recipes and it doesn't matter what type of bread you start with, so whole wheat would be fine. I hope this helps

Blessings,
Kat

pjh
  • Reply by pjh on February 21, 2011 at 6:09 am
  • badge: King Arthur Baker

Oh, please don't get rid of your bread machine! If nothing else, you can use it to knead dough, and then take the dough out and shape and bake it yourself - into loaves, rolls, bread sticks, sticky buns, pizza... That's mostly what we use it for here, to knead dough. However, I've recently been reacquainting myself with baking bread in the machine. While I prefer to bake it outside (I think you get a better crust), it's certainly effortless to let the machine do it.
Here's a recipe everyone seems to like: Bread Machine Bread - Easy as Can Be. The recipe calls for active dry yeast, but you could use instant, as well. I recommend our King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour; it really is the best, and since it's AP, you don't have to get a special bread flour, as you would with other brands. You should be able to find it at your supermarket. If you haven't yet read our blog, I recommend it; mid-April I'm going to post techniques for getting the best loaf of bread out of your bread machine (baked in the machine). And, did you know you can use the machine as a mini oven, to make meatloaf, risotto, cheesecake, apple crisp, and all kinds of other things? It's quite a useful tool, once you know how to use it... so, as I said, please don't give up on it. Call our bakers' hotline, 802-649-3717, with specific questions, or if you simply need a hand to hold as you dig the machine out of the closet and bring it back to life. Good luck!

karen_noll
  • Reply by karen_noll on February 21, 2011 at 8:13 am
  • badge: Community Member

droesink,

Don't give up on your Zo just yet! I just got one about a month ago, and now I wonder why I didn't do it years ago. I started slowly, using recipes I had made often in the past, and just used the machine to mix and knead the dough, baking the loaves in the oven. Bought the Beth Hensberger bread machine book, which is packed with great recipes and good information on how to get the most out of your machine, and I've been working my way through some of the recipes, and they're all great, and I haven't had a dough failure yet. Haven't baked in the machine yet, but even if I never do, the machine was totally worth the $$ for how it prepares the dough. What did you try that turned you off the Zo in the first place?

PJ, I'm really looking forward to your take on baking in the Zo.

Karen

wongman1
  • Reply by wongman1 on February 21, 2011 at 1:36 pm
  • badge: Community Member

I made a bread once a long, long time ago. I didnt have any experience or technique for making bread. I even had a cheapy bread machine once. When my 5 yr old son said 'thats not bread', I gave up.

After 15 yrs, I just purchased the Zojirushi BB-Hac10 (the 1lb version) 1 week ago. It really has brought out the baker in me. Since then Ive made white, whole wheat, whole wheat\white, raisen, butter rolls, and just last night cheesecake. Just after 4 loaves I ventured out into experimenting and made my own French Toast bread. All came out good to great -according to various guinea pigs at my job and my son who loved the breads.

Its actually very simple and efficient. Dump the ingredients, set it and forget it. Like sports, the equipment makes a huge difference. You have a great machine and you should give it a shot again. Heres some tips from a newbie:

1. Use the recipes in the manual. Goto the Zo website if you dont have it.
2. Follow Zo's instructions for recipes to the letter, at least until you get to know the machine. Measurements are extremely important.
4. Use their method of measuing- sprinkle ingredients into the measuing device and level off with the back of a knife. It does make a difference in portions. Scooping out of the bag can add a tbls, which will make the bread drier.
4. Use 'Bread Flour'- Ive only use KA stuff so far.
5. I like softer, thinner crust, so Ive started to use the 'Soft' mode for all recipes
6. Use fresh ingredients
7. Make sure all ingredients are room temp. When it says softened, it really means soft. Some peeps complain of the 30min rest period when you start the machine. Use it, it really helps bring the ingredients to room temp.
8. After baking, let the bread sit in the pan for about 20mins, the moisture will help soften the crust.
9. The recipes call for 1 teaspoon of yeast. I use 1.5 - But you need to adjust for your area. I live in SF.
10. After a few loaves, have fun experimenting with variations of ingredients and measurements.
11. Take notes for each recipe for next time you make it. ie, too crumbly, add less dry ingredients. Too dense, less wet ingredients.

Start off with the basic white bread, then do a half white\wheat

The butter rolls I made were impressive. Make the dough and put in oven. Thats what really taught me about the bread making process. Albiet, a lot more work. Crust in the oven will always be better than a bread machine.

Its nice not having to worry about kneading or rising, the machine does it all for you. Cleanup is so much easier than getting flour everywhere. It takes about 6 minutes to cleanup.

Im confident enough now, that Im about to purchase the book Bread Machine Magic and also start milling my own wheat flour. Keep in mind, I aint no baker. Ive only been using my machine for 6 days now daily. These tips are just from my bread making process and I have lots to learn still!

Good luck!!

HMB
  • Reply by HMB on February 21, 2011 at 2:10 pm
  • badge: Community Member

Don't get rid of it! I'm on my 3rd machine (second Zo). I have been using bread machines since they first came out and I use mine several times a week. First of all, have you ever baked bread by hand, so you know what a proper dough looks and feels like? This is really helpful, though nowadays with so many video tutorials on the web, you should be able to get a pretty good idea if you are a total beginner with no baking experience. When you use a bread machine, it's a good idea to open the lid and check on your dough while it is kneading to see if it needs a bit more flour or more water. I think this is where many times things go wrong -- you can't just dump in the ingredients and walk away the first time you try a bread machine recipe. You need to check on the dough during the kneading cycle.
I really like Beth Hensperger's book of bread machine recipes, but I was always puzzled why I needed to add more flour to her recipes until the day I finally read the introductory pages to her book: She measures flour differently than I do, and that was causing the discrepancy. Once I started measuring flour the way she does when I use her book, I seldom had to adjust the recipes. So reading recipes and any introductory information is really important -- even though I was experienced enough to figure out what I needed to do to make the recipes work, if I had read everything through in the first place, I could have saved myself some trouble!

ZenSojourner

I've had problems with my Zo as well, but it turns out there were 2 things going on that have dragged the quality of my bread down.

First, the part of the country I am now living in - in a recipe calling for AP flour, the AP flour available locally is so low in protein that it's actually pastry flour (9.2%). When I ran out of the KA flour and started in on the local flour I didn't realize this disparity in protein content - 9.2% compared to 11.7% for the KA AP. That was one thing - I've solved that problem now by not using that flour for anything but biscuits and pie crust anymore, LOL!

The second issue - my yeast. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it was passing a proofing test. Nevertheless, I finally threw my hands up in the air and popped open the 2lb bag of Red Star Active Dry Yeast I'd picked up recently at Costco.

In a side by side proofing test, the Red Star was definitely more active, dissolved faster and more completely. The granule size of the Red Star was much finer. This was obvious to the naked eye, even given that both were very small. The old yeast worked, but not as well. Still there wasn't THAT big a difference after a 10 minute proofing. But there wasn't that much left of it, I had all that new yeast just sitting there, and I was getting PRETTY TIRED of nothing seeming to work right anymore. So I tossed it and went ahead and used the new yeast.

I was making pizza dough. The dang stuff climbed out of the pan. TWICE.

I haven't tried another loaf of bread in the Zo yet, but my guess is that grocery store brand yeast is just low quality (the expiration date isn't until 10/2011). You might try switching yeast.

I've been working with the White Breakfast Bread recipe on this site and I was getting it pretty close, once I try it again with the new yeast we'll see what happens. Also, KA baking hotline told me to turn off the preheat cycle on my Zo and add the yeast with the water. That did make a difference with the old yeast; I'm wondering what I'll see with the new yeast. I'll repost when I've had a chance to try it again.

karen_noll
  • Reply by karen_noll on February 22, 2011 at 8:00 am
  • badge: Community Member

As a newbie Zo user, I'm a bit confused as to what problem is solved by turning off the preheat function. Other than the obvious one of saving some time, what is accomplished?

Thanks,
Karen

ZenSojourner

I think in this case the intent was to not let the yeast overproof - if you're going to add the yeast with the water, you don't really want it sitting there for 15 minutes and then pooping out later because it zoomed early on.

karen_noll
  • Reply by karen_noll on February 22, 2011 at 11:53 am
  • badge: Community Member

ZenS, Makes sense, thanks. I actually have a loaf (from the Beth Hensberger book) in the Zo as we speak. I've had the Zo about a month, and up till now I've only used it to mix and knead with really superior results, so it's about time to take the plunge and let it bake and see what happens. I took the dough out before the last rise, reshaped it, and removed the paddles. It's on its last rise now, and we'll see how it turns out. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Karen

bellesaz
  • Reply by bellesaz on February 22, 2011 at 5:42 pm
  • badge: Community Member

I have never been a big fan of bread machines or the product that is produced from them. I have used all of them, including the Zo. It does an OK job of mixing, but it never quite mixes right and I don't get a window pane from my doughs when using it.. so I always have to knead more by hand. I have a KitchenAid, and finally invested in a Magic Mill DLX by Electrolux. LOVE THAT MACHINE and I know exactly how my dough is doing at every stage.

Good luck with your machine though.. there are alot of bread machine fans, I'm just not one of them.. I guess I'm old school.

Cindy846
  • Reply by Cindy846 on February 27, 2011 at 6:29 pm
  • badge: Community Member

I've had my Zo for 10 - 12 years now. The first thing I did to get good results was adjust the included recipes for my altitude. Since I live in Colorado at approximately 6,400 feet, I have increased the liquid called for in the bread recipes, decreased the yeast and use vital wheat gluten as well. I also add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of instant mashed potato flakes to the basic roll recipe which makes it moist and delicious. I use that recipe to make dinner rolls, cinnamon and orange breakfast rolls using a 9" cake pan instead of baking the rolls in individual muffin pan cups as instructed in the recipe booklet. The roll recipe will yield two pans of rolls. I've never had a problem with the dough mixing properly since I open the lid during the initial mixing period and "eyeball" the moisture content of the dough. If it seems to be dry, I add liquid a Tablespoon at a time and if it is too moist, I add a little flour until I get the desired results.

ZenSojourner

The windowpane test is really not that meaningful as a general rule of thumb. It's supposed to be an indicator of FULL gluten development, which, in the first place, you may not even want, depending on the bread you're trying to make, and secondly can be achieved via other means. Checking for it during the mixing phase is usually not what you actually want to do. It's more meaningful to check for it in the shaping phase, assuming the bread you're trying to make needs a full windowpane.

The old saw about mixing to full windowpane is an outgrowth of factory bread, where they rely on quick intense dough mixes using high powered orbital mixers that wouldn't even fit in our kitchens (well not MY kitchen at any rate), little or no ferment time, and a high-rise squishy loaf.

Most doughs are better with a partial windowpane at mixing. Baguettes may be an exception, I've been told a good baguette should be heavily kneaded. My Zo does give me a partial windowpane at kneading.

droesink
  • Reply by droesink on March 07, 2011 at 9:29 pm
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Hi Karen, the only time I used it, the bread turned out like a hockey puck! I don't even remember which recipe I used-it was probably one from the Zo book.

ZenSojourner

Don't give up! I could have used the first 2 or 3 loaves out of my Zo as building supplies, LOL!

Eventually things will get worked out. I've had way more success with recipes from this site than the ones that came with the machine.

phylbart
  • Reply by phylbart on March 10, 2011 at 2:02 pm
  • badge: Community Member

I hope none of you EVER give up on the Zo!! I use mine just to knead the dough and then bake it normally in my oven. I keep mine on the counter so I can quickly mix up a loaf. I also use a thermometer to make sure of the bread's internal temperature. I use mostly the KA recipes and always KA flour. I was so glad to learn about adding potato flour and powdered milk!! My breads are to die for!

tneil
  • Reply by tneil on March 12, 2011 at 2:38 pm
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I would really like to have a recipe for making apple crisp in my ZO..Now I only use it for making bread dough.
Thank you.
tneil

khkerr2002
  • Reply by khkerr2002 on March 25, 2011 at 11:10 pm
  • badge: Community Member

I am in the same boat as you. I bought a Zo on impulse over a year ago when I first got into bread making, and have never used it! I read the manual, looked at the recipes, but have had such success with doing it the regular way, that I haven't seen the point of using it. I'm embarrassed that I have it. BTW, mine came with a VIDEO TAPE! Who has a VCR? It's funny that I stumbled on this b/c I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

ZenSojourner

Use it to bake bread, of course! I've had excellent results using it just to knead too. I don't know what model you have but mine can be programmed to do just about anything as far as knead times, resting times, etc.

I use mine to knead puri, which I always hated doing by hand. Actually I hate ALL hand kneading. Its even easier to use than my KA mixer for most purposes.

Mine will even make meatloaf and jam, if I wanted to make meatloaf and jam. I originally bought it to make meatloaf - I had frozen shoulder at the time and my dad loved meatloaf, which it was difficult for me to do by hand with only one arm.

Cyn2you
  • Reply by Cyn2you on February 15, 2012 at 4:44 am
  • badge: Community Member

Hi PJH,
I am brand new to KAF site and a brand new owner of a Zojirushi BB-CEC20 Bread Maker (my husband gave me it for my birthday). I have been researching the internet about experiences and recipes for making 2lb. loaf of bread when I came across KAF site. And while exploring your site, I saw your entry in reply(2-21-2011) to "droesink" dated Feb.20, 2011 where you gave a lot of helpful information. One thing you wrote about was a posting you were planning to make on the blog about:"mid-April I'm going to post techniques for getting the best loaf of bread out of your bread machine (baked in the machine)." I've looked all over the blog through the month of April for the article and couldn't find it. I did however, find your article "Zo handy! Cheese bread and baked pasta without a fuss." dated April 18th, 2011, which wasn't the same thing.

Did you write it or post it at another time? I, very much want to read it. Especially since I have noticed a lot of folks love the Zojirushi but also a lot of folks have to experience a high learning curve to figure out how to use the machine properly and since I am also relatively new to bread baking, much less bread baking in a machine and anything that uses yeast, I suspect I will be one of the "frustrated high learning curve type" type people. Don't get me wrong...I want to learn....but I am also intimidated by the prospect.

I thank you in advance for your reply!

Browninggold

Keep your Zojirushi. I use mine a few times a week. I had a breadman purchased the first one they made. One thing with the Zojirushi I spread all ingredients across the top even the rapid rise yeast. With the Breadman I made a "divot" for the yeast. Zojirushi bread comes out perfect everytime. I have even made the meatloaf in the Zojirushi. Have made jams also. Just follow the directions excellent bread maker. Make sure you use the King Arthur Bread flour....perfect everytime. Also before I start the machine I "even" out the mix so it is smooth across the top. Perfect loaf every time.

KAF_Keri
  • Reply by KAF_Keri on February 15, 2012 at 8:50 pm
  • badge: King Arthur Employee Owner

Hi Cyn2You,

I'm not familiar with an existing blog post like the one you described, but it could still be in the works - I know PJ and the rest of the blogging team sometimes work on posts for a while before they get posted.

BUT! I know we have a great Bread Machine FAQ and tip section on the website. Here are links to a few of them:

Introduction to Bread Machines
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/bread-machine-introduction.html

Bread Machine Basics and Hints
www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/bread-machine-basics.html

Bread Machine Ingredients
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/bread-machine-ingredients.html

Programming your Zo
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/zojirushi-programming-tips.html

Last but not least, we have a category of our recipe page for "Bread machine recipes baked in a bread machine". You can find those recipes here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bread-machine/baked-in-machine

I hope this helps! If you have any questions don't hesitate to let us know.

~Keri @ KAF

pjh
  • Reply by pjh on February 15, 2012 at 9:03 pm
  • badge: King Arthur Baker

Cyn2You, sorry, I never did write that blog post... Turns out, since I bake about one loaf a year in the bread machine (preferring, instead, to simply knead my dough for me), I didn't have enough information to put a blog together. (Actually, don't know what I was thinking at the time, to even put it out there that I was going to do a post on baking in the machine...) At any rate, Keri was nice enough to provide you with lots of information; and I'm sure others here in the community will chime in, too. As for me - I urge you to be adventurous, and to use the machine for kneading dough, then taking it out and shaping it into rolls, pizza, a loaf, or anything you like. Using the Zo that way opens you up to a whole huge world of bread recipes. Enjoy - PJH

Cyn2you
  • Reply by Cyn2you on February 15, 2012 at 10:31 pm
  • badge: Community Member

Hi Keri and PJH,
I really appreciate the time you took and the great information you both gave me. Thank you PJH, for letting me know that it didn't get written yet so I wouldn't make myself nuts looking for it. I do hope someone will write a blog on the subject Zojirushi bread baking - everything you need to know for success and then some. Especially since I have seen bits and pieces of great advice on all aspects of bread machine baking, from using a dough enhancer to soften the crust and have the bread stay fresh longer, and turning the paddles in the machine to a parallel 3:00 position for proper kneading in the Zojirushi as well as a few other hints. I just was hoping that there would be an article to tie all this great information together.

Thank you Keri for all the links and helpful information. I will be sure to check them out. I am impressed with the KAF site, the blogs and the folks in the KAF community. I think if I start having problems with my Zojirushi when I get past my stage of being intimidated I will have a place to ask questions, and hopefully get answers.

Thank you both, again!

hank264
  • Reply by hank264 on April 23, 2012 at 3:56 pm
  • badge: Community Member

I just got my ZO on Thursday (3 days ago). I baked my first loaf in it Thursday night and it came out GREAT. I did the Italian Wheat loaf. While my overall plan is to let ZO make my dough, I decided to let it do the whole thing to begin with.

I am lousy at measuring with cups so I have a really good scale. I put the ZO on it and zeroed it out then weighed all my ingredients.

The result was one of the highest rising breads I have made, and I make bread about 4-5 times a week. Crust was crisper than I get when I bake in the oven.

Made killer thick french toast Saturday and Sunday and baked another loaf with the exact same result yesterday.

I have always had some issues with rise of my breads. I cook almost exclusively with predominantly whole grain ingredients, but after reading the instruction book for the ZO I will be continuing to use KA Bread Flour instead of KA AP flour when recipes call for AP flour.

Maybe the ZO does a better job of kneading. I usually knead on my stand mixer with a dough hook for 8-10 minutes and I never get a nice ball of dough, it us usually sticking to the bottom of the bowl and stirs a bunch.

Mind you, I weigh my ingredients exactly in ounces.

I wish I had someone that could work with me to SHOW me what a good dough ball is supposed to look like after kneading.

My family says I make the best bread they have ever had, especially my mother- who has baked for over 60 years, but the ZO made the most beautiful dough I have seen yet.

I used KA bread salt in the ZO. Have not used it in any other dough yet, but reviews said it helped with rise when compared to table salt.

I plan to do a LOT of dough in the ZO, and I will bake it in my over after making the shapes I want.

Excited about pizza dough... using the timer and coming home to fresh pizza dough that is ready to roll out (will add some KA EZRoll additive)

HerBoudoir
  • Reply by HerBoudoir on April 23, 2012 at 9:47 pm
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Hank, have a peek at this page: http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/how-to-convert-a-yeast-brea...

She shows pictures of what the dough should look like in a Zo, and examples of too wet and too dry.

Hope that helps! Enjoy your Zo - I'm in love with mine :-)

ZenSojourner

Mmmmmmmm, breadsticks .... gotta try that!

As to "converting" recipes to knead in my Zo - I don't. Works fine without "conversion", especially if you're starting from weight rather than volume measures.

And that "just right" picture still looks too wet for me. At first I thought she was talking about baking in the machine, but she's not. Just kneading, as most of us.

Does anybody else do any sort of "conversion" to knead in their bread machine?

HerBoudoir
  • Reply by HerBoudoir on April 24, 2012 at 9:11 am
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She's a bake-out-of-the-Zo-gal as well. And yes, those breadsticks are very good - I add roasted garlic to the dough. Mmmmm.

Monica baker girl

Hey, hang in there. I had a zo ( in fact, I got 2 ) for 14 years. I started using more often about 5 years ago. You can get so many recipes from KAF web site. Zo is a great tool to have besides a stand mixer. Start exploring a little by little and soon you will discover Zo's versatility. Good luck!

dachshundlady

Read this on Epinions.com One person's experience:

"The folks at Zojirushi must have the worst quality control department. Before purchasing this machine I did research for several weeks and about 75% of the reviews I read and received directly were great. The other 25% ran the gamut from "so-so" to "horrible".

I decided to buy the machine anyway. I am sorry I did. It cooks lopsided loaves and burns the bottom but leaves the top undercooked. I tried each and every remedy given to me by the folks at the Zo customer service and the remedies I found online. The machine continually made rock hard crust on the bottom of the bread and the top of the bread was just barely cooked. The Zo rep with whom I spoke last, told me that the Zo does not brown the top of bread as well as other machines. The repair man told me that the quality control is poor and I should send the machine back and get another. He said that he has several customers who have gone through 2-3 machines before they got one that worked properly. He said the machine is not supposed to create hard dark crust on the bottom and barely cook crust on top. He asked me if I tried dark crust and I said yes – but with same results. No matter what setting I used it was hard as cement on bottom and barely cooked on top. ((This guy does all of the Zo repairs in my city -and- is the man to whom Zo corporate told me to go see)) I am REALLY glad I purchased the machine at QVC because they have a no questions asked return policy.

I was REALLY REALLY disappointed in this machine. For the money I expected more."

ZenSojourner

I have to agree - there's a serious issue with Zo quality control. Either people never have a problem with it, or it never works to bake. You either have to be willing to run the replacement gauntlet, or you have to resign yourself to just using it for kneading. I've done the latter. It's a great kneading machine. It bakes really well too if you're lucky - or persistent - enough to get one that will bake properly.

Monica baker girl

Wow! So sorry to hear that. I guess you ran into the defect one. I hope they replaced it for you.

frick
  • Reply by frick on April 25, 2012 at 3:05 am
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Zen, as to your question about "converting" a recipe so it can be made in a bread machine, no, I don't do any conversion. I mean some recipes obviously don't work in a BM at all, but if I think it has a chance, I just toss the stuff in and let 'er rip. I think the person "converting" may have been doing so because her machine had a smaller capacity than the Zo. Most of the time, I make no changes at all, except as suits our taste.

cwcdesign
  • Reply by cwcdesign on April 25, 2012 at 5:13 am
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frick and Zen's comments have me wondering . . .

When I had my older bread machine (Panasonic), the common wisdom for using your own recipes in the machine was to change the amount of liquid (reduce, perhaps). Was this necessary for baking in the machine? I'm asking because most of the recipes for making dough and baking in the oven are the same whether you mix and knead the dough by hand, stand mixer or bread machine.

In other words, is it only necessary to "convert" recipes if you are baking in the machine?

frick
  • Reply by frick on April 25, 2012 at 8:21 pm
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I'm sorry, I can't answer that because I no longer bake in the machine.

frick
  • Reply by frick on April 25, 2012 at 8:26 pm
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deleting double entry

cwcdesign
  • Reply by cwcdesign on April 26, 2012 at 4:10 am
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frick,

I think my question was confusing (not a surprise, I usually am). I don't bake in the machine either.

I was wondering if the manufacturers recommended lowering the amount of liquid in a recipe because of the baking process or because of the mixing process. It was more a matter of curiosity than anything else :-)

HerBoudoir
  • Reply by HerBoudoir on April 26, 2012 at 9:10 am
  • badge: Community Member

Incidentally, the new Zo' Virtuoso - the "latest greatest" - has heating elements in the lid so that would address the not-browning-on-top issue. The very few loaves I have baked in my Zo resulted in a nice thick crust that I liked and my husband hated - everywhere but the top LOL. It's definitely a matter of personal preference.

I think most bread recipes would work if you brought the flour quantity down (and everything else in proportion) to what your bread machine can handle. To be honest, I have so many bread machine recipes that I want to try, I haven't even begun to experiment with non-bread-machine-bread-recipes all that much.

My mom used to make bread all the time when I was growing up....she still has the recipe but it starts with "Take 15 lbs of flour....." Sooooo I haven't bothered to convert it LOL

ZenSojourner

I love READING old recipes, but wouldn't dream of trying to use one, LOL!

Here's one from "The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened", from the 17th century. (Sir Kenelm was a pirate-philosopher, back in the days when those weren't seen to be mutually exclusive endeavors)

So, to make "Megethlin"

Take your Honey, and mix it with fair water, until the Honey be quite dissolved.

If it will bear an Egge to be above the liquor, the breadth of a groat, it is strong enough; if not, put more Honey to it, till it be so strong;

Then boil it, till it be clearly and well skimmed;

Then put in one good handful of Strawberry-leaves, and half a handful of Violet leaves; and half as much Sorrel: a Douzen tops of Rosemary; four or five tops of Baulme-leaves: a handful of Harts-tongue, and a handful of Liver-worth; a little Thyme, and a little Red-sage;

Let it boil about an hour; then put it into a Woodden Vessel, where let it stand, till it be quite cold;

Then put it into the Barrel;

Then take half an Ounce of Cloves, as much Nutmeg; four or five Races of Ginger; bruise it, and put it into a fine bag, with a stone to make it sink, that it may hang below the middle:

Then stop it very close.

***************

I love it! "the breadth of a groat", LOL!

frick
  • Reply by frick on April 26, 2012 at 5:52 pm
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That's a buckwheat groat, mind you. Try finding one, I dare you.

ZenSojourner

Does it have to be hulled? Cuz I got a pillow-full of of unhulled buckwheat groats!

HerBoudoir
  • Reply by HerBoudoir on April 27, 2012 at 6:57 am
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Talk about adding fiber to your diet!

Nana2All
  • Reply by Nana2All on May 01, 2012 at 7:29 am
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I agree. The beth Hensberger book has given me an expanded understanding of bread. The only failure I've had with my Zo was operator error. Used salt for sugar and sugar for salt. Strangest loaf I ever saw! A sense of humor helps. Beth's recipes are foolproof and although I'm new to KA each recipe I've made has been excellent.