My friend Sarah W just introduced me to www.breadbeckers.com, an excellent resource. There, you can order a free copy of "Do Not Eat the Bread of Idleness." I've read the condensed version and learned a lot. It's a summary of the damage done by white flour. If Jesus is the Bread of Life, bread should be healthy, right? For so many years, I avoided purchasing bread from the store because it just didn't seem healthy to me, but I didn't know what to do about it!
Bread is one of the most difficult changes about a whole foods diet but it will seem normal someday! When your husband comes home to the smell of fresh-baked bread, he may not think this diet is to bad after all. :)
Step One
Purchase wheat berries from Azure Standard or Bread Beckers.
Purchase a grain mill from Urban Homemaker or Bread Beckers. I know it's pricey to get started but I calculated that it more than pays for itself. I had a Kitchen Aid mixer already, so I paid about $100 for a grain mill attachment.
Step Two
Rearrange your kitchen so that the grain mill and wheat are easy to access. (I put my wheat berries in a large bin with a scoop in it that takes up an entire cabinet.)
Step Three
Pour wheat berries into grain mill. Voila! Out comes freshly-milled flour! It couldn't be any easier!
Step Four
Put ingredients into bread machine (instructions to come) or make bread by hand.
Our Current Bread Recipe (adapted from Bread Beckers)
1 1/2 cups very hot water
1 cup cold almond milk (can use organic whole cow's milk)
3 eggs (optional)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
1 T sea salt
6 - 7 1/4 cups freshly-milled flour
4 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
Combine water, milk, eggs, oil, honey, and salt. (Temperature should be just right for yeast.) Mix in yeast. Add flour to make a soft dough. Knead by hand or with mixer's dough hook until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Shape into loaves and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. Makes 2 - 3 loaves.
If you want thin, sandwich slices that most resemble store-bought bread, I would recommend an electric knife (about $10 at Target) or wait until cool to slice with serrated knife.
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This is great! It looks WAY easier than the one I was looking at in Nourishing Traditions. I'm going to have to get a Kitchen-Aid mixer, because kneading dough fires up my dystonia. And the grain mill sounds like a worthy investment, too! Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge!
ReplyDeleteIf I hadn't already had a Kitchen-Aid, I would have considered some of the other options such as a Bosch since it can make like 5 - 6 loaves at once! It's very pricey though. You can comparison shop on the links I posted.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so do you think a hand mixer with just the standard beaters would work to knead the dough?
ReplyDeleteGood question, Angela. I'm not sure. ?? It's worth a try!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize how many different KithenAid mixers there are! Which one do you have? What do you think of the grain mill attachment?
ReplyDeleteMine is from our wedding, so it's over 8 years old. I don't see it on their website anymore, but I think it's most similar to the Classic Series, which is the cheapest one ($239 on the Kitchen Aid website - might be cheaper elsewhere). I remember that's about how much it was when I got it. I'm totally happy with it!
ReplyDeleteI guess it could be the Ultra-Power one, but it doesn't say anything like that on the mixer.
This is a delicious recipe! I'm so glad I tried it! Since I don't have a mixer yet, Abel did the kneading for me; and I'm hoping to enlist his help to make a loaf again today!
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