After much experimentation, I discovered a few key tricks. First, don’t skimp on the kneading. I use my electric mixer since I make bread once or twice a week. Keep the setting on low, and knead the bread for 15 minutes. Second, don’t add too much flour. I had previously tended to make a fairly stiff dough, but experimentation showed that a lighter, stickier dough makes a lighter loaf. The dough should stick around the bottom of the mixing bowl when you’re kneading it. If it completely clumps around the dough hook and moves freely around the bowl, it’s too dry. Third, give it time to rise. Let it more than double in bulk on the first rise (a tall bowl is best for this, so that the dough rises up rather than out), and let it completely fill the loaf pan on the second rise. (This can also help compensate for a dry, heavy dough if you happen to add too much flour, which I still do on occasion).

This whole wheat bread is my master recipe. I vary it from week to week, making oat, rye, or white bread. If I happen to make ricotta cheese (actually paneer), then I use the whey instead of milk as the liquid in the bread (I freeze the whey in 2 cup units to have it ready to defrost and use). If I’m out of milk, I mix up 2 cups of powdered. Sometimes I add 2 – 3 tablespoons honey for a noticeable honey character, or I might use ground flaxseed instead of bran. You get the idea.

Finally, I generally use one loaf straight away and then freeze the second for later. That way I can alternate different breads or make several loaves on the weekend to use over the next couple of weeks. To freeze, I wrap the loaves in foil. I don’t like using plastic because it quickly takes on a freezer-burn character. To minimize waste, I reuse the foil several times.

Whole wheat sandwich bread

1/2 cup warm water
Pinch sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
2 cups milk or whey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 to 2 tablespoons honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 tablespoon salt
4  1/2  to  5  1/2 cups white flour

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand until the yeast softens and begins to bubble (about five minutes).

Melt the butter and honey together, then set aside to cool. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll add some of the milk to the hot butter to cool it down.

When the yeast is proofed, add the milk, butter, honey, whole wheat flour, bran, salt, and 3 cups of the white flour to the bowl of the electric mixture. (I usually add the salt on top of the flours to avoid killing the yeast with the salt.) Mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed for one minute, until the dough is smooth and satiny. Switch to the dough hook and add one cup of the remaining white flour. Once the flour is incorporated into the dough, knead on the lowest or next-to-lowest speed for 1o minutes. Add as much of the remaining one cup of flour as necessary to bring the dough to the desired texture (it should still stick to the bowl at the base). Continue kneading for five more minutes.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl. (I like to use a tall bowl, so that the dough rises up rather than out.) Turn the dough once to coat with oil, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm, dry place until doubled in bulk (about an hour).

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead briefly, then divide in two equal pieces. To shape the loaves, roll tightly into a log, pull the ends around to the seam side, and pinch the end and long seams tightly. Place the loaves seam-side down in greased loaf pans. Squeeze the loaves in the middle to create a slight bone shape. (The loaves always rise more in the middle than the ends, so making the dough slightly thinner in the middle will give you a more evenly shaped loaf.) Cover the loave lightly with a damp towel and let rise until it completely fills the pan (about an hour to an hour and a half).

Half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 350 F. If you like, brush the loaves with melted butter. Bake the loaves for about 40 minutes, until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom (you have to slip one out of the pan to test it). Immediately remove the loaves from the pans and transfer on a baking rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Variations

For white bread, eliminate the whole wheat flour and the wheat bran. Use a total of about 6 cups white flour plus 1/4 cup potato flour. The potato flour improves the texture of the white bread and helps keep it moist. (Potato flour, which is not the same as potato starch, is not available in Chile, so I don’t always have it in the pantry. The white bread is fine without it, but I prefer to use it if I can.)

For rye bread, use 2 cups rye flour, 1/4 cup bran, and 3  1/2 to 4  1/2 cups white flour.

For oat bread, combine 1 cup oats, 1 cup whole wheat flour, and 1/2 cup oat bran in a food processor and grind into a fine flour. Reduce the white flour in the master recipe to 3  1/2 to 4  1/2 cups.

Note: The five preservatives are as follows:

—Azodicarbonamide: A bleaching agent; banned in the EU and Australia because of a connection to asthma and allergies.
—Potassium bromate: Used to strengthen flour and increase rise; banned in the EU, Canada, and other countries as a possible carcinogen.
—TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone): Enhances storage life, especially of fats and oils; not banned anywhere, but some studies suggest that high exposure could be carcinogenic.
—Calcium propionate: Inhibits molds.
—Potassium sorbate: Inhibits molds and yeasts. (This is the one that started my campaign to eliminate preservatives. It’s considered safe, but it’s used in the production of cheap, sweet wines to prevent refermenation, and Ed can taste it in a lot of foods.)

I’ve recently been playing with a  recipe from Pioneer Woman. It’s a totally different process than I generally use, in that the dough contains butter (and a lot of it), it only rises once (so it’s easy to throw together at the last minute), and it bakes in a Dutch oven (which is fun–and also serves to condition my cast iron pot during the baking). The original recipe is for an herb bread, which wouldn’t go over with my kids as they still fear the color green. Instead I’ve been making it as a pepper bread, which I’ve served with soup and with braised ribs. Black pepper provides a touch of clean heat on the mouth; Chilean merquén provides depth of flavor; and paprika rounds out the profile and adds a nice color. Even my kids love it! If you can’t get merquén, try substituting cayenne or chipotle powder.

The recipe below is pretty faithful to Pioneer Woman’s version. I’ve upped the yeast a bit and added the step of softening it in water with a pinch of sugar to get is started (to acommodate the type of yeast I use). I’ve also reduced the flour a bit. The flour we get here is on the dry side, but it could just be the difference between using bread flour versus all-purpose. Be sure to check out Pioneer Woman’s post—she has great pictures of the breadmaking process.

Finally, this recipe also makes a really nice cheese bread. Just eliminate the peppers and add a cup of grated cheddar cheese to the dough.

Three-pepper bread

1 cup water
1/2 tablespoon yeast
pinch sugar
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon merquén

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand to soften. Add 2 1/2 cups flour, the butter, salt, and peppers, then mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed for about a minute. Switch to the dough hook, add a half cup of flour, and mix on low speed for ten minutes. Add another half cup flour to form a stiff dough and knead a few more minutes. Let rise (in an oiled container, covered with a damp cloth) until doubled in size (about an hour). Knead briefly to redistribute the yeast. Form into a tight ball and place in a well-oiled Dutch oven. Let rest while you preheat the oven to 450 F. Just before baking, cut a deep cross into the dough. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes, then remove the lid of the Dutch oven and continue baking until nicely browned (15 to 30 minutes longer). Cool on a wire rack before slicing.