Bread Baking Question

I recently got Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" and had a question about the recipe for white bread. The ingredients show to use 1/4 cup of powdered milk and gives a measurement of 1.33oz. I weighed out the powder milk and thought it seemed quite a bit more than 1/4 cup. I weighed a 1/4 cup measurement and found it was .5oz. I ended up making the bread by weight and it was quite good. I was just curious if anyone else noticed this difference. Could it be that I used nonfat powdered milk and the recipe calls for DMS milk??!!

Thanks for any help provided. This was the first time I ever made bread and really enjoyed the hands-on approach. There is something very tranquil about kneading bread!

Also, can anyone point me to a "baking" store in Chicago? I never found unbleached bread flour so I just used unbleached AP flour. Thanks!




Dave H

Your bread looks great.

This happens to me a lot - I find it best to go with weight, rather than volume, when in doubt. For the sake of curiosity, I'd be inclined to buy a different type of powdered milk (i.e. not nonfat) and weigh it, to see if that accounts for the difference. In any case, if you like the bread you have, that's the best outcome.

For the unbleached bread flour, try King Arthur brand. I know they have it at Whole Foods. Last time I was in a Dominick's, they had KA brand, but not the bread flour.

I just weighed out 1/4 cup of KA Baker's Special Dry Milk powder: 1.33 ozs.

If you used something like Carnation Non-fat Dry Milk, the crystals are flakier, hence less dense.

Bill/SFNM

I purchase King Arthur Unbleached bread flour at Sunset and I think I've seen it at Meijers. I didn't need any last time I was there so didn't pay special attention.

By the way I have been working my way through Peter Reinharts Breadmaker's Apprentice. I have made the challe, bagels, crandberry celebration bread and whole wheat bread. All have come out very good. However, it took a couple of times before the challe was great, the secret use regular AP flour not bread flour.
Paulette

Many of the Dominicks and all of the Whole Foods carry King Arthur bread flour.

blucrsr wrote:

Nice loaf.. It really looks like you were able to maintain high tension while shaping it.

If getting King Arthur Bread Flour is way too difficult, settle for King Arthur AP Flour... The difference between the two is KA Bread is hard spring and KA AP is hard winter wheat. KA AP's protein content is comparable and even higher than other more commonly available bread flour brands. KA Bread's is slightly higher, of course, almost getting into high-gluten flour territory.

The price is also a big issue, depending on where you get it. I get my AP for 2.89 (5 lbs) at Trader Joe's and did a side-by-side comparison with KA Bread at 4.99 (5 lbs) using several formulas (from bagels to focaccia, stiff to wet doughs). I honestly can't justify the higher price and headache of looking specifically for KA Bread.

Once you delve into sourdoughs and rye blends, you'll probably need pumpernickel flour. I recommend Hodgson Mills Whole Rye Flour, which Treasure Island always seems to have. I also bought the KA Pumpernickel Flour, expecting something wildly different, but the texture and composition is pretty much identical to Hodgson.

The key is to stock up when KA brand goes on sale. I've seen it as low as 99 cents on sale at Sunflower Market on Clybourn.

One thing that I like about KA is that it is consistent from one package to the next. Naturally, the thing to do is experiment and find the flour that works best for you, both in terms of results and cost.

If getting King Arthur Bread Flour is way too difficult, settle for King Arthur AP Flour... The difference between the two is KA Bread is hard spring and KA AP is hard winter wheat. KA AP's protein content is comparable and even higher than other more commonly available bread flour brands. KA Bread's is slightly higher, of course, almost getting into high-gluten flour territory.

I've got a couple of books that recommend bread flour, except if you're using King Arthur, since their AP flour protein is so high.

Thanks everyone for the tips and suggestions. I found the KA bread flour at Whole Foods for $3.99. I made the potato rosemary bread and it came out great. I plan on making it again and I'll just use the unbleached AP flour and see if I notice a difference. After I make a couple other breads I'll have to start an "Exploring the cookbook" post. Bill, I was using the nonfat dry milk. I'll be on the lookout for the "real" stuff and see how it goes. Once again, thanks!

Bill/SFNM wrote:I just weighed out 1/4 cup of KA Baker's Special Dry Milk powder: 1.33 ozs.

If you used something like Carnation Non-fat Dry Milk, the crystals are flakier, hence less dense.

Bill/SFNM

Just to reiterate, don't use instant non-fat dry milk. Look for dry milk specific for baking. You can mail order it from King Arthur or you can purchase it locally at the Home Economist. Dry milk is a soft powder and it does tend to clump if you keep it around a while. Just break up the clumps and sift it before measuring.