If you use a breadmaking machine as I do, here are a few tips that help me. Firstly, once a week I measure out my dry ingredients in large recycled (coffee) jars so I have enough bread mixes to last me a week. (It saves me having to measure out the ingredients every day and cover myself in flour!) I measure out a cup of flour with my measuring 'spoon'.
Now here's a great little tip, use the bottom end of a 2 litre empty lemonade/cola bottle to pour the contents in the jar. Cut a washed and dried empty plastic bottle about 4 inches from the bottom with a pair of scissors. Now use this as your scoop. Put a cup of flour inside the scoop then gently squeeze it so the flour just slides into the jar.
My bread requires 2 cups of flour but only put a cup of flour in at a time. Now when each of your jars has the flour inside measure out the rest of your ingredients. For my wholemeal loaves; that is 2 x tablespoons of sugar, 2 x tablespoons of dried milk powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. Always put the teaspoon of dried yeast in lastly.
For extra vitamins in your bread, I add either poppy seeds or dry-fried sesame seeds I had prepared earlier and put a teaspoon of either or both in the flour mixes. I have also added onion powders for my cheesy bread or any variations of herbs for delicious herby bread.
Now for the wet ingredients. I add one cup of warm water to the bread machine's baking tin and 2 x tablespoons of oil. When I add the second tablespoon I drop some on my fingers and I smear the sides of the tin with the oil. Makes the bread easier to remove when baked and cooled.
If I want a loaf, now all I do is add the water and oil to the baking tin then drop the contents of one my pre-prepared jars inside, I set the breadmaker then leave it do it's thing! Simple, easy and I'm not covered in flour! I always have good results and my loaves taste divine! That is unless I have forgotten to put the metal paddle inside after washing it, then I get a half cooked half flour dough disaster instead!
I hope these tips might help my fellow Thriftyfun bread makers!
By Monique from Somerset, UK
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That paddle thing happened to someone other than me? I can't even describe the thing, that slid out of the breadmaker!
I have a question, Monique. So, this would be for a 1-or-2 lb. loaf of bread? Also, is this for a basic white bread? I'm trying to go healthy, so would you be able to substitute an equal amount of, say, whole wheat flour or another flour (rice, oatmeal, etc.) for the white? I would really appreciate it, too, if you could post the exact equivalents of each ingredient in your recipe and the directions you follow.
Pretty funny...."the thing that slid out of the breadmaker!"
Brilliant idea re: pre-measuring for future loaves. There are times that I wanted to make bread but was too blah to get everything out to measure, etc. Today I got three of my 'recycled' Folgers coffee containers and set up for 'future' loaves.
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