Breadmaking

We have owned a Panasonic SD-YD200 Bread Bakery since September 1996. We obtained the machine via Nu Skin's Gallery of Gifts program, using 150 points (from placing 150 Nu Skin orders). By the end of the year I'd baked 50 loaves, and was able to produce great bread consistently. By June 10, 1997, 100 loaves were out of the pan, and only one inedible! Occasionally I still forget an ingredient like yeast or water (!) and produce a brick...

Home made bread does not normally use preservatives. This means it will not last as long, although after several days it is fine for toasting. I prefer to know exactly what is in my bread for nutritional reasons, and preservatives are sometimes good to avoid.

Some of the do's and don'ts I've learned:

Learn from others with more experience
American recipes don't work so well in Canada, having normally been translated from Japanese
Buy Roxanne McQuilkin's book: Canadian Bread Making. It's available at C.A.Paradis, 1314 Bank St, Ottawa, tel 613-731-2866.
Liquids to be at room temperature
Quantities to be accurate
Use All-Purpose flour in Canada (we have the best quality wheat in the world). I prefer to buy from large grocery stores rather than health food stores, since I suspect the product has been on the shelf a shorter time, and freshness is very important.
Brown sugar instead of molasses for most breads

Here are the 3 recipes that I use the most, and they never fail (to rise):

Cracked Wheat loaf

  All-purpose flour (eg: Robin Hood)   1.5  cups  (Must be Canadian)
  Whole wheat flour (eg: Robin Hood)   1.33 cups  (Must be Canadian) 
  Cracked wheat with some flax seed     .33 cups
        and poppy seed
  Salt                                 1.5  tsp
  Brown sugar                          2    tbsp
  Soya or sunflower oil (PC, Becel)    2    tbsp
  (Tap) water at room temp             1.33 cups
  Instant yeast from health food store 1.5  tsp

Multi-Grain loaf

  All-purpose flour (eg: Robin Hood)   2.33 cups
  Barley flour (from health food store) .5  cups
  12 grain and red river cereal         .33 cups
        and poppy seed
  Salt				       1.5  tsp
  Brown sugar                          2    tbsp
  Soya or sunflower oil (PC, Becel)    2    tbsp
  (Tap) water at room temp             1.33 cups
  Instant yeast from health food store 1.5  tsp

50% Whole Wheat

  All-purpose flour 		       1.5  cups
  Whole wheat flour		       1.5  cups
  Cornmeal			        .5  cups
  Salt				       1.5  tsp
  Brown sugar                          2    tbsp
  Soya or sunflower oil (PC, Becel)    2    tbsp
  (Tap) water at room temp             1.25 cups
  Instant yeast from health food store 1.5  tsp

On Wednesday January 29, 1997, the Ottawa Citizen printed some great articles about breadmaking, and mentioned the WWW as a source of recipes:

Robin Hood Breadmaking recipies
Alpha Cooking Page
I Chef
Digital Chef, wider culinary matters
Nutrition

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