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4.5
If fluffiness and lightness are your ultimate goals when baking bread, this is the book for you. The recipes are easy to follow for a novice bread maker. I have baked bread for years so I often go a little off the beaten path and have included some notes and recommendations below for you more adventurous types.Most of the recipes are set up like bread machine recipes and have 3 sizes. I don't own a machine anymore so I follow the hand baking instructions with no problem. A medium recipe will make a super high, super big 9x5 loaf. The large recipe make 2 smaller loaves. I find the smaller loaves to be easier to handle.If you haven't done much bread making before I would get an instant read thermometer for any hand baking because you want your liquids to be around 110 F and the bread is done when the inside of the loaf is about 205 F.If hand baking, be sure to score the bread lengthwise done the center right before putting it in the oven. This will help avoid huge air bubbles in the bread. I also brush the top of the loaf with oil (coconut, canola, or vegetable) before I let it rise so it does not stick to the plastic wrap I cover it with.ALSO, cover the bread with tin foil after about 10 minutes of baking so your loaf does not get too brown.I have started experimenting with subbing most of the "flours" (as opposed to the starch" ) in the mixes and recipes with whole grain flour like quinoa, millet, teff, buckwheat, brown rice, etc to get a little more nutrition and the results have been just as nice. I also add 1/4 cup of flax meal. (Slightly lower rise, but still incredible for GF bread.)For fun, I have used coconut flour and coconut oil for a tasty treat. Even added a handful of shredded coconut once. MMMM! Since coconut oil hardens around 78 degrees, I melt it in a cup of the warmed water.I have been using the sourdough starter with great results. I recommend leaving the lid off of the starter (as long as it is not fly season) when out of the fridge so that it can capture some of the wild yeasts in the air. This makes it more probiotic.I do NOT use butter milk powder, egg replacer, dry milk powder, rye flavor powder, etc. and have not missed them. I also do not use commercial dough enhancer which I found out is just Soy Lechitan, ground ginger, and vinegar granules. Instead I add 1 tsp of ginger and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar to the dough. Don't worry, the ginger flavor does not come through in the bread. Just make sure the batter is the right constancy.Happy Baking
