The Art of Zen Living

There’s something very satisfying about making a loaf of bread.  It’s almost as if home made bread is the ultimate in domestic achievement.  You tell someone you’re baking home made bread and their eyes light up.  It’s a very pleasing experience, heavy on the senses - the contrasting colors of the ingredients, the firm but pliant feel of the dough, the heady scent of the yeast as the bread rises, the sound of the whisk in the liquid before you add the flour, and the clank of the spoon against the bowl as you mix the dough, the pounding of the dough being kneaded.  Finally, the wonderful aroma of the bread baking, and the taste of the fresh, still warm bread with butter melting into it.  Yummy!

Somewhere along the line, we’ve been tricked into thinking that bread is hard to make (it isn’t - if I can do it, then believe me YOU can!), that it’s cheaper to buy at the store (not by a long shot - but that’s another post in the frugality category), or just that you don’t have the time to make bread.  Let me walk you through the steps, and you’ll see that it takes very little time and effort, and is extremely rewarding!

OK, so here’s what you’re going to need:

3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1 cup warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 packet dry yeast

You’ll also need:

1 large mixing bowl
1 1/4 teaspoons measuring spoon
1 measuring cup
1loaf pan

That’s it!  To be fair, this is the basic list - I used several other items, as shown here:

OK, we’re ready to go - let’s get started!

Step 1: In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of water ( at a temp. of 110 to 120 degrees F ) with the salt, the honey, the yeast, the oil and the milk and stir until mix.

I have three tips here - first, make sure the bowl is warm first.  I used a glass bowl, and filled it with hot water, then dumped out the water.  If you don’t have a thermometer to check the water temperature, a nice, hot bath is usually around 100-110 degrees.  Second, mix in the yeast first, then add the other ingredients - if the yeast isn’t dissolved into the water first, it clumps.  And finally, if you measure out the oil first, the measuring cup will have a nice coat of oil on it, which will make the honey slide out of it effortlessly.

Step 2: Mix in the flour and stir until the dough starts pull away from the bowl.

This is pretty straight forward.  I added about 2 cups all at once, and stirred.  Once that was well mixed, I started adding the rest of the flour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time, until I ended up with what you see in the picture above.

Step 3: Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 6 to 10 minutes or until the dough become smooth.

OK, first let’s cover “lightly floured”.  I didn’t know what that meant when I started baking bread, and as a result my first few loaves had way too much flour mixed into them from this step.  This is what lightly floured should look like:

Now it’s time to kneed.  Rub some flour over your hands to coat them.  I just take a little flour in my palm, then rub my hands together as if I were washing them with the flour.  Slap the dough down, and shape it into a ball - doesn’t have to be a perfect ball, just a mostly round shape.  Now punch down on it until it’s flat and about an inch thick.  Repeat.  That’s all there really is to kneading bread dough.  I also pick the dough up and twist it around in my hands, or after pounding it flat I’ll fold it over and press it out again with my palms.  All you’re really doing is working the dough to make sure everything is mixed nice and smoothly in.  Here are a few tips:

1. Don’t worry if a little of the dough sticks to the counter.  You will, at least a few times, have to add more flour to the counter to keep the dough from sticking, but try to keep it to a minimum.  This applies to your hands as well.
2. I always go for the full 10 minutes of kneading.  Set a timer and then go to work.  If you aren’t constantly looking at the clock, it feels like it goes much faster.  This is a good activity to practice being in the now, because so many of your senses are engaged.  The smell of the yeast, the feel of the dough, the sight of the pattern of the flour, the sound of the dough slapping on the counter.  I really enjoy this part!

Step 4: Place a small amount of oil in a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl and flip the dough to cover the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for about an hour ,the dough should double in size. Note: This may take longer if the room is cold.

I use canola oil spray (I have a refillable sprayer I use, but this one made a better picture) to coat the bowl.  Pouring a little oil in and rubbing it around works fine too.  You can either use a clean bowl here, or do as I do and clean as you go.  This is the same bowl I mixed the dough in.  When I was done kneading, I left the dough where you see it for the minute or so it took to clean out the bowl and get it oiled.  Once that happened:

Don’t bother cleaning up your work area just yet - you’re going to need it again. You’ll want to make sure nothing falls into your dough - one way to do that is to throw a towel over it.  I’ll show you my favorite way a little later!

Now you have about an hour.  Sometimes I go for my walk and workout, or I might work on a post, or work on my chores around the house.  If I’m done with everything for the day, I might see what Tivo has waiting for me.  When we come back an hour later, the dough should have roughly doubled in size.  Don’t worry if it’s slightly less or slightly more, as long as it’s risen a noticeable amount, it’s fine.

Step 5 : Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.  Shape the dough into a 8 inches log and place into a lightly greased loaf pan.

Tips:

1. Punch the dough a few times while it’s in the bowl.  It will return to a normal size.
2. Put dough on your not-cleaned work area and shape into a log that will fit in your loaf pan.
3. I treated my loaf pan the same way I did the bowl - sprayed with canola oil.