Bread Baking Gone Awry
When the call went out for bread and desserts to be served at Retha Yoder's funeral, I promptly offered to bake two loaves of bread. Easy peasy, I thought. I've got that down pat. Use the bread machine on the dough cycle. Measure ingredients into the pan for the machine. Push the right buttons. One hour and 50 minutes later, divide the dough into two pans and let it rise till it's the right size, then bake it.
I measured everything into the pan on Wednesday evening while, via the Center Conference Line, I listened to Leroy H. and Marvin Y. speak in church. This morning Hiromi and I needed to leave early for Hiromi to see the eye surgeon who performed cataract surgery yesterday. His bulky eye-patch bandage needed to be removed and he needed further instructions for administering the eye-drops regimen. The dough ingredients patiently waited till we got home and I pushed the button on the bread machine.
All went well and just before we sat down to a late lunch, I turned on the oven to preheat. After lunch I saw that the bread had risen more than I wanted it to, and I rued my having missed hearing the signal that the oven had reached the proper baking temperature. Just before I shoved the first pan into the oven I realized that the oven wasn't nearly hot enough, and the display on the back panel was dark (blank). Ugh. When I had put away the folding step stool beside the stove, the switch had gotten turned off on the power strip that powers the electrical parts of the gas stove. That included the oven thermostat, so the preheating had been interrupted and the signal had never sounded. I preheated the oven again, noting that the bread was looking very billowy by now.
About ten minutes later, the bread slid into the oven, gingerly, so as not to deflate the "pillows."
Thirty minutes later the loaves came out nicely browned, but still of doubtful suitability for donation. Hiromi settled things for me when he hefted them and pronounced them "too empty" and advised me to make another batch right away so that I won't need to work on it late in the day. I gathered the ingredients again and installed the pan and the contents into the machine, peered at the display and pressed buttons till I had selected the dough cycle again.
When the beeps told me that the cycle was complete, I hurried over to the bread machine to take out the pan in preparation for dividing the dough. Horrors. That pan was terribly hot, and the top of the dough was firm to the touch. I had accidentally selected the wrong cycle, and the bread had baked right in the machine just as most people expect it to do. Now I had one giant loaf, and two "empty" loaves, and still no normal-sized loaves like I needed.
So I did it yet again. Gathered the ingredients and pressed the button on the machine, this time using the bright flashlight that Hiromi keeps on top of the refrigerator to make sure that I was reading the display right. Just now the beep sounded and I divided the dough into the pans, still buttered from having prepared them for the batch that turned into a single machine-baked giant loaf.
The bread-machine-baked loaf is too pale on top, but the texture and flavor of the bread is good. We had some with our vegetable soup for supper. We have yet to try the billowy loaves, but I expect them to taste fine too, but they might be a bit crumbly.
For this last batch of bread, I had run out of the rye flour that I usually add (1/2 cup for two loaves), so I simply used extra whole wheat flour instead. Rye flour has been added to shopping list.
I made an appointment yesterday to have my eyes examined. Tonight I wondered aloud to Hiromi if I'm the one who needed cataract surgery instead of him. Better eyesight or better lighting in the bread machine corner wouldn't have prevented all of my problems today, but I don't think I will be able to come up with any excuse that would would improve on those.
Things look promising so far with this last batch, and the oven is preheating again.
I didn't consult any "humble pie" recipes for today's baking efforts, but thanks to the events of the day, I now know the recipe by heart.
I measured everything into the pan on Wednesday evening while, via the Center Conference Line, I listened to Leroy H. and Marvin Y. speak in church. This morning Hiromi and I needed to leave early for Hiromi to see the eye surgeon who performed cataract surgery yesterday. His bulky eye-patch bandage needed to be removed and he needed further instructions for administering the eye-drops regimen. The dough ingredients patiently waited till we got home and I pushed the button on the bread machine.
All went well and just before we sat down to a late lunch, I turned on the oven to preheat. After lunch I saw that the bread had risen more than I wanted it to, and I rued my having missed hearing the signal that the oven had reached the proper baking temperature. Just before I shoved the first pan into the oven I realized that the oven wasn't nearly hot enough, and the display on the back panel was dark (blank). Ugh. When I had put away the folding step stool beside the stove, the switch had gotten turned off on the power strip that powers the electrical parts of the gas stove. That included the oven thermostat, so the preheating had been interrupted and the signal had never sounded. I preheated the oven again, noting that the bread was looking very billowy by now.
About ten minutes later, the bread slid into the oven, gingerly, so as not to deflate the "pillows."
Thirty minutes later the loaves came out nicely browned, but still of doubtful suitability for donation. Hiromi settled things for me when he hefted them and pronounced them "too empty" and advised me to make another batch right away so that I won't need to work on it late in the day. I gathered the ingredients again and installed the pan and the contents into the machine, peered at the display and pressed buttons till I had selected the dough cycle again.
When the beeps told me that the cycle was complete, I hurried over to the bread machine to take out the pan in preparation for dividing the dough. Horrors. That pan was terribly hot, and the top of the dough was firm to the touch. I had accidentally selected the wrong cycle, and the bread had baked right in the machine just as most people expect it to do. Now I had one giant loaf, and two "empty" loaves, and still no normal-sized loaves like I needed.
So I did it yet again. Gathered the ingredients and pressed the button on the machine, this time using the bright flashlight that Hiromi keeps on top of the refrigerator to make sure that I was reading the display right. Just now the beep sounded and I divided the dough into the pans, still buttered from having prepared them for the batch that turned into a single machine-baked giant loaf.
The bread-machine-baked loaf is too pale on top, but the texture and flavor of the bread is good. We had some with our vegetable soup for supper. We have yet to try the billowy loaves, but I expect them to taste fine too, but they might be a bit crumbly.
For this last batch of bread, I had run out of the rye flour that I usually add (1/2 cup for two loaves), so I simply used extra whole wheat flour instead. Rye flour has been added to shopping list.
I made an appointment yesterday to have my eyes examined. Tonight I wondered aloud to Hiromi if I'm the one who needed cataract surgery instead of him. Better eyesight or better lighting in the bread machine corner wouldn't have prevented all of my problems today, but I don't think I will be able to come up with any excuse that would would improve on those.
Things look promising so far with this last batch, and the oven is preheating again.
I didn't consult any "humble pie" recipes for today's baking efforts, but thanks to the events of the day, I now know the recipe by heart.
posted by Miriam Iwashige at
7:31 PM
2 Comments:
Bless your heart! You seem to have handled the day's stress and kept an even keel -- I can only imagine the frustration I would have been feeling by day's end! I certainly hope those last loaves turned out perfectly.
(Obviously, I am a new reader here and one who knows how much comments mean ☺)
By
Bethany Eicher, at 11/08/2019
You're right Bethany. Comments mean a lot. Thanks for yours. I'm happy to report that the last two loaves were picture-perfect, for which I've thanked the Lord several times.
By
Miriam Iwashige, at 11/08/2019
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