Lemon Juice In Bread?
Did you know that you can use lemon
juice when making bead?
Apparently it is an old trick of strudel
makers to make the strudel soft. I've
tried the bread recipe at the end of
this article with both lemon juice and
vinegar and had fabulous results. The
bread is soft and tender and stays that
way for at least 3 days (as long as
breed lasts around my house). You
can't taste either the lemon juice or
vinegar. The acid tenderizes the
gluten and makes the bead rise
higher.
I Don't Want to Make Bread!
I didn't make bread for years when I
was working and trying to raise 2
children by myself. Making bread was
in no way a priority for me. One
consolation was that I used to make
bread all the time in the days that I was a
full-time mother with 2 small children and knew
how.
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What is the point of making bead anyway? It is
not that expensive at the store, is it? Actually,
bread making is one of the cornerstones of
home-preparedness. Home-made bread uses
your whole-wheat, your salt, your honey, and
oil, all basics in many food-storage
programs. And a loaf of home-made bread is
very inexpensive and can stretch your food
dollar.
Who can resist the smell of home-baked bread
as it comes out of the oven? My daughters
love to come home to fresh-baked bread,
thinking it is a marvelous after-school snack.
I hope I have encouraged you to dust off your
old bread-making skills or inspired you to try it if
you never have. Be sure to try the lemon juice
trick!
A Mixer or By Hand?
By all means, use a mixer if you have one. But
you don't have to have a mixer to make bread.
When I was younger, I didn't understand the
Bosch mixer mania that my neighbors
seemed to have.
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I made my bread by hand
knowing that was only 10 minutes of
kneading by hand and that I only did it
once a week. I got my first mixer only
about 2 years ago, and yes, it is nice, but I
could live without it if I had to. The following
recipe is from "Simply Ready" by Terri
Johnson.
Terri's Favorite Wheat Bread
3 T. yeast and 1 t. sugar dissolved in 1 C. water
In large bowl mix...
3/4 C. honey
3/4 C. oil
2 T. salt
3 3/4 C. hot water
5 T. lemon juice or vinegar
6 C. whole-wheat flour
Add the dissolved yeast to the bread
mixture and mix for 7-10 minutes to get the
gluten working. Add gradually 6 C.
whole-wheat flour.
Knead for 5 minutes. (if kneading by hand,
mix all ingredients and knead by hand for
10 minutes until dough is smooth and
elastic). If dough seems too sticky, add
enough flour to get past the sticky point.
(Too much flour causes bread failure.) Let
stand for 10 minutes. Divide and shape
into 3 loaves. Place in greased bread
pans. Rise until doubled in size. Bake at
350 for 30 to 40 minutes.
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