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Self-Sufficiency in Style

gadgets and gizmos

the bread-maker

Some is surprisingly simple, others complex. Some is very familiar, others strange and esoteric.

Much is based on ancient technologies, some was invented last year.

Almost every home in the western world has a bread-maker.

It seemed a good idea at the time - probably at Christmas a few years ago...

...and you are not clear why it lies at the back of a cupboard, unused and unloved.

The ubiquitous bread-maker lies unused everywhere.

Fresh Bread every morning.

Everyone loves the smell of fresh-baked bread and everyone agrees that fresh homemade bread tastes better than anything you can buy in the shops.

You can make bread by hand - we did so for many years - but a bread-maker is quicker.

If it is so easy, why aren't they used?

The answer is that there is nothing wrong with an electric bread-maker. They save hours and can produce an excellent loaf, but they do take time and organisation.

Most families still eat one cooked and one lighter meal each day, so the bread ought to be needed, but the bread-based meal is often taken away from the home and there is too little time to set the bread-maker to work to produce bread that may not be eaten.

For the self-sufficient home, where meals away are a rarity, the bread-maker becomes part of a strict daily routine. Water the plants, milk the cow, eat dinner, set the bread-maker up, go to bed, wake up to the smell of baking bread.

Any idea that self-sufficient living is chaotic is wrong. It has to be well organised and a bread-maker fits easily into the routine.

We use ours almost every day of the year to produce fine white bread. Even the toast tastes better than anything you can imagine.

The Ingredients:

Strong White Bread Flour
Cold Water
Sugar
Dried Milk Powder
Salt
Dried Yeast
Butter

We use our own butter, of course, and could probably use our own milk. It is worth shopping around for the best yeast - the price and quality does vary.

TIPS

Stick, especially at first, to making plain standard bread, don't be too tempted into "specials."

It takes time to get the formula right, stay with it until you get the bread to your taste.

Bread is a "living" food, even with exactly the same formula and ingredients, the quality will vary according to the temperature of the kitchen.

Set up the bread-maker at the same time each day with exactly measured ingredients.

Above all BE PATIENT...it is worth it.

Whilst you are being patient, you can go on to read about the famous Kenwood.

...or think about producing your own flour using a Mill.

baking bread

at

 the oddly named Hangman's Cottage, just to the south of Misery Corner.