Bread

I decided to try and make an everyday whole wheat sandwich bread. I used to do this in a bread machine, but my machine wore out, and I don't want to spend $300 on a new one, especially since the bread involved was not perfect (bread machines tend to make hard crusts). I make the best challah I know of, if I do say so myself; there's no machine involved and it's very easy. Five minutes in the morning, no kneading, let it rise in the fridge all day while I'm at work, braid it when I get home and bake for half an hour. Done. The long slow rise in the fridge substitutes for, and is better than, kneading. I would love to have something so straightforward for everyday sandwich bread.

I'm thinking maybe "kneading" in the food processor is a good start; Mark Bittman recommends it. I started with a King Arthur Flour recipe, but instead of the whole room-temperature rising-punching-rising-shaping-rising thing (which I cannot do while I am at work), I let it rise all day in the fridge. Sadly, this loaf did not rise one bit. The dough was approximately the texture of a sandbag. I rolled it out thin and baked it as flatbread instead. Could be worse.

I decided that part of my mistake had been following the recipe. Flours act differently according to the brand, the weather that day, etc. I know what bread dough should look like, and I should have known that that dough was too dry. My poor little yeasts had nothing to drink, and also they just could not blow up their little balloons in such a dense environment. So a few days later I decided to try again, still using the food processor but only adding flour until the dough was nice and shaggy wet like I know it needs to be. I happened to have a day at home (supervising kids who were off school), so I did the room-temperature rising routine. This bread rose eagerly (I probably let it rise too long while I was in a phone meeting) and stuck to the pan something awful. But it made great french toast.

Next I was ready to try the same recipe but (1) letting it rise in the fridge and (2) lining the loaf pan with parchment paper. This loaf was decent, both breadlike and tasty, but still too dense. See that craggy top? Those wrinkles should have risen into a smooth dome. Not making the grade for an easy everyday bread that outcompetes the one from the store.

I'm not sure what to try next. Maybe I should let it rise even longer in the fridge, like 24 hours instead of 12. Maybe I should let it rise in the kitchen after the fridge, and bake it when the kids go to bed, since I don't need it to be ready for dinner. Maybe I need a different recipe; some say a 100% whole wheat bread needs a sourdough starter. Or maybe I should borrow my friend's bread machine.