Bread-Bakers v101.n012.22

Hi all,

I have two questions about ingredients.

1. Does anyone know what is the desired effect of adding just egg white to 
bread? I just made some bread which called for one egg white, lightly 
beaten. This is the first time I have added egg to any bread except 
brioche. At first I thought the goal might be to make the bread fluffier. 
Now that my bread is cooling I see that the crust is much softer than my 
usual loaves. Can anyone comment? Thanks.

2. A friend asked me a question which I can't answer:  Why do some bread 
recipes call for non-fat, dry milk? Why wouldn't one just use skim milk 
instead?

Also, someone on the bread-bakers list asked a questions about kneading 
surfaces. I don't know now who it was -- I just have read the last three 
digests all at once!

I knead my bread on my kitchen counter, which is just ordinary -- what are 
they made of ? -- formica ?  The bread sticks a little when I'm starting 
off, so I do use my scraper to scoop it up and fold it over. Another thing 
you can do is Very, very lightly oil the surface, just barely.
Pat