I've had a Welbilt bread machine for about four months now,
and have gone through about 55 pounds of flour (i.e. a loaf every
two or three days). I had expected the machine to be a net money
sink (at a loaf a week, for $0.20 instead of $1), but the calculation
has to be amended.
Since my daily requirements are about 2500 kcal, and at 296
kcal per 100g of bread, I've got 100,000 of the 300,000 calories
I've eaten this last season from bread. That means the bread machine
has supplanted about 1/3 of my diet (which is ALL more expensive
foods). If you don't mind stuffing the machine before you go
to sleep, you can save a lot of money baking your own bread.
The actual price of white bread is around $0.18/loaf;
flour is $3.80/25# and yeast $3.19/2# at the local cost club.
Raisin bread is double the price. Using individual foil-packed
yeast doses would add an extra $0.25 per loaf.
Okay, I DO like fresh bread (perhaps inordinately so),
and maybe it will get monotonous after a while... but maybe not.
In the meanwhile, here's an easy way to guarantee reliable results
from the machine. I got a balance (Ohaus Autogram 1000) that
weighs up to 1 kg, with 0.1g accuracy, and have been weighing all
the ingredients. Careful cooks do this routinely (my sources
assure me), and it's much more reliable than the usual volume
measures. My balance was $10 at Salvation Army, but new
ones (from Edmund Scientific) cost circa $140.
In case anyone wants to do the same, here is the Welbilt
set of recipes with gram-equivalents (reprinted without permission
from Welbilt 'The Bread Machine' pamphlet, which seems not to be
copyrighted in any way.) These recipes are for the glass dome-top
model, like the DAK unit.
White Bread
6 g 2.25 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
450 g 3 c bread flour white bread cycle
7 g 1.5 tsp salt
13 g 1.5 tbsp sugar
12 g 1.5 tbsp powdered milk
15 g 4.5 tsp shortening or butter
300 g 1.5 c less 3 tbsp warm water
Raisin Bread
7 g 2.5 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
450 g 3 c bread flour white bread cycle
7 g 1.5 tsp salt
26 g 3 tbsp sugar
12 g 1.5 tbsp powdered milk
5 g 2 tsp cinnamon
15 g 4.5 tsp shortening or butter
300 g 1.5 c less 3 Tbsp warm water
after secondary kneading (1 hr 37 min) when beeper sounds
125 g 0.75 c raisins
added to dough; bread done 2 hr 45 min later
** original recipe was 3.4g (1.5 tsp) cinnamon and
85 g (0.5 c) raisins; I insist on extra raisins, and
Gail(enochson@maven.u.washington.edu) insists on extra cinnamon.
Wheat Bread
7 g 2.5 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
188 g 2.25 c bread flour white bread cycle
132 g 0.75 c whole wheat flour
7 g 1.5 tsp salt
13 g 1.5 tbsp sugar
12 g 1.5 tbsp powdered milk
15 g 4.5 tsp shortening or butter
300 g 1.5 c less 3 tbsp water
Rye Bread
7 g 2.5 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
188 g 2.25 c bread flour white bread cycle
115 g 0.75 c medium rye flour
7 g 1.5 tsp salt
13 g 1.5 tbsp sugar
12 g 1.5 tbsp powdered milk
4 g 1.5 tsp caraway seeds
15 g 4.5 tsp shortening or butter
300 g 1.5 c less 3 tbsp water
French Bread
7 g 2.5 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
450 g 3 c bread flour French bread cycle
5 g 1 tsp salt
4 g 1.5 tsp sugar
5 g 1.5 tsp shortening or butter
335 g 1.5 c water
** originally 7 g (1.5 tsp) salt and 360 g (1.5 + 2 tbsp) water,
which is excessive (too much water => loaf too dense)
Sweet Bread
5.5g 2 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
308 g 2 c plus 1 tbsp bread flour sweet bread cycle
3.5g 0.75 tsp salt
45 g 5 tbsp sugar
12 g 1.5 tbsp powdered milk
15 g 1.5 tbsp shortening or butter
167 g 0.75 c plus 2 tbsp water
1 large egg
Panettone
7 g 2.5 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
308 g 2 c plus 1 tbsp bread flour sweet bread cycle
3.5g 0.75 tsp salt
24 g 3 tbsp powdered milk
45 g 5 tbsp sugar
167 g 0.75 c plus 2 tbsp water
5 tbsp butter
1 medium egg
0.75 tsp vanilla extract
after 2 hrs, beeper sounds; add
0.5 c raisins, soaked in water or warm water
3 tbsp candied orange peel pieces
bread ready 2 hr 45 min later
Croissants
7 g 2.5 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
450 g 3 c bread flour French bread MANUAL cycle
7 g 1.5 tsp salt
22 g 2.5 tbsp sugar
5 g 1.5 tsp shortening or butter
280 g 1.25 c water
after 2 hr 2 min, beeper sounds
remove dough, flatten and place in freezer (1 hr)
in a greased pan; roll out the chilled dough, cover
with butter slices and roll to incorporate
170 g 1.5 sticks chilled butter, thinly sliced
Chill in freezer for 1 hour
Fold dough in thirds, roll lightly, and chill
in refrigerator for 2 hours
Roll until 1/8" thick; cut into triangles; brush with
beaten egg
1 large egg, beaten
and roll from base to tip of triangle; form horn
shape and let rise covered with a cloth in a warm
place. When doubled in size, brush with remaining egg and bake
in preheated oven, until golden brown
Table Rolls
6 g 2.25 tsp yeast Welbilt 'The Bread Machine'
450 g 3 c bread flour White bread Manual cycle
7 g 1.5 tsp salt
13 g 1.5 tbsp sugar
12 g 1.5 tbsp dried skim milk
15 g 4.5 tsp shortening or butter
230 g 1 c plus 1/2 tbsp warm water
1 large egg
After 1 hr, 37 min, the machine will beep; remove dough
and form into 12 equal balls; let rise on greased pan for 30 min.
Form balls into teardrop shape and roll until 1/8"
thick; roll up strip, starting at wide end. Let rise 50 min.
Brush rolls with beaten egg/water mixture
1 large egg, beaten (for glaze) with water
Bake in preheated 375 F oven until golden brown
Happy Baking!
John Whitmore