I just had the chance to look over the 1/22 Newsletter and would like to
comment on some of the subjects.
1. STUCK BLADE. Although it is very easy to remove the kneading paddle from
the shaft in the Zoji bread pan, there is a design feature that many people
don't realize. The paddle in the Zoji models S-15 and S-15A, is designed to
lock onto the shaft so that it cannot come off in the bread or cake. If you
have one of these and have a problem with removing the blade, please get
the bread pan with the blade installed, now! Hold the "T" bar at the bottom
of the pan with one hand and grasp the blade inside the pan with the other.
You will notice that the blade will move freely to left and right, through
a swing of 1" to 1-1/2". It cannot be removed at either end of its swing!
If the blade is moved to the center of the free swing region, it may be
lifted off, easily! After baking a bread, there will be some dough baked
into the space between the blade and shaft. This may be softened with a few
drops of dish soap (not dishwasher detergent) and some hot water. Let it
stand for 5 to 10 minutes,
hold the "T" bar and move the blade back and forth to free it and lift it
off in the middle of its swing.
2. QUIET GRAIN MILLS. We have tested most available grain mills. The way we
got involved in this is quite interesting and I'll tell you about it. Many
of our Rehab clients have the need for physical therapy for their upper
body, following one of several types of injury. It is very difficult to get
patients to do this kind of exercise at home. We proposed grinding grain by
hand and acquired a number of mills which we sold to our clients (and
others) for this purpose. We worked hard and long to find a foolproof, good
tasting recipe for this and the grinding program worked! People who
wouldn't do the exercise for themselves, would do it for their beloved
Zojis! The taste of 100% whole wheat bread made from freshly ground wheat
was so superior to that made from commercially ground wheat that we
couldn't believe the results. We conducted tests in Sarasota and a Zoji
owner in Ohio offered to conduct the same test there. We each made several
loaves that were made with commercial whole wheat
flour and freshly ground WW flour. To our amazement, we got 100%
preference of 100 people who compared pieces of the two different kinds of
loaves in Sarasota and 100% preference in Ohio for the freshly ground wheat
bread of the people who participated there! Everybody wanted a grain mill,
but many had physical limitations that precluded using a manual unit! Those
with arthritis or carpal tunnel, simply couldn't use their arms for the job
and we had to find a suitable electric mill. We bought almost every mill
that was available to us for testing.
The Magic Mill was very good at grinding but had several other
serious problems: a). It made enough noise to cause damage to hearing! b).
It was very difficult to assemble and dissassemble! c). It was very
difficult to clean.
The Kitchen Aide adapter for grinding flour also had several
problems: a). It was difficult to adjust for fineness of grind. b). It was
possible to set it so that metallic particles wore off the grinding heads
and fell into the flour.. c). It was quite expensive considering that the
driving motor was already owned.
We found that the German made Jupiter mill was very good. It was
relatively quiet, easy to assemble and take apart and it did a good
grinding job. It was, unfortunately, expensive, about $400.
The company from whom we had bought the Jupiter Mill had an idea
and contracted with a Polish company to produce a copy of the Jupiter, with
a nylon housing for considerably less. They sent one to us for evaluation
and this one worked better than the Jupiter! They had added an indexed
grind setting that made it possible to exactly duplicate the finess of
grind from one time to the next. It was relatively quiet and very easy to
assemble, take apart, use and clean. It was called the MIRACLE MILL and
while it was designed to be sold for $190, we could deliver it to our
customers for $150. The Miracle Mill comes with a three year factory
warranty! We have sold a lot of these Miracle Mills and they work very well
indeed! In our labratory, we have developed breads made from hard, red,
winter wheat. It is the best tasting whole wheat bread we have ever eaten!
The grain can be bought in 25-50 pounds sacks and can be ground to make
breads, a toasted wheat cereal like Wheatena for about 25 cents a pound
compared to $3.19 for an 11 oz box. We are working on
making a wheat cereal like Wheaties, which will also cost about 25-30 cents
per pound.
3. PRICE REDUCTION. Our price on the Zoji has been the lowest in the
country for years. We have sold over 1400 of these wonderful machines for
$260, delivered. Zoji has reduced the wholesale price to us and although
the UPS charges and packing box prices have increased, we can pass the
savings on to you. Brand new Zoji S-15As bought from Delta Rehabilitation,
Inc., are now $250, including shipping, handling and insurance. There is no
sales tax if you do not live in Florida.
4. PROOFING YEAST. A number of helpful suggestions have been submitted on
this subject. We have been testing yeast for four years and would suggest
the complete process of proofing has to include all the following steps:
1. Start with 1/2 cup water betwee 100-115 degrees F.
2. Add 1 tsp sugar in the water and stir to dissolve it.
3. Sprinkle 1 tsp yeast on the surface and stir to be sure that all
the yeast is wet.
4. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. There should be a foamy top.
5. Check at 10 minutes and the cup should have a substantial head,
whose height depends upon the dimension of the container you are using.
6. If there is no foamy head, throw that package of yeast away and
get some new yeast.
It is a good idea to proof fresh yeast when opened. This will
provide a baseline with which you can compare it when you use the same type
container to proof it again, later in its life.
We have found that yeast stored properly and used properly has a
life of at least 4 years. (That's how long we have been testing).
5. ALL PURPOSE FLOUR. When we started our bread baking program in 1992, we
found that buying all purpose flour and adding pure gluten, provided us
with an excellent bread flour at lower cost than buying bread flour! I
spoke to the Director of Research at Red Star Yeast at that time and he
explained that the protein content of flour is 80% gluten. At 12% protein,
the gluten content is 10% and that is considered to be "bread" flour.
Flours vary from season to season and adjustments have to be made, usually
by the addition of gluten, to produce bread flour. Last year, the assay
numbers seemed to be mixed up. Some bread flours had a lower percentage of
protein than all purpose flours. I noticed this at Sam's Wholesale Clubs
and others reported seeing such disparities elsewhere. We went back to
buying all purpose flour and adding gluten at the rate of 1-1/2 tsp per cup
white flour and 1 Tbs (twice as much) for whole grain flours. The total
costs were less than buying the "bread" flour, if
the gluten were bought in bulk at $2.00 per pound.
My E-Mail address is CPXD31A@PRODIGY.COM. If you would like an E-Mail copy
of our catalog, just ask for it.
Our mail address is:
Delta Rehabilitation, Inc.
411 Bryn Mawr Island
Bradenton FL 34207
Our toll free telephone number is: 1 (800) 641-9093.
Best wishes. Irwin