Terry,
A few suggestions:
You wrote:
>I have a bread making machine but find that I only use it to knead the dough
>as I found the loaf pan almost impossible to remove from the machine while
>still hot and if I left the bread in till the pan cooled the bread was damp
>and the crust soggy from condensation.
>I now use the "dough" option only and find the bread is so much nicer.
To get bread out of my pan, I use two pot holders. First I lift out the
pan by the handle with one and then grab the bottom of the pan with the
other. Now, while holding the handle out of the way with one hand, I shake
the pan upside down with the hand holding the bottom. This works every
time. If you bread is sticking a bit, loosen it with a plastic spatula
(High temperature or it will melt) or anything long and flat. Just be very
careful if you use metal or it will scratch the pan only making things
worse in the long run.
You asked:
>Why does premix flours intended for bread maker bread, seem to be so much
>nicer than standard flour?
>Bread made from standard flour does not rise as well and the resulting bread
>is that much heavier.
>Premix is more than twice the price of high grade/bread flour and would
>like to use that rather than the premix.
>Can anyone help?
I have equal success with mixes and making from scratch. The mixes are
nice and
easy but you are very right, you pay a price for that convenience. If your
bread isn't rising, you need to look at the basics:
1)Is you yeast fresh? Are you using the right kind of yeast? Get yeast made
especially for bread machines.
2)Are you using only Whole Wheat flour? It doesn't rise as well as bread
flour.
Use 1 part white bread flour to 2 parts whole wheat.
3)Add Vital Wheat Gluten. 1 T. per loaf. Do this especially if you are
using
all or mostly whole wheat flour. I use it in all my breads, regardless.
Makes
them rise nice and tall.
There are several web sites which also off help on troubleshooting bread
making problems. Here's a short list. Some of these will link to other
sites too.
http://www.breadmachinemagic.com/
http://www.breadworld.com/breadmachines/breadmachines.html
http://www.kitchenlink.com/abm.html
http://idt.net/~wordup/bread.html
http://www.jeff-and-reggie.com/ftp/archives/bread/
Hope this helps.
Don't give up on the machine yet....
Bake and Be Happy....Mike