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Techniques

"Ken and Mary Ann Vaugnan" <kvaughan@ptialaska.net>
Sun, 16 Aug 1998 12:07:32 -0800
v098.n059.12
I feel the need to de-lurk for a few comments --  I have inherited the bread
making from my DW over the years.  I have a Kitchen Aid and a bread machine
and do some breads by hand.  I use all three processes.  There are
advantages and disadvantages to each one.  I am also a scoutmaster and teach
boys how to make breads (especially flat breads and steamed breads) on
camping trips where there are no mechanical assists.

We eat good pizza, fry bread etc on the trail.  There is something special
about kneading bread on the bottom of a canoe and cooking it in oil over a
campfire.  The flavor of yeast bread roasted on a stick over a fire is
special.

The point is that all the different techniques have a place depending on the
product desired, the conditions, and the time and other resources available.
I think it is important to recognize bread as the result of an artisan
process that can be more or less based on process formulas as the need
requires.  As I tell the Boy Scouts -- Yeast and flour are quite forgiving,
and will give an acceptable result under a number of different conditions --
not always the same but good (especially in the Yukon).

As forgiving as yeast and flour can be, perhaps we need to be as tolerant to
differences in how we get to the end result and how other do likewise.