Kenwood Breadmaker questions tips etc

Swan_2

skyelark wrote: »

Forgive my one million questions, but what is buttermilk powder used for?:o

any recipe that asks for buttermilk ... sorry


you reconstitute it & use it as you would normal buttermilk

it's an ingredient of Irish soda bread, & a lot of American recipes use it, you'll see it in bread, muffins, cakes, all sorts of things

it's handier than having to buy it in & is more like proper buttermilk than the cultured kind you buy in cartons, as it's a genuine by-product of the butter making process, but normally goes into manufactured goods
you can buy packs of it easily in the USA, it's just not readily available here, unless you want a 28Kg sack


I remember my Granny telling me how lovely & refreshing a glass of buttermilk was & how she missed being able to get it
well, I bought a carton & tried it, YUK! I thought my Granny was mad, until ...

I got some cheap (10p a pint) double cream & made my own butter, & the buttermilk it yielded was sooo delicious

I'm not saying the cultured stuff's a bad product, just very different from natural buttermilk


phew! I bet you're sorry you asked!

skyelark

Swan wrote: »

any recipe that asks for buttermilk ... sorry


you reconstitute it & use it as you would normal buttermilk

it's an ingredient of Irish soda bread, & a lot of American recipes use it, you'll see it in bread, muffins, cakes, all sorts of things

it's handier than having to buy it in & is more like proper buttermilk than the cultured kind you buy in cartons, as it's a genuine by-product of the butter making process, but normally goes into manufactured goods
you can buy packs of it easily in the USA, it's just not readily available here, unless you want a 28Kg sack


I remember my Granny telling me how lovely & refreshing a glass of buttermilk was & how she missed being able to get it
well, I bought a carton & tried it, YUK! I thought my Granny was mad, until ...

I got some cheap (10p a pint) double cream & made my own butter, & the buttermilk it yielded was sooo delicious

I'm not saying the cultured stuff's a bad product, just very different from natural buttermilk


phew! I bet you're sorry you asked!

No. not at all. Never thought it would be so simple Thought it may also be added for a specific reason-like texture or something! Basically I thought it was a secret magic ingredient:rotfl:Never mind, silly me.
I am really into this stuff at the moment. My BM has made me want to try lots of other things. Making butter? You clever clogs. I have an inlaw who lives on one of the outer hebrides who has made her own and said it is wonderful.
I wish I didn't work full time so I could devote my time to all these projects.......lottery dream I guess.:)

Swan_2

skyelark wrote: »

No. not at all. Never thought it would be so simple Thought it may also be added for a specific reason-like texture or something! Basically I thought it was a secret magic ingredient:rotfl:Never mind, silly me.
I am really into this stuff at the moment. My BM has made me want to try lots of other things. Making butter? You clever clogs. I have an inlaw who lives on one of the outer hebrides who has made her own and said it is wonderful.
I wish I didn't work full time so I could devote my time to all these projects.......lottery dream I guess.:)

it adds an acidic element which helps with things baked with bicarbonate of soda, & I think it does affect the texture & flavour too, to a degree
you can mix lemon juice with milk as a substitute


I cheated with the butter, I got fed up of shaking it in a jar & put it in the food processor, voila! (almost) instant butter
I don't make it a lot, but if you ever see double cream heavily reduced it's worth trying at least once

when I lived in the country I had a neighbour who raised beef cattle & sheep, but she kept a dairy cow & she used to contribute her butter for the local fetes & it was always the first thing that sold out & I used to make bread to go on the stall with it

I made it in my Rayburn though, I'd no bread machine at that time, & it baked the best wholemeal bread I've ever made
I think it must be something to do with the fierce very dry heat

anyway, I'm rambling now & waay OT



today I'm trying the Panny easy 'ciabatta' recipe in my Kenwood, I'm not sure how it'll work out as the Panny has a special Italian bake programme & I'm doing it on the standard bake ... so we shall see

if it's no good, I may have to sit beside a Panny while it's going through the Italian bake noting down what it's doing & for how long then try programming it into the Kenwood :eek:

skyelark

Swan wrote: »

it adds an acidic element which helps with things baked with bicarbonate of soda, & I think it does affect the texture & flavour too, to a degree
you can mix lemon juice with milk as a substitute


I cheated with the butter, I got fed up of shaking it in a jar & put it in the food processor, voila! (almost) instant butter
I don't make it a lot, but if you ever see double cream heavily reduced it's worth trying at least once

when I lived in the country I had a neighbour who raised beef cattle & sheep, but she kept a dairy cow & she used to contribute her butter for the local fetes & it was always the first thing that sold out & I used to make bread to go on the stall with it

I made it in my Rayburn though, I'd no bread machine at that time, & it baked the best wholemeal bread I've ever made
I think it must be something to do with the fierce very dry heat

anyway, I'm rambling now & waay OT



today I'm trying the Panny easy 'ciabatta' recipe in my Kenwood, I'm not sure how it'll work out as the Panny has a special Italian bake programme & I'm doing it on the standard bake ... so we shall see

if it's no good, I may have to sit beside a Panny while it's going through the Italian bake noting down what it's doing & for how long then try programming it into the Kenwood :eek:

Not rambling.......it's very informative! I look forward to your tips!
Let me know how you get on with the ciabatta. Does it not provide a breakdown of the progs in the book? I think there was one in the Kenwood, if |I remember rightly.
:think:

Swan_2

skyelark wrote: »

Not rambling.......it's very informative! I look forward to your tips!
Let me know how you get on with the ciabatta. Does it not provide a breakdown of the progs in the book? I think there was one in the Kenwood, if |I remember rightly.
:think:

I have far too much time on my hands that's why I'm such an inexhaustible source of trivia :rotfl:


the Kenwood does give a breakdown, but the Panny doesn't, I expect that's because it's not programmable

I've looked in the window & it's rising, but doesn't look as big as the Panny loaf & it has 23 minutes to go, so I doubt it's going to get any bigger, but I'm sure it'll taste fine

tbh, it's nothing like Ciabatta, other than having olive oil in it, but it's a nice loaf for accompanying pasta & anything with a gravy or sauce that needs wiping off your plate


I'll report back once it's out & cooled enough to cut

skyelark

Swan wrote: »

I have far too much time on my hands that's why I'm such an inexhaustible source of trivia :rotfl:


the Kenwood does give a breakdown, but the Panny doesn't, I expect that's because it's not programmable

I've looked in the window & it's rising, but doesn't look as big as the Panny loaf & it has 23 minutes to go, so I doubt it's going to get any bigger, but I'm sure it'll taste fine

tbh, it's nothing like Ciabatta, other than having olive oil in it, but it's a nice loaf for accompanying pasta & anything with a gravy or sauce that needs wiping off your plate


I'll report back once it's out & cooled enough to cut

Good stuff. I look forward to hearing. And by the way, I love your encyclopedic knowledge of all things home made! A very useful source of information for a newbie like me:T

Swan_2

skyelark wrote: »

Good stuff. I look forward to hearing. And by the way, I love your encyclopedic knowledge of all things home made! A very useful source of information for a newbie like me:T

oh I don't know everything, just a quite lot about a very few things

the loaf tastes really nice, but isn't as tall & light as the Italian bake

so, I'm going to have to find a spare few hours to sit beside a Panny & steal its programme :cool:

skyelark

Swan wrote: »

oh I don't know everything, just a quite lot about a very few things

the loaf tastes really nice, but isn't as tall & light as the Italian bake

so, I'm going to have to find a spare few hours to sit beside a Panny & steal its programme :cool:

Loving your dedication! :rotfl::rotfl::T:T:T

Fruittea

Hi Everyone
Just found this thread and have snaffled some of the recipes - thank you.

I've been wondering about the effeciency of the breadmaker as opposed to batching a few loaves and baking in the oven - I'm keen to cut down the lecky bills and just a bit concerened how fuel effecient the bm is. Does anyone know?

Many thanks for all the interesting posts.

skyelark

Fruittea wrote: »

Hi Everyone
Just found this thread and have snaffled some of the recipes - thank you.

I've been wondering about the effeciency of the breadmaker as opposed to batching a few loaves and baking in the oven - I'm keen to cut down the lecky bills and just a bit concerened how fuel effecient the bm is. Does anyone know?

Many thanks for all the interesting posts.

Hi there Fruittea,
In a breadmaker book I have, (not kenwood) it says that it costs at most 7p to 8p per cycle on BM. I really dont know what the oven-gas or elec-would cost.

I find the BM is fast, reliable and gives good quality results. Unfortunately, I am not so great with hand made bread, but Swan has kinda inspired me to have another go!

I would be really interested to find out in the cost difference if you could find out more.
I worked it out (roughly) that each loaf cost me 68p in BM. For the quality and time saving that is good. On the other hand, if I could get good at hand made, I could band 4 in the oven at once!

Going to get some good quality yeast, tried and tested recipes and have a go at HM after weekend!
:)