Date: Sun, 27 Jun 93 07:51:41 CDT
From: "Jim Gregory" (freshair@iastate.edu)
Here's an easy way you can make WW bread in less than an hour. I got the
idea reading the directions for my new microwave oven (the directions
described how to make bread rise faster; I thought why not bake it,
too? :-) ):
MICROWAVE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
6 cups whole wheat bread flour
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons yeast
Mix the last three ingredients in a measuring cup, let sit for a
couple minutes, then pour into the flour. Put the honey and molasses
into the same cup, add 1 cup water, stir it to dissolve, then pour it
into the flour.
Mix the dough, adding the remaining 1/4-1/2 cup of water as necessary
to get all the flour into the dough. When the dough is ready to start
kneeding, put 3 cups of water in a large glass jar or bowl, and put in
the microwave for 6-8 minutes on HIGH until it begins to boil. (The
water, according to my microwave book, acts as a heat absorber and
moderator. I never tried making bread without it, so it may or may
not be necessary.) While the water is heating, kneed the dough. (I
use an extra-large stainless steel mixing bowl to make bread, so I
just kneed the dough in the same bowl I used to mix it. Makes clean
up a snap.) Kneed for about 8 minutes, or until the water is boiling.
**Very** lightly grease two 6-cup microwave bowls with vegetable oil.
Cut the dough into two pieces, form these pieces into balls by turning
the sides down and under, "twist" the bottom of the balls closed, and
put the two balls into the two bowls, twist side down. Put the bowls
of dough into your microwave along with the jar of boiled water and
microwave on the low power setting (i.e., "1" or "10") for 20-25
minutes to let the dough rise. The dough will approximately double in
size. Don't "punch it down" or kneed it a second time--just microwave
on HIGH for 10 minutes to "bake" it. (I do this all at one time by
programming my microwave to cook at "10" for 18 minutes, then "HIGH"
for 10 minutes.) After "baking", remove the bread by simply turning
the bowls upside down and shaking out the bread. You'll have two
small round loaves when done.
The final product: The crust of the bread will be softer than a
traditionally-baked loaf, since the microwave doesn't dry it out and
brown it like a traditional oven. Also, the surface of the loaf will
be lighter (the whole wheat flour and molasses give the bread a nice
light brown appearance). The inside of the bread of the loaf will be
nice and moist, with a good crumb structure. (I'm munching on some
right now that I just pulled out of the microwave :-) ). The bottom
of the loaves tend to be a little bit soggy, but not bad at all.
You may have to adjust cooking times to fit the size and power of your
microwave. Mine is a 600 W, 0.8 cu. ft. Magic Chef.
kwhoney honey