Application Guide
Table Of Contents
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Acknowledgments
- America’s New Bread Box
- Orientation
- Batterie de Cuisine: Know Your Bread Machine
- Making Bread
- Daily Breads: White Breads and Egg Breads
- White Breads
- Egg Breads
- One-Pound Loaves
- Pasta Doughs from Your Bread Machine
- Earth’s Bounty: Whole Wheat, Whole-Grain, and Specialty Flour Breads
- Whole Wheat Breads
- Rye Breads
- Specialty Flour Breads
- Multigrain Breads
- Gluten-Free Breads
- Traditional Loaves: Country Breads and Sourdough Breads
- Country Breads
- Sourdough Breads
- All Kinds of Flavors: Breads Made with the Produce of the Garden, Orchard, and Creamery
- Herb, Nut, Seed, and Spice Breads
- Savory Vegetable and Fruit Breads
- Cheese Breads
- Mixes and Some Special Breads Created from Them
- Stuffing Breads
- Circle, Squares, and Crescents: Pizzas and Other Flatbreads
- Sweet Loaves: Chocolate, Fruit, and Other Sweet Breads
- Breakfast Breads
- Coffee Cakes and Sweet Rolls
- Chocolate Breads
- Holiday Breads
- Express Lane Bread: No-Yeast Quick Breads
- Jams, Preserves, and Chutneys in Your Bread Machine
- Appendix 1 Bits and Pieces: Crumbs, Croutons, Crostini, and Toasted Appetizers
- Appendix 2 To Eat with Your Bread: Spreads, Butters, Cheeses, and Vegetables
- Appendix 3 Resources
- General Index
- Recipe Index
What Are Organic Flours?
You may already be familiar with the attributes of organic flours. These are
flours ground from wheats that have been grown in soils improved and main-
tained by natural fertilizers rather than chemical ones. The taste, smell, and
texture of these flours reflect the quality of these soils, and the flours seem to
react better with yeast. Organic flours are gaining in recognition and popular-
ity; I just noticed that Gold Medal now has an organic flour on the supermar-
ket shelf. Food writers are calling specifically for organic flours in their in-
gredients lists. Some bakers use only organic flours.
In exchange for high yields, modern agriculture has had to
cope with other problems, such as pesticide residues entering the plants
through their roots, growing crops in nutrient-depleted soil, and contami-
nated groundwater. Organic farming employs techniques that respect natural
biological cycles. In order for foods to be labeled organic, they have to be
grown in soil that has not been treated with any nonorganic substances for at
least three years. The foods are grown without the aid of toxic synthetic
chemicals (pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides), and natural
means are used to maintain the soil’s nutrients and fertility. Specific require-
ments for organic certification now vary from state to state, but the USDA
will soon be publishing national standards.
One of the pioneers in providing organic whole grain flours
and information about how to use them was Frank Ford. Before organic was
a household word, Frank grew his hard red winter wheat in Deaf Smith
County, Texas, with none of the usual chemical grain fertilizers. In 1960 he
set up a small stone mill and an office in an abandoned railroad car. He dis-
tributed his flours out of the back of his pickup truck.
Today, Deaf Smith wheat is a standard for excellence. As a
purveyor of organic flour, Arrowhead Mills, provides fresh flours to home
and commercial bakers in the United States and around the world. Arrow
head Mills flour is now on supermarket shelves across the country.
Despite much press, organic grains are still a minority in
the agricultural marketplace; organic farming is labor intensive, crops give
lower yields, and prices to the consumer are a bit higher because of a limited
supply. But I believe the flours truly are superior. If they are available to
you, I urge you to give them a try.
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