Application Guide

blade; other times it is lodged in the loaf rather tightly. (See step 12 of the Homestyle
White Bread recipe, for information on dislodging the kneading blade.)
If you are having trouble getting a loaf out of the pan, or if you know
you have an exceptionally delicate loaf, turn off the machine, unplug it, and open the
lid. Let the loaf sit in the machine with the lid open for five to ten minutes. It will
shrink from the sides of the pan as it cools, and should become easy to turn out.
The delicate texture and rich flavor of bread is at its best when it has
had a chance to cool completely. Technically, bread has not finished baking until it is
cool and the excess moisture has evaporated from the inside out. The crust of your
bread will soften as it cools. Cool a loaf on a rack so that air can circulate all around it,
before slicing it. You will ruin a loaf if you cut into it too soon. To slice bread, use a
serrated bread knife, designed to slice without squashing or tearing the loaf. French
breads and rolls are best eaten cooled to room temperature; richer whole-grain and
cakelike breads should be cooled completely and then reheated.
Learning Recipes
While all the recipes in this book are written with clear directions, there are a lot of lit-
tle details to making an electronic bread machine do what it does best—operate prop-
erly at the touch of a button and make a good loaf of bread by mixing, kneading, and
baking within the machine. I have developed these first three recipes with expanded in-
structions as a guide to using the machine, and to familiarize you with three common
techniques. The Home-style White Bread is a standard—also called simple or straight
—dough that uses the most basic bread machine procedure. Shepherd’s Bread is an
overnight sponge bread in which a small portion of flour and liquid are mixed and left
to sit overnight and ferment (forming the sponge) before the rest of the ingredients are
added to make a dough. (You will become more familiar with this type of baking in the
Country Breads section of the Traditional Loaves chapter.) Whole Wheat Cuban
Bread, made overnight using the Delay Timer, will be ever-so-slightly more coarse and
chewy than the Homestyle White Bread because it is made entirely with water rather
than milk.
Technique: Mise en Place
A professional culinary technique known as mise en place, simply “every-
thing in its place,” is important for excellent, efficient baking. It is one of the
first disciplines an apprentice learns in a French-style kitchen. This means
that all the basic ingredients and equipment necessary for preparing your loaf
of bread are assembled and within easy access on your workstation. The ini-
tial preparation of ingredients, like toasting nuts or chopping fruit, is done,
and all you have left to do is combine the ingredients in the bread pan. Be-
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