The Art And Science Of Baking Great Tasting Bread - Sunbeam BM7800 Quantum SmartBake Instruction Booklet

The Art and Science of Baking
Great Tasting Bread
Baking bread is part chemistry and part
artistry. Your Sunbeam Quantum SmartBake
does most of the work for you; but there are
still some things you should know, about
each of the basic ingredients and the bread
baking process.
The ingredients in basic bread are very
simple: flour, sugar, salt, liquid (such as
water or milk), possibly a fat (such as butter
or margarine), and yeast. Each of these
ingredients performs a specific job, and
each lends a special flavour to the final
masterpiece.
That's why it is important to use the right
ingredients in exactly the right proportions to
ensure you get the most delicious results!
Yeast
Yeast is actually a microscopic plant. Simply
stated, without yeast, your bread will not
rise. When moistened by a liquid, fed by
sugar and carefully warmed, yeast produces
gasses that power the dough to rise. If the
temperature is too cold, the yeast will not
be activated, if it's too warm, it will die.
Your Quantum SmartBake takes care of this
worry for you by maintaining just the right
temperature in the baking chamber at all
times.
Some yeasts may require the use of a bread
improver. The Bread Improver will provide
additional gluten to the flour to produce a
better loaf.
Note: We do not recommend the use of fresh
or compressed yeast in your breadmaker.
Sunbeam recommends the use of dry yeast
only. Always ensure it is used well within
the use-by date, as stale yeast will prevent
the bread from rising. We suggest that a
small pocket be made in the top of the dry
mixture to hold the yeast. This will ensure
its activation when in contact with the liquid
and sugar during kneading
Flour
In order for the bread to rise, the flour
has to have a sufficiently high protein
content. Sunbeam recommends the use of
a good quality plain or bread flour. Some
recommended brands are listed on page
22. Unlike white flour, wheat flour contains
bran and wheatgerm which are heavy and
inhibit rising. Wheat breads therefore, tend
to be heavier in texture and smaller in size.
A lighter larger loaf can be achieved by
combining wheat flour with white flour for
whole wheat bread recipes.
Note: Do not use self-raising flour in any
recipes, except for program (8) Damper, and
where specified in this manual.
Sugars
Sugars sweeten the bread, brown the crust,
lend tenderness to the texture and supply
the yeast with food. White or brown sugar,
molasses, maple or golden syrup, honey and
other sweeteners may be used in equivalent
quantities.
Note: Artificial sweetener can be substituted
in equivalent amounts, however the taste and
texture of your bread will vary.
Liquids
When liquids are mixed with the proteins in
flour, gluten is formed. Gluten is necessary
for the bread to rise. Most recipes use
powdered milk and water, but other liquids
such as milk, fruit juice, beer and water can
be used. It's a delicate balance: experiment
with quantities of these liquids to obtain
optimum results as a recipe with too much
liquid may cause the bread to fall during
baking while a recipe with too little liquid
will not rise.
Note: Liquids should be used at room
temperature.
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