Bread Tin Preparation

[Thermomixer]

Chelsea - yes, as shop assistant said - wash thoroughly, dry well and then coat liberally with oil before baking for a while to season it.  Then you shouldn't have to line it.

If you wash the tins (and sometimes you have to) then season again with oil and you'll be right.

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

Yippee.  The loaf just fell out of the tin!!!  Now I just need to work on the loaf.  More yeast to help the wholegrain flour rise up a bit I think!!! 

[Depome]

What's the recipe mix like Chelsea? For around 600g of flour (total) you should need about 1 3/4 tsp yeast. Using about 1 tbsp sugar will help it to rise much quicker. Sugarless, French style loaves take AGES to rise because sugar is yeast food, and without it the job is a slow one. Have you got at least 1/4 baker's white flour? You could try using a couple of tbsp of gluten flour - I always add this to my wholemeal loaves to make them rise better.

This is my silver breadmaker's shop bread tin that needs nothing doing to it (not that I got instructions or anything, I just didn't do anything to it, and it works!!!). There's a thick rectangular piece of wire that form the rim, and the rest of the tin is fold around that and envelopes on itself at the sides. When it has been washed, it leaked rusty coloured water, so I won't do that again 

[Ceejay]

A tip my uncle (who was a baker) taught me was to place washed tins straight back into the still warm oven upside down on the rack to dry.  Never had a rusty one since! 

[cathy79]

Depome, I notice you've put up a lot of hints, and several relating to wholemeal bread.  Thank you so much!

Do you have a wholemeal Thermomix recipe you can share with us?

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

What's the recipe mix like Chelsea?

My tin looks the same as yours Depome.  They are very sturdy and heavy and although I've only used it once I am so happy with it.  My recipe was based on one of Isi's recipes (everyday or normal loaf???).  I used 650g flour (150g wholegrain spelt and 500g organic bread flour) and a half cup of seeds.  I find I normally need 2 tsp of dried yeast for 500g organic bread flour in most recipes and a little more yeast when substituting in some TMX milled wholegrain flour and seeds.  I'm not keen on using refined sugar in my breads but I use rapadura in Isi's recipe. 

[Depome]

Sugar helps bread, a LOT, both to rise, and to improve flavour. French bread is divine too, of course, but it takes a long time to get good results (many hours that is, not years ).

You're welcome Cathy. I've been making bread for a few years now, and nearly always wholemeal so I've learned a lot. I don't generally make the dough in the TMX because the nicer doughs are too moist for the TMX. It wouldn't be hard to try reducing the water that I use a little to make it work in the TMX though.

1 3/4 tsp dried yeast
450g wholemeal flour
150g white bakers flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp dried milk powder
25g butter
2 tsp salt
410g water

Currently I'm adding 1-2 tbsp gluten flour too, and often replace about 20g of water with 20g olive oil. The fats are really important as they help to preserve the bread. When you're making an extra large loaf (this recipe is) AND it's wholemeal, using fats really helps to extend the life of the bread which might otherwise feel heavy and dry quite quickly.

[cathy79]

Thank you so much Depome, I'll give this a go over the weekend.

A couple of questions though - what does the dried milk powder do?  I'd like to stay away from that if possible. 

Also, if adding olive oil, is that as well as the butter?

[Thermomixer]

Thanks Depome.  I made baguettes yesterday and am torn between using/not using the TMX.  Want to because i have paid so much for it, and i get good results, but I made it for years without, mainly no-knead.

[Depome]

Cathy, the instruction books for my (2 = greedy!) breadmakers both say that milk is primarily for nutrients (protein) but also flavour. There is no other function so you can omit it easily. Many bread recipes call for fresh milk, but if you were using a breadmaker on timer mode then you obviously shouldn't put fresh milk in to it. I think they just specify powdered milk in the recipes to make it easier.

TMXer, I've been making pizza dough in the TMX a lot more. It's not as elastic as that in the breadmaker, but I'm happy with a 2 min need and no resting Too lazy to wait for it to rise and then bash it down again.

[Thermomixer]

I think pizza dough is one of those things that seems to do well without extra proofing.

[Russell]

I saw that same tin as the picture in Robins Kitchen last week. I've been unhappy with our bread coming out of the breadmaker, as the bottom corner crusts are way too hard and have to be cut off & thrown away (the chooks get them, may keep them in future to make breadcrumbs) so am thinking of going back to baking the bread in the oven after the dough has been made.

I thought they looks a little small for a standard "sandwich" size though. I'd prefer a time that can make a square loaf, as they need to fit in sandwich bags for lunch. Oh, and they were $29 in Robins.

Russell.

[containergirl]

I love my black on the outside silver on the inside bread tin.  It works a treat every time.  I just wipe it out.  I've been using mine for about 2 years and worth the money.  I think it was only $23 at a catering supply shop, but I've had friends buy the same at Robyns for around $30.

I do a no knead loaf in mine.  (5 cups unbleached flour, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 2 1/2 cups warm water.  I mix it and let it sit in a large bowl till it doubles (about 2 hours in our climate) then put it in the tin till it is almost at the top (another hour) and pop in the oven at 220 for 13 mins and then 180 for 23 mins.  It keeps really moist and will pass muster for 2 days for lunches.

I do sometimes use some wholemeal and some seeds.  But the straight unbleached is presently cutting it in the grade 1 lunch set!   My daughter feels like it is christmas when she has bought bread.  I did find out that it is because 'yours takes longer to eat, Mummy and then I don't get to play as much'. 

[Depome]

Russell, my tin (presumably the photo that you're referring to) is actually a jumbo size. It makes a huge loaf! The base of it is certainly sandwich loaf sized, but it is a very long tin that makes bread AT LEAST as long as supermarket loaves. I make tall loaves too. I cut my girls' sandwiches in half, stack them, and put them in a zip lock bag. I can only fit my bread into Tupperware's sandwich boxes by cutting them in half and stacking them.

The height of your loaf is almost totally under your control. I think proper bread tins only vary in length, don't they?

[Russell]

The height of your loaf is almost totally under your control. I think proper bread tins only vary in length, don't they?

Thanks. I went into a few shops at lunch today. target, a kitchenware shop and Myers. Only Myers had bread tins. I ended up getting one even though it is a little short for my liking, i'd prefere the longer one like you mentioned yours is. The one I got does come witha  lid though. it's 20cm L x 11cm W x 10cm H, which I think is probably close to our current loaf sizes we make in the breadmaker. It's non-stick coated all over, and was only $17. I figure if it produces a decent loaf, it'd be good to do two loaves at once with two tins.

Russell.