I use Vitamin C powder which will have the same effect as lemon juice but doesn't mess up the liquid amounts.
I have modified the Panasonic recipes a bit to make them 'healthier'. I have reduced the salt to just half a level teaspoon in the largest size of loaf (21oz flour), and sugar to one level teaspoon. This makes no difference whatsoever to the rising of the dough, and we don't like salty things so we don't notice any problem with the taste.
I play around with the flour I use. At the moment for a 21oz loaf, I use 14oz Marriages wholemeal flour plus 7oz of Wessex Mill 6 grain flour, which looks brown but acts like white. If I don't want the seedy bits then the 7oz would be a strong white - usually Allinson's or Doves Farm, but I find with white flour the make is less important. I also add extra seeds sometimes - sesame seeds which give a nice nutty, crispy top, plus blue poppy seeds, linseed, sunflowers, pumpkin seeds or anything else that takes my fancy.
I mix up all the dry ingredients together before I put them in the bucket, as this seems to make for a more even loaf.
I never use fat direct from the fridge as it tends to make the top go flat. I use Bertolli olive oil spread at room temp.
I never make all white loaves and I no longer make 100% wholemeal loaves as my OH has problems with them.
I use mainly Allinson's yeast in a tin, or Doves Farm in a small box (which I decant into an empty tin), but some times before I get to the bottom of the tin I have noticed the yeast isn't working so well, so I ditch that batch and buy fresh. I make bread every second day, so the yeast certainly isn't ancient before it starts to become less effective.
I don't use the packets as I adjust the amount of yeast I use according to the flour and whether I'm using a quick bake setting or a long one. Some packet yeast already contains Vit C powder.
Topic: Which breadmaker? (Read 9899 times)
