Princess DeLuxe Article 152000 Mode D'emploi page 25

information you will need when baking
bread is given below.
Flour
The main ingredient of bread is flour. There
are many different kinds of flour and mixes
of flour. The type of grain you use makes a
big difference to the bread. For example,
wheat flower contains so much gluten that
it rises better than heavier flour and you,
therefore, need less yeast. Gluten is a
protein compound which is found in grain,
such as wheat, oats, rye and barley. As the
bread rises, gluten forms a network that
keeps in the carbon dioxide bubbles and
this causes the bread to rise.
Patent flour or household flour
Most white flour is called patent flour or
household flour. It contains almost no bran
or seeds, but does contain a lot of gluten.
This flour is usually used to bind soups and
sauces, but is also good for baking (white)
bread.
Wheat flour and wheatmeal
Wheat flour is white wheatmeal.
Wheatmeal is somewhat greyer in colour
and contains a small amount of bran and
seeds. Wheat flour and wheatmeal also
contain a lot of gluten.
Wholewheat flour and wholewheat meal
Wholewheat flour is ground from whole,
untreated grains of wheat. It contains all
the bran and seeds from the wheat.
Wholewheat flour has, just like wheat flour,
a lot of gluten, but is heavier because of
the bran and seeds. As a result, the bread
will be more compact if it is made only
using wholewheat meal. Therefore, most
home bakers add some wheat flour.
Besides these types of flour and meal,
there are also many other types to keep
you busy to your heart's content, such as:
oatmeal, barley meal, buckwheat flour,
maize meal and rye flour.
22 Breadmaker DeLuxe Article 152000
Meal mixes
Most types of meal can be mixed together.
The combination of buckwheat flour/
oatmeal/wheat flour is a good example.
You could also try barley meal/wheat flour.
Various mixes can also be bought in
shops, such as cornmeal, six-grain meal,
nine-grain meal or ten-grain meal. These
mixes sometimes contain flour and/or a
bread improver.
All-in-one mixes
You can also buy mixes which contain all
the ingredients, except water. These all-in-
one mixes are easy and quick to use, but
are also more expensive.
Yeast
Yeast is required in order for the bread to
rise. You can buy fresh yeast (blocks) or
dried yeast (granules). The taste of fresh
yeast is slightly more pronounced than that
of dry yeast. There are various brands of
dry yeast and the effect they have varies
somewhat. The yeast that suits you the
best is a question of personal preference.
As a rule of thumb, you can say that you
need about half the weight of dry yeast
(also called instant yeast) compared to
fresh yeast. The effect of the yeast can be
affected if the yeast comes into contact
with salt or fat. Salt dries out the yeast and
fat encloses the yeast cells, so that the
dough can no longer rise. It is, therefore,
important to ensure that the yeast, salt and
butter are not placed too close to each
other in the breadmaker.
Salt
Salt adds to the taste of the bread, but is
also important for the crust and for the
bread rising (although salt can also stop
the bread from rising if it comes into direct
contact with the yeast). Salt strengthens
the gluten construction which gives the
bread shape. Salt also ensures that the
bread does not rise out of the baking tin
and then sinks before it is well baked.