Wednesday 19 December 2018

Just What I Kneaded!


I spent much of Saturday pottering in the kitchen. As well as 2 loads of laundry, putting marzipan on the Christmas Cake, and making a ragu for dinner, I tidied up my cookbook stand. I love this sturdy metal stand [birthday gift 2015 from my dear friend Christine] But I confess that I tuck bits of paper behind it, and things really needed sorting out.
I found two £5 tokens I had mislaid, some Tesco vouchers [half expired, half in date] and a number of recipes which I had at one point considered making but not used.
I was pretty ruthless with the recipes- but one caught my eye on the way to the recycling bin. So I dug out my trusty Kenwood Chef [Christmas gift from Bob, 2004] 
I tweaked the original recipe, and I was really pleased with the result - I used half-and-half white flour and chapatti flour
Homemade Bread In The Slow Cooker 
Prep time; 20 mins, Cook time; 2 hours, Total time; 2 hours 20 mins
Ingredients
1 envelope of active yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup warm water
1 egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
3½ cups plain flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Instructions
IMPORTANT: Do NOT pre-heat your slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine the yeast, ¼ cup warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes .
In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, oil, 1 cup lukewarm water, salt, sugar, and yeast mixture and beat with an electric mixer on low for about 2 minutes making sure to scrape the sides down as you go.
Next, add 3 to 3 ½ cups of flour to the mixture and continue beating with the electric mixer on low until it is well incorporated and gets "gummy". Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and add a little flour at a time while kneading for 5 minutes by hand until the dough becomes smooth and elastic [I did everything in the Kenwood with the dough hook]. The dough will be a little sticky. This is normal. Form into a ball.
Line a 5-quart slow cooker with parchment paper. Place the ball of dough in the centre of the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 2+ hours. Not slow cookers are the same, so after 1½ hours, check your bread for readiness. The bread will feel firm when you gently press down on the top. If it isn't done, check it every 30 minutes for readiness. 
NOTE: It will not be brown on top. That's normal. Remove when done and brush with melted butter. Let the bread cool completely before slicing. 
I was really pleased with the resulting loaf. But I have realised you should never turn your back on the Chef when it is kneading. I went to sort something on the cooker, and when I turned round, I realised the food mixer was vibrating across the worktop and almost ready to throw itself on the floor! [I did re-stage this shot for the camera]

In terms of a fast, cheap loaf, it is pretty good. The big bag of chapatti flour was reduced - and worked out at 15p/kg. That's less than half of the usual price of plain white flour in most supermarkets. My only change next time would be to reduce the amount of sugar - it was a little too sweet for our taste. 

7 comments:

  1. pop powdered in milk instead of the sugar it feeds the bread just the same

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  2. sounds yum - i might try that! i usually miss out sugar and put in a touch of honey instead. thx!

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  3. That bread looks great! My husband has taken to heart the bread making duties in our house! He uses his bread machine to make his breads. It's lovely to smell fresh made bread. Making bread in the slow cooker sounds like an interesting thing to do.

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    1. I have a Breadmaker too - but this recipe was so intriguing I just had to try it out!

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  4. Your loaf of bread looks delicious! I need to try this in the summer, when it is too hot to turn on the oven! I have a really old (circa late 1970s; in avocado green, no less!) slow cooker/crock pot. Wonder how well it will make bread!

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    1. My big slocooker is only about ten years old. My original one is smaller. It is brown and cream and dates to 1983. I've never seen an avocado one!

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