Oster 2 lb. Bread Maker Instruction Manual - Page 4

Baking Bread The simplest way to learn how to bake bread is to follow a basic recipe. The following recipe is easy and the bread is delicious. Before you begin, make sure you have the following measuring equipment: - Liquid measuring cup - Dry measuring cups - Measuring spoons You will need the following ingredients: - Water - Butter/Margarine - Salt - Bread flour (be sure to buy bread flour, preferably for bread makers) - Dry milk - Sugar - Active, fast rising yeast Measuring ingredients The most important secret of making bread is exact measurements, that's the key to successfully baking bread. With wet ingredients, use ONLY measuring cups with the cups/ounces marked clearly on the side. After filling the measuring cup, place it on a flat surface and view it at eye level to make sure the amount of liquid is exact. Then, double check. With dry ingredients, always "level off" the measurement with the back of a knife or a spatula to make sure the measurement is exact. Another helpful tip is to never use the cup to scoop the ingredients (for example, flour). By scooping, you could add up to one tablespoon of extra ingredients. Fill the measuring cup with a spoon before leveling off. Order of adding ingredients The SECOND most important secret of making bread is putting the ingredients into the breadmaker in the EXACT order given in the recipe. This means: - FIRST, liquid ingredients - SECOND, dry ingredients - LAST, yeast Also, make sure ALL ingredients are at room temperature, (between 77°-85° F) unless otherwise noted in the recipe. Note: Temperatures too cool or too hot can affect the way the bread rises and bakes. It's a good idea to start with all new, fresh ingredients (especially fresh flour and yeast). Now, let's try a simple (but really good) recipe. 6 www.oster.com Traditional White Bread 2 lb. loaf Ingredients: 1 & 3/8 cups water 2 tablespoons softened butter or margarine 4 cups bread flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons dry milk 1 & 3/4 teaspoons salt 2 & 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast Instructions: 1 Carefully measure 1 and 3/8 cups water. Remember, use water that is room temperature. DO NOT use very hot or very cold water. It's a good idea to view the measuring cup at eye level to make sure you have measured exactly 1 and 3/8 cups. 2 Pour the water into the bread pan. 3 Carefully measure 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine that is at room temperature. Add this to the bread pan. This takes care of all of the liquid ingredients for the recipe. Next comes the dry ingredients. 4 Measure 4 cups of bread flour. Make sure not to "overpack" the flour into the cup. To avoid over packing, a good trick is to fill the measuring cup to overflowing, then tap the side of the cup with a knife or spatula to remove air pockets. Level off the measuring cup with the knife or spatula. Pour the flour into the bread pan. 5 Measure 2 tablespoons of sugar. Again, make sure to level off the tablespoons for an exact measurement. Add the sugar into the bread pan. 6 Measure 2 tablespoons of dry milk. Level off the tablespoons of dry milk like all of the rest of the dry ingredients. Add the dry milk to the bread pan. 7 Measure 1 & 3/4 teaspoons of salt. It is especially important to measure the salt precisely because too much salt, even a little, can affect the rising of the dough. Add the salt to the bread pan. 8 Before adding the yeast, use your finger to form a well (hole) in the flour where you will pour the yeast. Yeast must NEVER come into contact with a liquid when you are adding ingredients. Measure (again, leveling off ) 2 & 1/4 teaspoons of yeast and carefully pour it into the well you made in the flour. 9 Carefully snap the baking pan into the breadmaker. 10 Close the lid of the bread machine and plug the power cord into the wall outlet. The following things will happen. The machine will "beep," and the lights of the display will turn on. The time setting will say "3:25" hours. 11 Repeatedly press the "Crust Color" button to select the kind of crust you want. For this recipe we recommend "Medium". Depending on the crust color you select, the arrow will be pointing to either light, medium or dark. 12 Press the "Start/Stop" button and your machine will start making bread. You will hear the breadmaker begin to mix the ingredients. www.oster.com 7