Bread makers: making diet bread

Since ancient times in Russia, bread was baked in special ovens: in many houses there was a special bread oven in addition to the usual kitchen oven. Such a stove was heated with wood firewood, which was burned directly inside it. When it got hot enough, the coals and ashes were swept out, the dough was placed directly on the hot stone, after which the oven was closed. After a couple of hours, a fragrant and fresh loaf was served on the table. This cooking process required skill and care. It was even believed that a girl who did not know how to bake bread would never make a good housewife.

Nowadays, few people think about making their own homemade bread. And why, if you can just go to the nearest store and buy a loaf for dinner? Still, the age of modern technology helps to revive traditions. Technological progress has revealed to the world a device called a bread maker. With this simple and inexpensive appliance, you can pamper yourself with freshly baked, hot and aromatic bread every morning.

It is very simple to use the bread maker: just put the amount of ingredients specified in the recipe (flour, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, milk, etc.) into a special container, close the lid, set the desired parameters on the control panel and go about your business. The device will knead the dough by itself, set the correct temperature for raising the yeast, let the dough stand, and then knead it again. And when the dough rises, the bread maker begins the mystery of baking, and after about 3-4 hours your apartment will be filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread, and he himself will decorate the table and delight your guests and household members.

Special oven for baking bread

The selection of bread makers in our market is huge. The most popular models can be found in the range of manufacturers such as Panasonic, LG, Hitachi, Tefal, Binatone and Kenwood. Their prices start at 1400 rubles and, as a rule, do not exceed 5500 rubles.

With a bread maker at your home, at any time of the day or night there will be fresh and tasty bread, without preservatives, and of the exact variety you need. The bread maker can bake wheat, rye, black, oat bread with raisins, cheese, vanilla or garlic added to taste.

LG bread makers (left) and Kenwood (right)

But here's what's interesting: despite all the indisputable advantages, bread makers are difficult to classify as popular kitchen appliances. What's the problem?

The main and most common reason is that the device takes up a lot of space. Unfortunately, people are often deprived of the opportunity to purchase useful household appliances precisely because they simply have nowhere to put them. However, in the case of bread makers, the issue of space is not the only reason for not buying one. Much more important is the concern of people for their figure. More than once I have heard that after buying a bread machine in a family, the use of bread rises sharply, and this is excess weight and, as a result, after a couple of months, not a single member of the family fits into their old clothes.

Many will agree with this statement, and I will try to refute it. Yes, eating large amounts of regular white bread can lead to fullness. The fact is that finely ground refined wheat flour contains practically no nutrients, but it contains a lot of sugar. White bread is quickly broken down in the body, forming a large amount of glucose, which, being absorbed into the bloodstream, increases insulin levels and, consequently, appetite.

Photo by Crochet

But people often forget that in addition to ordinary white bread, there are many so-called dietary breads with additives, which, on the contrary, are very useful for the body and even contribute to weight loss. These varieties include, for example, barley bread, soy bread, or wholemeal rye bread. And all this can be prepared in almost any bread machine. The main thing is to fill it with the required amount of the required ingredients.

Here are some recipes:

Barley bread.
Ingredients for 1 loaf (12 servings):

• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
• 2 cups white bread flour
• 1 cup barley flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• 25 g butter

   

  Cooking technology:
  Beat the egg lightly in a jug. Add milk, add water to the 350 ml mark. Place the ingredients in the bread pan in the order shown in the instructions. Place the dish in the bread maker and set the Basic program (light crust). Turn on the bread maker. Before baking, make shallow diagonal cuts on the surface and repeat the cuts in the opposite direction so that rhombuses are formed. After the end of baking, take out the finished loaf and transfer it to the wire rack to cool.

  
  

  

  Barley is very beneficial for the body

  
  

  Soft oat bread.
  Ingredients for 1 loaf (12 servings):

• 2 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
• 2 cups white bread flour
• 1 cup medium oatmeal, plus a little for topping
• 0.5 cups wholemeal or gray bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons of liquid or thick honey
• 1 cup low-fat yogurt
• 25 g butter

   

  Cooking technology:
  Place the ingredients in the bread pan in the order shown in the instructions. Put the dish in the bread maker and set the Basic program. Turn on the bread maker. Before baking, moisten the top with water and lightly sprinkle with oatmeal. After the end of baking, take out the finished loaf and transfer it to the wire rack to cool.

  I agree that the early models of bread makers, which allowed the use of only poppy and sesame seeds as additives in bread, contributed to the weight gain. Modern devices allow you to add almost any ingredient to bread, thanks to which you can bake a delicious, crispy and at the same time low-calorie loaf. Here is another of the recipes, which is called that. "Dietary bread".

  Ingredients for 1 loaf (4 servings):

• 2 cups of water
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 cup rye flour
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk powder

   

  Cooking technology:
  As an additive to these ingredients, you can use 3 tablespoons of wheat bran and rolled oats and 6 tablespoons of rye flakes. They need to be poured into a cup and shaken to make them "lay down" more densely. Ideally, this should be 3/4 cup. Further from you, you need to pour all this into a bread maker, activate the baking process and after a certain time get a fragrant, crispy bread that you can eat with gusto without harming your figure.

  Another very popular type of dietary bread is wheat sprouted bread, the grains of which normalize metabolism, improve the functions of the digestive tract, liver and kidneys, and also strengthen the immune system. Sprouted grains of wheat and legumes can be used as a stand-alone meal or as a vitamin supplement, including in the preparation of bread, which is ideal for all those who prefer high-energy, low-fat foods. In such foods, the main source of energy is complex ("slow") carbohydrates, which maintain optimal blood glucose levels. Such bread is prepared only from natural grains and purified water - no yeast, no fat, no sugar and sweeteners.

  
  

  

  Sprouted wheat grains

  
  

  Everything is very simple: the recipe for simple wheat bread is taken as a basis, but instead of premium flour, 2 cups of wholemeal flour are added. Plus plain or sparkling water (only its amount should be slightly less than with ordinary kneading, so that the dough turns out to be steep). Instead of sugar, add the usual tablespoon of honey, water and a glass of sprouted wheat grains ground into gruel.

  In addition to all of the above, at the moment there are a huge number of recipes for rye bread. It cannot be classified as "dietary", however, it is less nutritious and more useful for our body than ordinary white bread. I will share one of the recipes for its preparation.

  First you need to prepare the leaven. Sourdough bread, and not on yeast, it is more useful and more correctly absorbed, and they recover from it much less.

  Ingredients for the starter culture:

• 1 cup rye flour
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar

   

  So much water must be added to make the dough runny.

  Then the resulting mixture is kept for 18 hours in a warm place, covered with a towel.

  Ingredients for bread (12 servings):

• 1.5 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1.5 cups wheat flour
• 1.5 cups rye flour
• 2 tablespoons of starter culture
• 1 cup of tea (1 teaspoon of tea per cup)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk powder
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee

   

  It is necessary to lay all the ingredients in the order indicated in the instructions, and bake only in the rye bread mode. Putting cocoa and coffee is desirable, but not necessary: ​​they only give the classic dark color to rye bread.

  
  

  

  Rye bread healthy for the body

  
  

  Well, let's summarize. In addition to bread, there are a huge number of foods that contribute to weight gain. They are much more harmful than bread, but we use them much more often. And bread, meanwhile, more than half meets our daily needs for B vitamins, phosphorus and iron salts, half for carbohydrates and one third for proteins. That's really really the head of everything! Therefore, in my opinion, a bread maker is not at all useless, but, on the contrary, a very necessary device in the household. It can be used to prepare any type of bread, from low-calorie dietary bread to delicious fried baguette with onions. In any case, dietary or not, it cannot be compared to any baked product from the store. After all, at home you bake for yourself and your household, which means with love.

  Bon Appetit!

  
  

  Anastasia Shuvalova,