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Crusty White Bread Mix

Crusty White Bread Pre-mix is the most popular Laucke Pre-mix for bread machines as it produces a delightful, crusty loaf of excellent volume, appearance and flavour.

This Pre-mix is made from a high protein, strong wheaten flour, and contains Complex Carbohydrates and a wide range of essential nutrients such as Protein, Vitamins and Minerals. Crusty White Premix is low in fat. White bread is now considered to be a valuable source of nutrition. It is part of one of the basic food groups recommended by world health authorities.

This suggested Recipe may be used in all Bread Machines.
 

	Machine Mixing Bowl Size
	Small	Large
Yeast	1	1.5	Standard teaspoon or scoop
	3	4.5	OR grams
Pre-mix	2	3.75	Standard Cups
	320	600	OR grams
Water	220	415	millilitres or grams
	0.9	1.7	OR Standard Cups

Ingredients
Unbleached Wheaten Flour, Yeast, Salt, Soya Flour, Malted Wheat Flour, Emulsifier (472(e)), Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Sulphate, Thiamine.
Laucke Bread Pre-mixes contain no added sugar, preservatives or animal fats.

Getting Started: Your first loaf

Use these basic instructions to get started, ensuring that you read your bread machine instruction booklet to ascertain the bowl size, and confirm the order that you need to add the Yeast, Laucke Pre-mix and Water.

This Recipe is for a large loaf of approximately 1 kg of dough, as provided by most bread machines.If your machine has a medium size bowl for a 750 g loaf, follow the recipe quantities suggested in brackets.

If your machine has an extra large bowl, start with the large loaf recipe, and later vary the dough size, guided by "Bread Density".

Every brand of bread machine is different, and will produce a slightly different loaf. Use these basic instructions to get started, and then perfect your bread using the detailed instructions below. If you then experience difficulty producing an acceptable loaf, please contact us.

Note that some bread machines require ingredients to be added in a different sequence.

1. From the yeast sachets supplied, add 1½ standard teaspoons of yeast to your mixing bowl. (Medium bowl 1¼ teaspoons.)
2. Add 560 g or 3 ½ Standard Cups of Pre-mix. (Medium bowl 480 g or 3 Cups.) To reliably measure a Standard Cup (230 ml) of Bread Pre-mix, scoop up a heaped cup, then settle by lightly shaking the cup until the Pre-mix is level with the top of the cup. Scrape off any surplus if necessary.
3. Accurately measure 385 ml of water, and add to your mixing bowl. (Medium bowl 330 ml.)
4. Close lid, select an appropriate program with about a 4 hour cycle, and start your machine.

Perfecting your Bread: Useful Hints

Measurement
Be careful to ensure all measurements are accurate. Weighing the ingredients, using an accurate set of Scales, is the most precise method of measuring ingredients. Our Cup measurements are based on a Standard Cup that will contain 230 ml of water and 160 g of Crusty Pre-mix. Not all measuring cups provide the same amount, and this can lead to surprisingly large inaccuracies. Standard teaspoons also vary, so be prepared to experiment.

Water Quantity
Use an accurate millilitre (ml) measuring cup, or use Scales for both water and Pre-mix. It is essential that you use the most appropriate ratio of water to Pre-mix. Under ideal conditions, our suggested optimum ratio of Crusty White Pre-mix to water is the "Water Rate" of 0.69, where a notional 1000 g of Pre-mix would require 690 ml of water. Several factors, such as the weather and the amount of grain in your Pre-mix, will determine how much water is required, and how long it takes for the water to be absorbed into the dough. Some types of dough must remain 'sloppy' further into the kneading cycle.

To check if the appropriate amount of water has been added to the ingredients, open the bread machine lid at the start of the kneading cycle, and observe the dough slowly forming. It is important that you recognise the moment when the dough ball that has formed actually 'picks up' all the remaining wet dough from the bottom of the mixing bowl and from beneath the kneading blade. At this stage the dough ball should be sticky, soft and smooth. The time taken for the dough to reach this point is an excellent guide to its water requirement and potential loaf quality.

As a guide, the target 'pick up' time for Crusty White Pre-mix is 5 to 8 minutes from the start of the kneading cycle. If the dough 'picks up' before the target 'pick up' time of 5 minutes, the dough is too dry (tight) - some extra water should be added.

If, after 8 minutes of kneading, a paste of dough is still sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl beneath the mixing blade, then the dough has too little kneading resistance (is too soft). Add a heaped teaspoon of Pre-mix.

Experiment with water quantity in future loaves by first adding extra water 20 ml at a time, and then by reducing water 20 ml at a time. You will soon recognise the correct dough consistency for your ideal loaf.

Bread produced with the optimum amount of water, under ideal conditions, will have a good balance of appearance, volume and crumb quality, and will retain its freshness.

Yeast Performance
Yeast performance will reduce with time when exposed to air and moisture. Once a sachet is opened, the yeast is best stored in a small, sealed glass jar, maintained cool or at room temperature.

Small loaves can be caused by a lack of effective yeast. If your yeast sachet has been open for some time, add an extra ¼ teaspoon to maintain loaf volume.

Excess heat, such as that experienced when a bag of Pre-mix and yeast is left in a car on a hot day, may severely affect yeast performance. If this is the case, more than ¼ teaspoon of extra yeast may be required, but ensure enough water is present.

Simple Troubleshooting
Reduced loaf volume and a ragged top crust are almost always an indication of not enough water. Insufficient water, and not insufficient yeast, is almost always the cause of reduced loaf volume!

Moisture that is lost from the Pre-mix through storage and evaporation must be replaced with extra water, and this is a common requirement during summer. Also, water quality varies, and this affects the amount of water required. Satisfy yourself that you have definitely added at least 50 ml more water than our recipe suggests, and observe the variation in dough consistency and resultant loaf quality, before trying more yeast.

If a loaf has adequate or too much loaf volume, a dull, sticky, and rubbery crumb with more holes, and a fragile top crust, then this is an indication of too much water.

If the loaf is too big, and the crumb texture is good, reduce the yeast by ¼ teaspoon or more. You may also choose to reduce the amount of Pre-mix by ¼ of a cup or more and recalculate the required amount of water. (See "Bread Density" for an example).

Baking Mode or Program Settings
Experiment with shorter or longer program settings, but be aware that longer cycles give better bread. Shorter cycles typically reduce kneading, proof and bake times, resulting in reduced loaf volume and quality.

Bread Density
To produce a 'heavier' loaf, increase the Pre-mix quantity by 20% or more, and recalculate the water required. A Standard 230 ml Cup contains 160 g of Crusty White Pre-mix; and our suggested 'Water Rate' is 0.69.

Loaf size is primarily dictated by the amount of Pre-mix used, to which must be added the appropriate amount of water and effective yeast. e.g. 4 ¼ cups of Crusty White Pre-mix @ 160 g per cup will weigh 680 g. This 680 multiplied by the Water Rate of 0.69 results in 470 ml of water required. Decrease the yeast by ¼ teaspoon to reduce the potential increase in loaf size. To obtain a 'lighter' loaf, reverse this procedure.

Hand Moulded Products
Use your bread machine to mix and knead the dough to make products such as pizza base or bread rolls. If our normal recipe is followed, this dough will be too soft and sticky to easily handle and mould to shape.

The water quantity will need to be reduced from our suggested Water Rate to about 0.60 - a reduction of about 10%.

Let the prepared dough remain in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes after kneading to 'relax' and make it easier to handle and shape, then prepare your own variety of shapes, baking them in a normal oven.

Other Ingredients
Don't be afraid to experiment, such as by creating a loaf based on half Crusty White and half PhytoSoy Pre-mix. Average or recalculate the required water quantities. Be aware that loaf volume may reduce if extra ingredients other than Laucke Pre-mixes or wheat flour are added. More yeast and water may be required.

Other Laucke Pre-mixes
Laucke Flour Mills produce a diverse range of quality bread Pre-mixes. Now you can make other delicious Laucke breads in your own home. Choose from Crusty White bread, Super Soft white bread, Fibre:rite white bread, Wholemeal bread, PhytoSoy bread, German Grain bread.