Oiled Bread Bowls and Pans

When a recipe calls for oiled or greased pans or bowls you are best sticking to vegetable based oils – namely margarine, vegetable or olive oil or shortening.

• A greased bowl with dairy or animal based oil (butter, lard) might go rancid or coat the yeast molecules too heavily to ensure rising.
• A greased loaf pan with dairy or animal based oil (butter, lard) often burns the bread (protein overheats in the oven).

Another great idea for greased pans before baking is to add a sprinkling of cornmeal to the pan. This lends an almost ‘nutty’ flavor to the bottom of the loaf and always helps the base to cook, without burning, and without growing soggy.

Warm Liquid

Warm water is 100-115 degrees Farenheit (43-46 Celcius) – slightly warmer than your body heat (so should feel warm to your skin).

Draft-Free, Warm Location

Room temperature in your house is perfect to let bread rise, although dough can actually take a little extra heat — such as a sunny window, or on top of the stove if the oven is on low.

If you have a gas or propane oven often the pilot light will generate enough extra heat for quicker rising times.

A word of caution though…not too hot or sunny – your yeast will exhaust itself, and create big bubbles in the dough that will collapse and not rise again.

Recipe Abbreviations and Substitutions When Baking Bread

Baking Yeast Breads – One Baker’s Tips

One small package of yeast found in the US and Canada grocery stores, is approximately 1 tablespoon (or 2 1/2 teaspoons) to those who buy their yeast in large quantities.

When baking bread, you’ll want to ‘proof’ your yeast first by dissolving into warm water with a teaspoon of sugar.

If, after 10 minutes the liquid has gained volume and is foamy you’ll know the yeast is active and fine for use.

For the record, warm water is 100-115 degrees Farenheit (43-46 Celcius) – slightly warmer than your body heat so it should feel warm to your skin.

Even if the recipe does not call for proofing yeast I suggest you do it always, especially if you are uncertain about the age of your yeast.

Be cautious with liquid temperatures before adding yeast to use in a bread recipe. If the liquid is too hot it will kill the yeast and all is lost. If the liquid is too cold the bread will take longer to rise.

Yeast that has passed it’s expiration date is not reliable past the first rising.

The best place to store yeast is in the refrigerator in a sealed jar or container.

The quantity of yeast, water and sugar to use is determined by the recipe directions.

Yeast that has been frozen can be used 3-4 months after it’s expiration date. Just remember to defrost for 1/2 hour at room temperature before ‘proofing’.

Enjoy baking bread at home and sharing with your friends.

Country Living Writer and Author at GoodByeCityLife.com

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Bread Baking Tips is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.

Once your family tastes what you can do they won’t want store-bought bread anymore so you’ll be baking lots of loaves of fresh bread every week.

Shortly thereafter, the word will get out to your friends and extended family that you can bake great tasting homemade bread – and now you’re baking even more. Friends, family and neighbors start asking you about it and you’ll want to share.

You may find, like I did, that local families will offer to pay any price if you’d make them a batch along with your own every week. If you don’t want to bake 10 loaves or more every time and you don’t know how to say no to people’s requests it’s better not to share your bread with too many people. Once they’d tasted the fresh bread they’ll be asking you to make mountains of bread for church dinners and every community get-together. Of course I’m just pulling your leg a little here – sharing bread with others is a wonderful way to remain in contact with your community!

The best loaf pan is compact and lightweight, making them inexpensive to purchase and ship anywhere in the country. After our house fire last year I had to replace over 15 loaf pans and since we were under-insured I had to replace them at the best prices possible – so I ordered online in bulk. None of the local stores here had my favorite style of loaf pan anyway.

I love going to the country auctions and had hoped I could pick up some extras there, but our auctions are seasonal so I headed to the next best auction – online at eBay. Since I enjoy using the vintage or antique enamel pans almost as much as the silicone I can find and replace my pans at a good deal and in decent condition.

Different Loaf Pan Types and Materials Used

Using vintage enamel pans when you’re making a baked good gift is fun and a little bit of an old world treat. The loaf pan becomes part of the gift. They’re also easy on your household or gift-giving seasonal budget.

Often though I’m scouring for the best deals because I shop in quantity for both baking students and personal use. Aside from the vintage pans, I’ve also used the new silicone ones and find they are excellent for homemade bread.

Stoneware pans from upscale cooking supplies (i.e. Pampered Chef) are quite good as well, just be sure to read the care and cure directions before using them and follow those instructions without fail – I’ve broken a few of these through carelessness and lost my investment.

Here are a few silicone bread pans currently on sale.

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Loaf Pans to Use When Making Bread is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.

In fact I’d say the wire cooling rack is essential to delicious bread. Without these your bread might overcook, or worse, end up with soggy bottoms. Yuck! These tight meshed racks are a not-to-be-missed feature of successful bread-making.

You’ll want to understand this about bread dough if you’re just learning how to make a good loaf. Due to the high temperature during baking, bread will continue to cook even after it has been removed from the oven. Unfortunately too, is that it cooks unevenly after removal, even if you remove it from the pan and set it on the counter.

Taking bread out of the pan and placing onto a wire cooling rack ensures that cooling air flows evenly around the loaf. This helps seal the bottom of the loaf as well as preventing over cooking.

If you’ve ever had bread that was dry and tough on top of the slice, but almost wet at the bottom, you know what I mean about the soggy bottom. Wire racks are just a few dollars to buy and they last forever.

Bakers and cooks who leave their bread in the pan, but remaining on top of a hot oven, will find that their bottoms are overcooked or even burnt. There is just no way around it should you want to cook the perfect loaf – bake until done, remove from the pan, and place on a wire rack to fully cool.

If you’re going to spend all that time kneading and mixing and waiting for consecutive risings, you might as well finish the job right.

Where to Buy A Wire Cooling Rack

Because these racks are lightweight, they’re easy and inexpensive to ship. Some models even fold up and fit nicely in a drawer – perfect for those of us with small kitchens or limited space.

I just bought my newest racks online. We lost everything in our house fire including all my baking equipment and tools so I had to replace them. Otherwise the ones I had already would likely have outlived me. Veronica is going off to college so I picked up a few for her as well. You should be able to find some really great deals in all shapes and sizes below.

This page updates daily so if you don’t see the ones you want today you can save this page, add it to your Facebook wall by clicking like or just making a mental note to return again tomorrow.

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To learn more about baking bread click here.

Wire Cooling Rack for Baking is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.

Far too often our garden surprises us and puts up far more of a certain vegetable than we thought possible! Zucchini is such a vegetable – thankfully we’ve got the best recipes to share when this happens to you!

First off, this country living site has a "Did you know you could make pickles out of zucchini?" recipe, and following that, some great zucchini bread recipes…

If I have to say that word one more time – when my kitchen is loaded up with these beasts, I may go mad!

Great Zucchini Pickle Recipe

If you’ve tried Linda’s Delicious Pickled Beets, Tomato Salsa or Apple Butter you know you’ll love this recipe — even if you don’t like zucchini.

Zucchini Pickles – (5 half-pints)

• 2 lbs fresh, firm zucchini
• 2 small onions
• 1 sweet red pepper
• 1 sweet green pepper
• ¼ cup salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 3 cups vinegar (4 to 6% acidity)

1. Prepare Vegetables

   Wash zucchini and cut in thin slices. Peel and cut onions in quarters, then into thin slices. Slice peppers thinly. In large pan combine zucchini, onion, red and green pepper and salt. Cover with ice cubes and let stand 2 hours. Drain thoroughly.

2. Prepare Brine

   Bring remaining ingredients to boiling. Pour over vegetables. Let stand 2 hours. Bring all ingredients to boiling point and heat 5 minutes.

3. Can them Up!

   Pack zucchini and brine (boiling hot), into hot sterilized jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water canner.

Shelf Life of this Zucchini Pickle Recipe

Store jars in a cool, dark place and let set for 6-8 weeks before opening. Consume within 8 months.

Now onto the Yummy Baked Breads…

Zucchini Bread (makes 2 loaves)

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups peeled and grated zucchini
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup nuts (optional)

The process:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Stir together eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini.
3. Sift together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.
4. Add to grated zucchini.
5. Stir in vanilla and nuts (if desired).
6. Bake 1 hour.
7. Cool completely.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (makes 2)

• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup applesauce
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 6 ounces chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup cocoa

The process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Grease and lightly flour two loaf pans.
3. Stir together grated zucchini, eggs, applesauce, vegetable oil and sugar.
4. Add remaining ingredients.
5. Pour mixture into loaf pans.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 F and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Too Much Zucchini in the Garden? is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.

The Wood Stove Is The Heart of Your Country Home

Yes, it is wonderful to get off the grid, even if by just a little. Home heating and home cooking eats up a lot of electricity every month, so you’ll be saving money by switching over to a wood stove. Likely that was your first thought anyway.

This vintage country cookstove has served the family for many years and a few generations.

Next you’ve probably thought of the presence a wood stove evokes. That back to basics, country living, quality of life, feeling. People gathered around the wood stove, the smell of fresh baked bread. A house that says “quality matters”, it’s no longer a question of rushing and ‘good enough’. It’s a statement of forethought and love.

That’s good, because if you’re going to be using your woodstove for cooking, you’ll find that meals take a little longer than if you were cooking with an electric or gas range. Especially if you’re starting from a cold stove where there hasn’t been a fire burning all day long.

The Elements of A Wood Stove

All wood stoves operate the same way, although there are some peculiarities among the different brands. You’ll find in each a firebox and dampers.

The firebox is most often found in left corner of a woodstove and is loaded up first with news print or plain paper, then small bits of wood (cedar if you have some), and then larger pieces of wood. Remember to leave air space for circulation within the fire box. It is much more efficient to keep a small fire burning than a smoldering or raging fire.

The dampers of your woodstove could be anywhere, but they’re easy to spot. There should be a chimney damper (not necessarily on the chimney) that moves the smoke out of the woodstove and into the chimney. The other damper is your oven damper (used to let the warm air into the oven portion of your stove. You really need to consult your owner’s manual if you have one, and experiment to find the right positions.

You’ll get a feel for it after you’ve lived with a wood cook stove long enough – how far open the dampers are for the type and maturity of each fire will eventually come naturally to you – I promise!

Get Cooking on the Wood Stove!

You get to cook on the entire top surface of your woodstove. You’ll get a feel for this as well, moving your pots and pans around to the hotspots as you need it.

Plus, of course, cooking in the oven part of your stove. Some have temperature gauges (even the old ones), but again, you will get a feel for this. And you can always pick up an oven thermometer for a few dollars so you don’t end up with too many ruined meals before you get used to cooking this way.

Recent Woodstove News

All wood stoves (except cookstoves, furnaces and fireplaces) purchased in the United States must now comply with a EPA Phase II Wood Stove Emissions Regulation. This regulated Federal standard requires that every new wood burning stove be tested and passed for low particulate emission.

The good news is that the newest, high efficiency, EPA Approved, wood stoves are exempt from any municipal or city level burn bans that local air quality authorities may impose during episodes of high airborne pollution.

However, different states, provinces and municipalities have their own sets of restrictions and regulations. Please check with your local authority on this matter. For instance, some states have adopted even further standards regarding woodstoves and cook stoves.

• Washington, for instance, requires that all wood stoves in new homes draw combustion air into the firebox from outside the house.
• In Ontario, Canada similar measures are being enforced – and not just for new homes, but any new wood burning furnaces as well!

Why is this?

Well having a fresh-air return through cook stoves, fireplaces and woodstoves eliminates possible health problems. When we breathe oxygen-poor air during the winter months – usually because our families are spending far more time indoors. Then we add the closed window and re-circulated air problems – because our homes are now so wonderfully insulated that no fresh, cold air is added into our homes. When you compare this modern way of life to the drafty, older, days-gone-by homes when fresh air would sneak in through all the cracks – you can see why there’s a problem. Fresh air has little chance of sneaking into our modern houses. This is why we need the heating air return to draw cold air in from outdoors.

Discovering Wood Stove Troubles

When your wood stove is in operation, go outside and have a look at the smoke color. This is a great way to check for efficiency or signs of trouble.

If a lot of black smoke is coming out your chimney it’s a sure sign you’re burning something toxic to the environment.

If a lot of light colored smoke is coming out of your chimney, your fire isn’t burning efficiently. Adjust your air intake and you adjust the efficiency of your fire.

Older Woodstoves

If you are using an older model woodstove, there are a few things you can do to decrease pollution and increase efficiency from your woodstove.

• Burn only aged firewood. Split your wood and allow it to air dry, also known as seasoning the wood, for 6-12 months.
• When possible keep a small fire on. It’s better to ‘feed the fire’ many times through the day than to build one raging or smoldering fire. Small fires give more heat, burn more efficiently and don’t smoke out the neighborhood or woodland creatures.
• Burn only bio-degradable materials. Burning plastic, chemically-treated wood, glossy paper magazines, or anything other than seasoned wood and newsprint can make the smoke coming out of your chimney (as well as the air circulating through your home) toxic.

Learn more about dampers and wood burning stoves.

Country Wood Stove is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.

There will be no last minute rushes to the wine supply store or ordering express delivery of one or two items that you didn’t think you’d need!

A Good Wine Making Kit Contains Everything You Need

One of my favorite places to shop for kits (for friends who are just starting out) as well as supplies for on-going wine projects, is Wine Making Equipment Kit. They have proven and brand name kits that are better priced for the guarantees and customer service you’ll need than anywhere else – online or off. You’ll have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find all the kits they sell but it is worth it when you see the selection offered.

I really like Amazon for new hobbyist kits as everything is well explained and customer service is fast and friendly. This is what every beginner needs! Help and information accessible to them exactly when they need it.

On the other hand, you could, with the list below, set up your own kit.

Put Together Your Own Wine Making Kit

A kit contains the fruit (or concentrate) required for your first batch so you’ll have to arm yourself with a recipe and these ingredients: fruit, water, sugar.

To round off the kit, you will also need:

• Bucket

  For primary fermentation. Ensure the bucket is a food grade plastic preferably without prior use.

• Carboy

  Available in glass or plastic. Glass is preferred by many enthusiasts, but plastic won’t smash if you drop it and is easier to move around.

• Air Lock with Rubber Bung

  Together they seal the carboy keeping air and bugs out.

• Empty Wine Bottles

  For storage – colored bottles are best for reds, clear are fine for white wines.

• Peptic Enzyme

  Prevents cloudy wine.

• Campden Tablets

  These sulphite tablets are used to sterilize the must and/or equipment.

• Wine Yeast

  Activates and accelerates the fermentation process.

• Yeast Nutrient

  Feeds the yeast so that it doesn’t die out or slow down.

• Sieve or Cheesecloth

  For straining out large particles.

• Siphon Hose

  Six foot (2m) plastic hose to move the wine during the racking process, approximately 1 cm diameter.

• J-Tube

  A plastic J shaped hose – to be inserted into the carboy during racking. Ensures sediment is left behind.

• Hydrometer

  Accurately measures Specific Gravity or percentage of sugar.

That’s it for your own kit!

Finding and/or buying those items one by one and you’ve just put together your own wine making kit. However, if you’re just starting out, I strongly suggest the kits below. They are cost-efficient and make your first batch fun and easy!

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Wine Making Kit is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.

The Process Behind Homemade Wine

On a previous page we discussed how to make a variety of homemade wines. The top two choices of how to make wine without a commercial kit were to use pulp or juice as your starting ingredient.

Both of these processes are explained below. You’ll see how truly easy it is to make wine once you’ve finished this page!

Pulp Fermentation

• This traditional process gives the best wine color and flavor.
• A pulp is made of the fruit and fermentation begins in a bucket.
• The bucket is called a ‘primary fermentor’ and the fruit pulp is called ‘must’.
• Water, sugar and other ingredients are added to the pulp and the fermentor is sealed against air by an airlock (if you’re on a tight budget you can secure plastic wrap around the top with a rubber band).
• Within a few days the resulting juice is removed from the primary (bucket) and placed into a ‘secondary fermentor’ – homemade wine enthusiasts call this a carboy.

Juice Fermentation

• This beginning fermentation process actually works best for white wine varieties (where final wine color and a deep flavor is not a concern).
• To make wine by juice fermentation you’ll be using the juices that are extracted from the fruit (by mashing, then straining), or by using a juice concentrate, or by purchasing a wine kit – see the kits below).
• The juice, concentrate, or kit contents, are then placed directly into the carboy, bypassing the entire pulp fermentation stage as above.

What Are The Next Steps In How to Make Wine?

1. Sterilize All Equipment
2. Prepare the Must*

   Pulp Fermentation – Add all ingredients except yeast and nutrient to your primary fermentor (bucket).

   Dissolve the sugar in pure filtered and boiled water.

   Let it stand covered, but not locked, for 24 hours.

   Juice Fermentation – Add all ingredients to the carboy (remember you are bypassing the entire first container process here) and plug the bottle with a paper towel to allow oxygen into the bottle. This promotes yeast growth during the first few days, after this period you will not want air to touch your wine.

3. Take A Hydrometer Reading

   If you’ve got a hydrometer, take a reading of the starting SG (Specific Gravity).

4. Add the Yeast

Fermentation will start within 2 days – you will notice foam formation and bubbles rising towards the surface.

Pulp fermentation may take up to a week. The fruit will float on top and needs to be pressed down and gently stirred a few times a day.

While The Wine is Being Made…

1. Take Another Hydrometer Reading

   Keep an eye on the SG (Specific Gravity) during the initial fermentation period, generally when it reaches 1.020 it’s time to…

2. Strain and Rack Your Homemade Wine

   The sediment (on bottom) and cap (on top) now need to be separated from the wine by ‘racking’ (siphoning and straining).

   Avoid vigorous splashing, this exposes your wine to the air, which may cause oxidization. Fill your bottles almost to the top, if no foam is being formed.

3. Time for the Airlock

The Biggest Factor in How To Make Wine – The Wait

After a month or so, fill the carboy all the way to the top to minimize the surface area. When the wine has stopped fermenting (it has stopped bubbling) it will need racking again (siphon and strain). This may need to be done several times to ensure a perfectly clear batch of wine.

Take Another Hydrometer Reading of Your Wine

When the Air Lock stops bubbling and the SG (Specific Gravity) reaches .0990 it’s time to…

Add Fining Agents to the Batch

Add bentonite, especially if the wine is hazy. Of course if your recipe calls for something different, then please follow that wine recipe, adding whatever is required at this fining stage.

Bottling, Corking, Labeling

1. 24 hours before bottling add one crushed campden tablet to the wine (available at most wine supply store.
2. Then, 12 to 24 hours before bottling your home made wine, soak your corks in a sulphite solution.
3. When ready, fill bottles to about 1 cm below where the cork will reach.
4. Labels are best glued on with a water soluble glue (any paper glue or glue stick works fine).

Wait and Wait Some More

Aging improves the quality of your homemade wine. Although you’re probably anxious to show your friends that you learned how to make wine at home, let your bottles sit a few months to a year before indulging.

But most of all, when talking about wine…

"Enjoy the Labor of Your Fruits!"

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How to Make Wine – The Basic Steps is an authentic country living article from: GoodByeCityLife's Country Cooking pages.