Baking Low Sodium Bread - Favorite Buns and Rolls - Part 7

As promised, here are some of my favorite low sodium buns and rolls recipes. I keep the individual rolls in my freezer. That way I’ve always got the makings for a quick breakfast or lunch. Please note that I always decrease the salt and yeast amounts accordingly. Other than with bagels, the dough for rolls should be fairly soft, so I try very hard to not add too much flour to the dough. That’s especially true when working with whole wheat flour. I usually hold back anywhere from 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup of whole wheat flour and only add more during kneading if the dough seems excessively sticky. And to avoid incorporating too much flour, I always shape the rolls on a Silpat mat. During shaping, I cover the dough I’m not using with a piece of plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

Bagels

I love them! But the ones you can buy at grocery stores are always disappointing. Soft and fluffy instead of dense and chewy. That’s the real reason why I wanted to make them myself. Lowering the salt content was a side benefit. Although there are several steps, making bagels is a rather simple process. I just dump the ingredients in my Zojirushi and let it do all the hard work. It easily handles the rather dense dough. Then it’s simply a matter of shaping, boiling, and baking. Sounds like a lot of work, but it is worth it. The bagels come out properly chewy and are fabulous toasted. King Arthur Flour has several good recipes. I use the one for water bagels. The recipe calls for malted milk powder. I’m able to find Carnation brand at my local grocery stores. Other recipes call for non-diastatic malt . This is what professional bagel makers use. I bought some and use it sometimes too.

The only real change I have made to the recipe (other than reducing both salt and yeast quantities) is to use only 2 tablespoons of malt in the dough. Depending on my mood, I sometimes substitute 1-2 cups of white whole wheat flour. Because whole wheat flour has a tendency to suck up moisture, I may end up adding a tablespoon or more of water to the dough during the kneading phase.

Sandwich/Hamburger Buns

I really like the recipe for White Sourdough Bread from Beth Hensperger’s “The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook.” I make dough for the two pound loaf and divide into 12 pieces for wonderfully light yet chewy sandwich buns. The buns are sturdy and not squishy soft, so they hold up to drippy toppings and sauces. They’re also not very sweet.

I let my machine knead and rise the dough. Then I weigh the dough ball and divide by 12. Once I get an approximate weight for individual dough pieces, I divide the dough ball up, weigh and adjust each piece, roll the pieces into balls, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatten them. Depending on my mood, I may brush the rolls with cream or an egg wash. If I use an egg wash, I might sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on the top too. They’re baked at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

These buns really lend themselves to flavor additions. My favorites are dried onion flakes and either dill seed or caraway seed. Another combination I like is chopped fresh rosemary and coarsely ground black pepper.

White Sourdough Buns
Beth Hensperger
(Printable Recipe)
2-pound dough:
1 cup sourdough starter
¾ cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey
4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt (I use 1 tsp)
2¼ teaspoons bread machine yeast (I use 1 1/8 tsp)

When I want a softer bun, I use King Arthur Flour’s recipe for Beautiful Burger Buns. These are soft and slightly sweet and enriched by egg. Another good recipe from King Arthur is Soft Sandwich Rolls. These soft rolls are made with potato flour or flakes.

Dinner Rolls

I like having dinner rolls in my freezer. Sometimes a meal seems rather skimpy, but just adding a warm dinner roll makes it special. Their small size makes them perfect for quick snacks too. Not hungry enough for a full sandwich? A dinner roll is the perfect size for a mini sandwich or slider.

I generally follow the same procedure as for sandwich buns. I let my machine knead and rise the dough. Then I weigh the dough ball and divide by 15. Once I get an approximate weight for individual dough pieces, I divide the dough ball up, weigh and adjust each piece, roll the pieces into balls, and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Depending on my mood, I may brush the rolls with cream or an egg wash. They’re baked at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. I transfer them to a cooling rack and separate them before freezing.

I mainly make whole wheat rolls, so I usually hold back anywhere from 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup of whole wheat flour and only add more during kneading if the dough seems excessively sticky. Also, because whole wheat flour has a tendency to suck up moisture, I may end up adding a tablespoon or more of water to the dough during the kneading phase.

I discovered this recipe from Hodgson Mills quite a while ago. I was searching for another way to get bran into our diets. I like bran muffins but sometimes get tired of the sweetness. I was looking for something more like a yeast bread. This recipe for High Fiber Bran Bread was written for the bread machine, but I make it into dinner rolls. A couple of these rolls warmed up in the microwave and spread with a bit of butter are a perfect bran-filled breakfast. I always add 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten to the dough.

Here’s another great recipe from King Arthur Flour. These Honey Wheat Rolls are wonderful. The dough is soft and pliable and the resulting rolls are tender and moist. It’s a white flour and whole wheat flour combination. I think it would make great cinnamon roll dough too.

Pizza Dough

My favorite recipe for pizza dough comes from Beth Hensperger’s book. I’ve been using it since I first tried it. I let my machine do all the work – kneading & rising. For just the two of us, I usually divide the dough in thirds and make pizza three days in a row. A great and easy meal. I pre-heat my oven about thirty minutes at 450-475 degrees with the pizza stone on the lowest rack. I roll the dough out and stretch it over an upside down mixing bowl. I then place it on a parchment lined wooden pizza peel. Once the oven is sufficiently pre-heated, I slip the pizza with the parchment onto the stone and let it bake for about 8 minutes. Then I remove the parchment and let the pizza finish baking directly on the stone. I like this method better than baking in a pizza pan or trying to use cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking to the peel. After an additional 4-6 minutes baking, the crust should be crisp and brown. I remove it with the peel, slice, and serve.

Basic Pizza Dough
Beth Hensperger
(Printable Recipe)

1 1/3 cups water
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt (cut quantity in half)
2 ½ teaspoons bread machine yeast (cut quantity in half)


So there you have it. Some of my favorite recipes. And now I think it’s time to say farewell to this missive about making low sodium bread. But, I know I’ll always be experimenting and trying new recipes. And I’ll be sure to share them with you. Happy baking!

Baking Low Sodium Bread Series:

Part 1 – Introduction  

Part 2 – Beginning Basics

Part 3 – Getting Started

Part 4 – Keeping It Fresh

Part 5 – Without a Bread Machine

Part 6 – Favorite Bread Recipes

Part 7 – Favorite Buns and Rolls

Low Sodium Bread – Demystified

Baking Low Sodium Bread - Favorite Bread Recipes - Part 6

I’m almost done with this epic tome on low sodium bread making. In this post, I’ll share some of my favorite bread recipes. They’re all low sodium because I make them that way. I’ve mentioned before several times that I prefer to use regular bread recipes and reduce the salt content myself rather than follow recipes found in low sodium cookbooks or websites. There are a couple of reasons why I prefer doing this: one reason is that I like the variety of flavors and techniques offered by recipes from bread cookbooks, websites (such as King Arthur Flour), and other sources that focus on yeast breads. They’ve got the bread expertise because that’s what they concentrate on. I think their information is sound. Another reason is that I simply don’t trust some of the lower sodium bread recipes I’ve seen. The yeast quantity seems too high for salt free breads, and often times, the role of salt in yeast breads is completely misrepresented.

In this post I will reference several favorite recipes. I will post them as written (or link to them) and indicate my adjustments in parentheses or notes. I’ve made all these recipes at least twice and some several times. I think they’re fine, but you may not be as impressed as I am.

Rustic, Artisan, or Hearth Breads:

Let me be perfectly honest here. These are the hardest breads to successfully make with lowered salt content. The reason is simple: These breads are way too plain – just flour, salt, yeast, and water. That’s it. No flavor components other than salt, and as a result, these breads are usually made with more salt than other breads. So when you take away all or even just part of the salt, you end up with bread that is flat and tasteless.

That’s why I heartily recommend using recipes that utilize an overnight starter – a polish, biga, sponge, pre-ferment – whatever you want to call it. That overnight fermentation period adds a lot of flavor to what could otherwise be pretty bland bread.

Making these breads can be a daunting affair. Getting that crispy, crackly, blistered crust with some interior holes takes time, patience and some skill. But it’s not as complicated as it sounds. You just mix up the pre-ferment, let it sit overnight, and then add it to the rest of the dough ingredients the next day. If you can let the dough have a long, slow, cool rise another night too, then the flavor is even better. Not really a lot of work involved. However, you’ll be working with a fairly wet dough and that might involve a bit of a learning curve.

I do not make completely salt-free artisan bread; I only reduce the salt content by half. Otherwise, I think the flavor suffers too much. I know traditional Tuscan Bread is made without salt. But that’s because it’s meant to be eaten with salty foods like salami, cheese, etc. That’s great if you’re not on a low sodium diet. But offsetting the bland taste of salt free bread by piling on a bunch of salty cheeses and meats is not acceptable on a low sodium regimen.

Artisan breads, however, really lend themselves to flavor embellishments. That’s something the home baker can easily do to perk up flavor. Take your inspiration from the artisan breads you find at your local grocery store or bakery – roasted garlic cloves, rosemary, crushed black pepper, green onions or chives, sun dried tomatoes, chopped jalapenos, etc. And all kinds of seeds and nuts. Any of these and other flavor additions will spice up a dull loaf. I prefer to sprinkle on chunky additions during the folding phase of shaping these kinds of breads, rather than throw them in during the kneading cycle of my bread machine. That way I end up with lovely ribbons of flavorful “stuff” rippling throughout the finished loaf.

You can also add a tablespoon of vinegar to boost the flavor of these simple loaves. The vinegar adds a tang that helps make up for the missing salt. You could also use ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon of citric acid  to also add some tang. This is the ingredient many commercial sourdough bakers use to boost the sour flavor in their product. Here it is used in a King Arthur Flour sourdough bread recipe.

This recipe from Alton Brown produces a basic artisan-type bread. The recipe discusses techniques that are worthwhile mastering: making a pre-ferment, using the autolyse method, applying the folding technique often used in shaping artisan breads, shaping a dough round, and producing steam in the home oven.

I’ve made this several times, reducing the salt quantity by half. I let either the food processor or bread machine do the kneading. The 20 minute rest (autolyse) after combining the pre-ferment with the other dough ingredients is not always easily accomplished with a bread machine. It’s no problem with my Zojirushi because I can simply turn the machine off after just a few minutes of the slow initial kneading cycle and then start it again, canceling the pre-heat cycle. Other machines may not accommodate skipping cycles as easily.

I try not to use too much flour, preferring a rather slack dough. I do not let the dough rise in the machine. I take it out after the kneading has finished, place it in a dough bucket, and let it rise slowly in a cool place. Sometimes I just stick the dough bucket in the fridge and don’t get around to making the bread until a day or two later. The long, slow rise improves flavor. To insure that I don’t add too much flour, I shape the dough on a Silpat and rub my hands with oil. After shaping, I place it on a parchment paper topped wooden pizza peel. I preheat my oven with its baking stone for at least 30 minutes before sliding the bread with the parchment onto the heated stone. I have never used the cornstarch wash Alton describes. I also don’t use the shallow pan with hot water. I slash the shaped dough and spritz with water before placing in a 425 degree oven. Then I quickly open the oven every 3 minutes to spray again; I stop the spritzing after about eight minutes. Then I turn the heat down to Alton’s 400 degrees and continue baking. About halfway through the baking, I open the oven to remove the parchment paper and let the bread finish baking directly on the stone.

Using a Silpat, parchment paper, and spritzing are techniques I’ve developed from studying various recipes, personal experience, and reading about bread making on GardenWeb's Cooking Forum, King Arthur Flour.com, and other websites. They’re techniques that I’m comfortable with now. Other fabulous bread bakers use different but equally helpful methods. My suggestion is to investigate the “French and Italian” bread recipe section of King Arthur Flour. Read the recipes, study the pictures, follow the links to their “Bakers’ Banter,” and get a feel for making these kinds of breads. Another helpful source is The Fresh Loaf. It’s got lots of recipes techniques and discussion about making artisan breads. You’re sure to pick up some helpful hints.

Another good basic recipe I’ve used several times is this  French-Style Country Bread from King Arthur Flour. It’s another hearth style bread made with a sponge starter. It uses a similar resting technique as outlined above in Alton Brown’s recipe. This autolyse rest period really does help the bread and is easy to accomplish with a food processor, stand mixer, and some bread machines. This recipe sprays the loaves with water before baking to achieve the steam so necessary for artisan loaves.

If you’re interested in a quick artisan-like bread, this  Easy Sourdough French Bread from About.com is not too bad. It approximates the flavor of sourdough bread by using sour cream or yogurt and some vinegar. Because of the dairy addition, it will be much more tender than real artisan bread, but it will have a good flavor. And it doesn’t need any overnight fermenting. I’ve made it a couple of times starting out with just 4 – 4 ¼ cups of flour. Since non-fat yogurt is more sour tasting than sour cream, that’s what I’ve used. I’ve never included the oat bran, ginger, or the glaze. And I bake it directly on a stone rather than in a pan. Sometimes I slash and sometimes I don’t.

Whole Grain Breads:

For all of these breads, I let my bread machine do most of the work – combine the ingredients, knead, and let the dough rise. Most of the time I prefer to shape and bake the loaves in my oven. I try not to let the shaped dough overproof. I aim for getting it into the oven just before it has doubled. Just a reminder, I always halve the amounts of yeast and salt. And I always add at least a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten and granular lecithin.

I’m a sucker for cracked wheat breads, and I’m happy to say I found a real winner at Taste of Home. It uses buttermilk, honey, and whole wheat flour too. I usually oven bake it in a 9” x 5” pan.

I’m also a sucker for oatmeal breads. I’ve made this Old Fashioned Oatmeal Bread from King Arthur Flour. It turns out soft and fluffy with a delicately sweet flavor. Another favorite oatmeal bread recipe is from Annie of GardenWeb's Cooking Forum. Coffee is used as the liquid but there’s no overpowering taste. It’s a nice sweet loaf, perfect for breakfast toast. Just a reminder, as always, I halve the yeast and salt amounts, and I do the kneading in my bread machine.


MAPLE OATMEAL BREAD
(Printable Recipe)
Annie1992 from GardenWeb's Cooking Forum

3 – 3 ¼ cups bread flour
1 package dry yeast - 2 ¼ tsp (I use 1 1/8 tsp)
¾ cup prepared coffee
1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats (I use old fashioned rolled oats)
½ (scant) cup maple syrup
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp salt (I use 1/2 tsp)
1 egg

Combine a cup of flour and the yeast. Heat coffee, oats, syrup, butter and salt until just warm and butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture along with egg. Beat with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes kneading). Shape dough into a ball, place in lightly greased bowl, and turn over once to grease surface of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about an hour.

Punch down dough, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile lightly grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Shape dough into a loaf and place into prepared pan, cover and let rise in a warm place until NEARLY double in size (30 to 45 minutes). Bake at 350 F about 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack. Makes 1 loaf (14 slices)

I have more than one “favorite” whole wheat bread recipe. I use them interchangeably, depending on my mood. They all make lovely, soft and tender loaves. This 100% Whole Wheat Bread from King Arthur is great. It uses orange juice plus milk for liquid. The addition of potato flakes and dried milk makes for a very tender crumb. Below is another similar recipe from one of the Cooking Forum members. It uses honey rather than sugar for sweetening.

HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
(Printable Recipe)
Momj47 from GardenWeb's Cooking Forum

3-1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour (I use bread flour)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use KA White WW)
2 pkg. active dry yeast - 4½ tsp (I halve the yeast)
2 T vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 tsp salt (I use 3/4 tsp)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
1 egg

In large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, yeast, vital wheat gluten and salt and mix well.

In saucepan, heat milk, orange juice, water, honey, and butter until warm. Add to flour mixture with egg and stir. Beat this batter for 3 minutes. Then, gradually stir in rest of whole wheat flour and enough remaining all-purpose (bread) flour for a firm dough. (I prefer a softer dough)

Knead dough, adding more flour if necessary, for 5-8 minutes until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide in half. On lightly floured surface, press each piece of dough to a 14x7" rectangle. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly. Pinch edges to seal and place dough, seam-side down, into two greased 9x5" bread pans, making sure short ends of bread are snugly fitted against the sides of the pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until the dough fills the corners of the pans and is double in bulk, 30-40 minutes.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, until bread is golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Makes two loaves.

The next whole wheat bread recipe is a contribution from another member of the Cooking Forum. It uses a sponge. I just tried it for the first time last week and was really pleased with the texture and taste. I think it would make good hamburger buns or dinner rolls too. It’s less sweet than most whole wheat bread recipes, which I like. Again, I halved both the salt and yeast quantities.

100% WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
(Printable Recipe)
Grainlady from GardenWeb's Cooking Forum

Sponge:
¾ c. lukewarm buttermilk (I used dried)
¾ c. lukewarm water
2½ c. whole wheat
¼ t. ascorbic acid
2 t. SAF-Instant Yeast (I used 1 tsp. rapid rise/bread machine yeast)

Mix these ingredients in the bread machine pan and set the machine to QUICK DOUGH. As soon as the mixture is well mixed, stop and unplug the machine and allow to sit (with the lid closed) at least 2½ hours on the counter or up to 12 hours in the fridge (I did 12 hours in the refrigerator).

After the sponge has set, mix these ingredients into the sponge:

2 T. melted coconut oil, butter, or vegetable oil
2 T. agave nectar (or honey)
1 egg

Add to the top of the sponge mixture in the pan:

2¼ c. whole wheat flour
(I added 2 tbsp. vital wheat gluten)
2 t. salt (I used 1 tsp)

Set the bread machine on regular DOUGH cycle and process. Check the dough to make sure it's formed into a nice soft ball and adjust the hydration as needed.

Grainlady’s notes: “I process the dough in the bread machine until the dough is mixed and kneaded. I don't let it rise in the machine. I place the dough in a dough rising bucket, place the lid on the top and allow the dough to ALMOST rise to double. Whole wheat dough does NOT have the extensibility that white bread dough does, so try not to let it go more than double.

“After the bread machine finishes the dough cycle (or has doubled in the dough rising bucket), dump the dough onto a Silpat and with oiled/greased hands deflate the dough by pushing it in the middle with your fist then drawing all edges of the outside dough into the middle (turning the dough inside-out, so to speak). Divide the dough into portions (I scale the dough for accuracy.) Round each portion (make it into a smooth ball) so that all the gluten strands are going into the same direction. Cover and allow to rest 10-15 minutes so the gluten relaxes. Form dough (oil your hands when you handle the dough), pan, cover with plastic wrap for the final proofing.

“I make this bread into 3 small loaves (7-1/2 x 3-1/2-inch pans - 350°F for 20-25 minutes), OR one 1# Pullman Loaf and use the other 1# of dough for 6 pecan rolls OR an 8-inch pan of dinner rolls; sometimes I use a portion of the recipe for hamburger or hot dog buns. If making two regular loaves (8½ x 4½), bake in a 375°F oven for 25-minutes. A very versatile dough.”

I made two 8½ x 4½ inch pans, letting the dough rise about 45 minutes until just at the top of the bread pans. I baked them per Grainlady’s instructions at 375 degrees, checked them at 25 minutes, and kept baking until they reached an internal temperature of 190 degrees.

Next Post: Baking Low Sodium Bread - Favorite Buns and Rolls - Part 7

Baking Low Sodium Bread Series:

Part 1 – Introduction  

Part 2 – Beginning Basics

Part 3 – Getting Started

Part 4 – Keeping It Fresh

Part 5 – Without a Bread Machine

Part 6 – Favorite Bread Recipes

Part 7 – Favorite Buns and Rolls

Low Sodium Bread – Demystified

Baking Low Sodium Bread - Without a Bread Machine - Part 5

Even if you don’t have a bread machine, you can still make tasty low sodium bread without resorting to manual kneading. Of course, you must remember to reduce both the salt and yeast amounts accordingly and to avoid overproofing. Here are some possibilities:

Use a food processor to knead the dough. The advantage is the food processor’s versatility. You can use it for all kinds of cooking tasks including making yeast dough. In order to properly knead dough, you’ll need a fairly large machine and a powerful one. I’ve got a Cuisinart 11 cup machine. Kitchenaid also makes a nice sized one. My machine’s manual has an entire section devoted to making bread dough. When my husband was first diagnosed with congestive heart failure, I was hesitant about buying a bread machine, so I got the Cuisinart. I knew I could use it for shredding cheese and vegetables, making bread crumbs and finely chopping nuts, and also for making dough. I found it really easy to use, especially when making artisan type breads. The only disadvantage is the capacity limitations. My machine cannot handle more than 5 cups of white flour, 3 cups of whole wheat flour, or 3 ½ cups of flour in a rich sweet dough.

The steps are pretty simple. You proof the yeast by dissolving it in a small amount of liquid to which a bit of sweetening has been added; some recipes don’t even call for this extra step. Then you combine all the dry ingredients in the work bowl and process for a few seconds. The liquids are slowly added through the feed tube while the machine is running. You should add enough liquid to make the dough soft enough for the machine to knead. Process the dough for about 20-30 seconds. Check the dough’s consistency and then process for another 15-20 seconds.

The biggest worry when using a food processor to knead is the possibility of overheating the dough. Excess heat could kill the yeast. That’s why it’s important to use cool liquids, not warm ones. Also avoid over-processing the dough. If you think you should knead a bit longer, or you need to adjust hydration, it’s wise to turn off the machine and let the dough cool down before continuing. An advantage to using the heavier duty food processors is that they can handle making several batches of dough in a row.

A great resource if you’re interested in using your food processor for making bread dough is The Best Bread Ever: Great Homemade Bread Using your Food Processor by Charles Van Over. I discovered it in my local library a few years ago when I was just getting started making low sodium bread. It’s full of great recipes and wonderful techniques and hints for using your food processor. Here is an example of one of the recipes. Here’s a food processor recipe from King Arthur Flour. These recipes should give you a good idea of what making dough in your food processor entails.

Use a stand mixer to knead the dough. Probably Kitchenaid is the most well known brand of heavy duty stand mixer. It is another versatile appliance that can do much more than knead bread. Another advantage is that, depending on the model, it can handle up to 7 cups of flour at a time. Many people, like my daughter, faithfully use a heavy duty stand mixer for kneading bread dough. Most of the foremost bread experts recommend a stand mixer too. Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen are great fans. Here is a recipe for bread using a stand mixer. This should give you a general idea of the steps involved when using a mixer to knead dough. The biggest disadvantage to having a large stand mixer is finding storage space for it. Also, it’s quite heavy and not easily moved from cupboard to counter and then back again.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I’ve never owned a stand mixer. I rarely, if ever, make things like cakes or cupcakes. I use a Danish Dough Whisk for quick breads and muffins, so I’ve never felt compelled to buy a large mixer. But, as I mentioned earlier, I know many people love their stand mixers and use them regularly for all kinds of things.

Experiment with batter breads. These breads are not kneaded at all. Instead a thick batter is mixed with either a stand or hand mixer and then poured into prepared pans. You can also make these breads by hand using a Danish Dough Whisk. This page features several batter bread recipes. Probably the most famous and widely used batter bread recipe is for English Muffin Bread. The bread is easy to make and really does have the taste and texture of English muffins but without all the work. Another classic batter bread is Dilly Casserole Bread. Food.com has a well reviewed recipe for Basic White Batter Bread that could easily accommodate all kinds of flavor additions. Batter breads can also be a good introduction to yeast bread making in general. The only thing you want to watch for is overproofing. These are more delicate breads, so don’t let them rise too much or they may collapse during baking. Also, because the dough is not really shaped, the top crust will be a bit rough in texture.

Experiment with the famous artisan bread in 5 minutes a day recipe. Here’s the recipe that took the world by storm a few years ago. It’s a terrific concept and no kneading is required. Stir all the ingredients in a large bowl, cover, let rise at room temperature, and then refrigerate the dough until needed. No need for any kind of special equipment, although a Danish Dough Whisk would be helpful. Since it’s a huge mass of dough, you can break off small amounts to make rolls, small meal-sized loaves, pizza, etc. The dough lasts for over a week and the flavor is supposed to improve the longer it sits in the fridge. For more information about this bread making technique, check out this website.

I’ve used the basic recipe a few times. It’s very convenient, and I know some people love the bread. The bread is pretty good and definitely easy to make. The only downside is that the recipes make large portions of dough that must either be refrigerated or frozen, taking up valuable fridge space. However, it's easy to halve the recipes. The cookbooks have several well reviewed recipes, so it may be an option worth investigating.

Experiment with the equally famous no-knead bread recipe. This is another bread recipe that took the world by storm a few years ago. It’s also a terrific concept. An almost miniscule amount of yeast is added to about 3 cups of flour and some water. The resulting dough is very wet and left to “percolate” for over 12 hours. Then the dough is briefly shaped and plopped into a heated dutch oven, covered, and baked in a hot oven. The resulting bread is supposed to rival all other recipes for artisan bread. There are several recipes available online, and the book can be purchased or checked out from a library.

I’ve never tried this recipe because I’m a chicken. Maneuvering a heavy and hot cast iron dutch oven, trying to plop loose dough in it, and then trying to get the baked bread out—let’s just say that my weak wrists probably couldn’t manage it. I’m afraid of dropping the dutch oven or burning myself. But you might find the no knead recipes wonderful. I know others have.

Conclusion: Even without the benefit of a bread machine, you can make some fairly easy lower sodium bread recipes without relying on hand kneading. Just remember that no matter what appliance you use or what recipe you use, you still need to reduce both the salt and yeast amounts accordingly.

Next Post: Baking Low Sodium Bread - Favorite Recipes - Part 6

Baking Low Sodium Bread Series:

Part 1 – Introduction  

Part 2 – Beginning Basics

Part 3 – Getting Started

Part 4 – Keeping It Fresh

Part 5 – Without a Bread Machine

Part 6 – Favorite Bread Recipes

Part 7 – Favorite Buns and Rolls
Low Sodium Bread – Demystified

Baking Low Sodium Bread - Keeping It Fresh - Part 4

Here are some things I’ve learned about keeping lower sodium bread fresh. Some people are disappointed with homemade bread because it dries out and stales so much faster than commercial grocery store breads. Lean, rustic breads, in particular, stale quickly. (That's why the French buy fresh baguettes every morning.) All that is to be expected because the home baker does not have access to the additives and dough conditioners that commercial bakers use. The long laundry list of ingredients on your bread packages attests to that fact. Also, home bakers don’t have the same kind of specialized equipment. However, there are things you can do to keep your homemade bread fresh longer and to prevent it from quickly drying out and going stale.

Don’t start with overly dry dough. When baking low sodium breads, you normally don’t want to use excessively wet or soft dough. But don’t go to the opposite extreme and end up with overly firm, dense, and dry dough either. That kind of consistency will result in loaves that are on the dry side to begin with. They will stale almost immediately.

Don’t over bake the bread. Again, the last thing you want to do is start out with dry bread. Soft, enriched breads that contain fats are done baking when the internal temperature is around 180-190 degrees. Drier, crusty breads need to bake until they are between 200-210 degrees inside. Simply poke an instant read thermometer into the center of the loaf and in thirty seconds or less you should have an accurate reading of its internal temperature.

If you bake in your bread machine, the crust setting will determine how long your bread bakes. The medium setting is probably the safest to use. Most bread machines only have a bottom heating element unlike the top and bottom elements of conventional ovens. As a result, often times the bottom and side crusts of machine baked loaves are darker and thicker than the top crusts. Attempts to get a browner top crust by baking on the dark setting might result in dried interiors. Don’t forget that residual heat will finish off the baking once the bread is removed from the machine and the pan. If you’re having a problem with dry freshly machine baked bread, you might consider experimenting with using the light setting.

I like evenly browned crusts, but I like bread that doesn’t get dry or stale even more. So, for me, if it’s a choice between overbaking in the machine to get the top crust color I want or having bread that will stay fresh longer, I’ll pick the moister, softer bread. Baking bread in the oven gives you much more control over the crust; that’s one reason I prefer using my oven. However, as I stated before, during the hot summer months, a bread machine baked loaf definitely suffices.

Be sure to let your bread cool completely. Cooling is actually part of the overall baking process. Bread should be allowed to come to room temperature after baking, because the heat retained inside continues to cook the bread. Cooling allows the moisture in the bread to re-distribute itself (similar to letting a grilled steak rest). Slicing it too early disrupts this process and the moisture escapes. If you cut into the bread before it's cool, it may still be gummy inside. However, if you simply cannot resist slicing into the warm bread, try this: place the bread, cut sides down, on a countertop and cover with a tea towel until the loaf has cooled completely. This action should allow the moisture to redistribute itself almost as well as cooling the whole loaf. I do this when my husband simply can't wait for the bread to completely cool.

Wrap the bread carefully to avoid staling. Cool the bread until you can wrap it without condensation gathering on the inside of the plastic wrap or bag. Make sure it is completely cooled. Just because the bread feels cool to the touch does not mean it is ready to wrap. Heat may still be trapped in the center of the loaf. Wrap the bread closely in plastic wrap or a tight-fitting plastic bag rather than a loose-fitting one. When bread is wrapped loosely in a plastic bag, its moisture eventually moves into the excess air trapped in the bag. This is even more prominent when the bread has one end sliced and removed or if you slice the entire loaf in advance. I try to only slice bread as needed so it stays fresh longer; I also keep the sliced heel in the bag, resting against the exposed part of the sliced loaf.

Some people like wrapping their bread in aluminum foil. I’ve had some luck with the green bags. If you don’t think you can eat up the entire loaf within 4-5 days, freeze part of it. Wrap it carefully in foil or plastic wrap and then place in a freezer bag, removing as much air as you can before closing. Some people place a paper towel over the bread before wrapping in plastic for freezing. They say that the paper towel absorbs excess moisture during the thawing process.

Add special ingredients to the dough to slow staling & drying out. The following may help:

• Fats and sweeteners (honey is especially helpful, as is coconut oil)
• Emulsifiers such as egg yolks or lecithin (granular or liquid)
• Dairy products like milk, sour cream, yogurt, or buttermilk (dried, canned, or fresh)
• Potato products like potato water, mashed potatoes, potato starch/flour, mashed potato flakes
• Chia seed slurry (combine 1 tbsp chia seeds with 1/4 cup water and let sit until a thick, gloopy slurry has been created; use 2 tbsp of the slurry as part of the liquid for the dough)
• Oatmeal (dry or cooked)
• Cooked grains such as cracked wheat, rice, cereal blends, etc.
• Vegetables and fruits such as grated carrot, mashed sweet potato, raisins, etc.

Add a dough conditioner or enhancer. The Bread Machine Digest site has an informative discussion about common dough conditioning additives the home baker can use to lessen staling and improve texture. The site also has a few recipes for making homemade dough conditioners.

I routinely add 1 tablespoon of granular lecithin to all the yeast doughs I make. I can find it at local health food stores. I also add vital wheat gluten to all the whole grain breads I make – 1 tablespoon for breads with 50% or more whole wheat flour. I also use a bit of orange juice when making 100% whole wheat bread (I learned this trick from King Arthur Flour: “The orange juice won't add its own flavor to the bread, but will mellow any potential bitterness in the whole wheat.”).

Adding an acidic ingredient (ascorbic acid [Vitamin C], lemon juice, vinegar) to whole wheat yeast breads helps keep gluten bonds strong and also helps the yeast work longer and faster. I use honey (as long as the recipe doesn't call for more than 2 tablespoons of sugar) and coconut oil for the sweetener and fat in all my breads to help avoid staling.

I’ve found that these additions give my panned breads loaves a softer, moister, and more tender crumb and keep them from quickly getting dry and stale. This is especially helpful when I make 100% whole wheat bread. The homemade bread is tender and light, almost like store bought but without all those weird ingredients.

Finally, after all is said and done, remember that it really is worth the trouble. You may wonder, after reading all the advice and helpful hints, if a bread machine is really a useful piece of equipment. My answer is an emphatic, “YES!” A bread machine is a great tool for those trying to follow a low sodium diet. First of all, keep in mind that most of my suggestions really deal with the pitfalls of making lower sodium bread – machine or no machine. Low sodium bread making has very real differences from ordinary bread making. All the finagling with yeast amounts, liquid to flour ratios, watching carefully for overproofing, etc. are part of the low sodium bread making experience whether or not you have a bread machine. What the bread machine does is take care of the kneading and rising, and if you want, the baking too.

In the past, I’ve used my own muscle power to make bread dough, my food processor, tried the artisan bread in 5-minutes recipe, and made batter breads. These methods all worked, but I like using a bread machine better. It does a superior job of kneading. Owning a bread machine has made it possible for me to supply my household with all kinds of lower sodium bread stuffs. The ability to rather easily make 2-3 different kinds of dough in succession without wearing myself out is a great benefit. Or being able to start a bread recipe late in the afternoon and have it baked in time for an after dinner snack. Or getting several doughs rising in the fridge for me to shape and bake the next day. The few minutes worth of checking the dough during the kneading cycle are absolutely nothing compared to the benefits.

Using the bread machine has meant that we have all kinds of good choices available for breakfasts, snacks, and sandwiches. Supermarket bread, especially the low sodium varieties, cannot compete with what I’m producing now. I’m able to make deliciously flavored breads and sandwich buns – seasoned with onion, dill, rosemary, caraway, black pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, chives, on and on – flavors I could never get from the supermarket. And they’re all lower sodium. Plus I can make true 100% whole wheat low sodium bread that has real substance to it and is not disgustingly squishy or sweet.

Next Post: Baking Low Sodium Bread - Without a Bread Machine - Part 5

Baking Low Sodium Bread Series:

Part 1 – Introduction  

Part 2 – Beginning Basics

Part 3 – Getting Started

Part 4 – Keeping It Fresh

Part 5 – Without a Bread Machine

Part 6 – Favorite Bread Recipes

Part 7 – Favorite Buns and Rolls
Low Sodium Bread – Demystified

Baking Low Sodium Bread - Getting Started - Part 3

Here are some more things I’ve learned while making low sodium breads with my bread maker. These can also be applied to making bread by hand, with a food processor, or with a stand mixer.

Get to know your machine. Read your manual carefully before attempting to make bread in it. Pick one white bread recipe and one whole wheat recipe to experiment with, and make each recipe at least 2 times without deviation. Stay relatively close by during the machine’s progress and become familiar with the cycles and all the different sounds associated with each cycle.

Most manuals have charts of the different baking programs, listing the times for each cycle. The difficulty is that sometimes you’ll get a range of time rather than an exact time. For example, the kneading cycle may be indicated as 18 – 25 minutes. So you don’t know exactly when the kneading cycle will end. Set a timer for the lowest possible number of minutes. When the timer beeps, listen carefully to your machine to determine if the kneading has stopped. If it hasn’t, keep close by for the next few minutes so you will know when kneading has really ended and rising has begun. Remember basic bread programs differ from whole wheat programs and dough-only programs. So you may have to determine times for at least three different programs. This may seem like a hassle, but knowing exactly how long the kneading cycle takes will be important when you need to make adjustments to the dough. You don’t want to be adding a tablespoon of liquid one minute before rising begins.

It took me a couple of uses to get the information I wanted about my machine’s white bread, whole wheat bread, and dough programs. I made notes on how long each cycle seemed to be and what weird sounds my machine made as each cycle progressed. Now I know when every cycle is going to take place and how long each cycle will take. That means I can set a kitchen timer at the perfect time to check my dough’s consistency during the knead and check to make sure the dough isn’t overproofing during the rise.

Make small loaves until you're completely comfortable making low sodium loaves in your machine. Use recipes for the smallest loaves your bread maker can handle. You don’t want to run the risk of the dough over-proofing and spilling over the bread pan and onto the heating elements or sticking to the lid. Also, the smaller the loaves, the quicker they will be used up. So you’ll be able to get more practice and experience using your machine. You’ll become more familiar with the idiosyncrasies of baking low sodium breads. And, if the bread turns out poorly, you won’t have wasted a large quantity of flour and other ingredients. Plus smaller loaves means that the bread will not be hanging around long enough to go stale or get too dry.

Start with plain white bread loaves. If you’re new to yeast bread making, it might be wise to make several white bread loaves in your machine before tackling more complex recipes. That way you’ll get a sense of what good quality bread dough feels like and what it looks like. Don’t complicate things by adding nuts or fruit or grains until you’re comfortable with your machine and with plain bread dough. Then gradually start making more complex white bread recipes. If you want, add some recipes with 50% white flour and 50% whole wheat flour. After you feel confident using your particular machine and in analyzing bread dough, experiment with 100% whole wheat bread recipes. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself time to learn your machine and experience success with it.

Use flavor components. Low or no salt versions of lean, rustic breads like French baguettes and ciabatta aren’t very tasty. That stands to reason since their main ingredients are just flour, water, yeast and salt. Eliminate the salt, and you basically get baked paste. So consider using recipes that call for buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream. The acid/sour component adds a flavor kick that low sodium breads lack. Sweeteners, fats, eggs, and dairy all add flavor to low sodium bread, so try to use recipes that have some of each.

Additions of spices and herbs (dried or fresh) can make bland low sodium breads more flavorful. Dried onion flakes and chopped chives are great, as are coarsely ground black pepper, dill seed and rosemary. Additions of nuts and seeds (especially if they're toasted) add both flavor and textural interest, again something that's often needed with the blander low sodium breads.

Consider using a biga, poolish or other pre-ferment/starter to add flavor to your low sodium bread. Find recipes made especially for bread machines so you can follow the correct techniques. Lean, french type breads really benefit from a pre-ferment or starter. The starters not only add flavor but help keep the loaves from drying out and going stale.

Sourdough starter is another good choice because you don’t need to use any yeast at all. As a result, you can really cut the salt content without too many adverse affects. And the tangy, sour flavor doesn’t really need salt to taste good. (When I make sourdough bread, I let the machine do the kneading. However, I put the dough in a bucket for a long, slow, cool rise. The machine is too warm to use for sourdough rising.)

Consider using some whole wheat flour in the dough. Because whole wheat flour is courser that white flour, it produces a denser, heavier loaf. Even a little bit of whole wheat flour helps offset the tendency for low sodium loaves to balloon and overproof. Whole wheat flour is a bit tricky, though. It absorbs liquid like a sponge, so sometimes it’s hard to determine whether or not you need to add more fluids. The perfect whole wheat dough consistency is still a bit tacky, so you may be tempted to add more flour. But adding more flour could result in dry, heavy loaves.

Don’t be afraid to experiment or of the occasional failure. Even the most experienced bread maker has had failed loaves. Every time you use your machine, you'll discover something new. It’s a never ending learning experience. You’ll eventually figure out the idiosyncrasies of your particular machine and discover which recipes work best for it. You’ll get a feel for which helpful hints will work and which should be ignored.

Even your so-called failures can be useful. Use the less-than-perfect loaves to make breadcrumbs. Those can be used in meatloaf and meatballs, for breading baked or fried fish or chicken, and for casserole and vegetable toppings. I keep dried homemade breadcrumbs in my pantry and a plastic bag of fresh crumbs in my freezer. You can also cube up the bread for making croutons or your own homemade stuffing. Make bread pudding or strata. Or feed the birds!

Invest in a couple of good bread machine cookbooks. You will find helpful information about using bread machines in general, and you may find some great recipes too. Right now I’ve got three bread machine cookbooks: Beth Hensberger’s The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, Bread Machines for Dummies, and Betty Crocker’s Best Bread Machine Cookbook. For overall information on working with bread machines, I’d recommend the Dummies book. Beth Hensbergerger’s book has both wonderful information about using bread machines and a large selection of recipes, including several for artisan breads. The Betty Crocker book has a lot of bread recipes with different flavor combinations, something useful when dealing with lower sodium breads. King Arthur Flour recommends Bread Machine Baking - Perfect Every Time, by Lora Brody.

The biggest downside to most bread machine cookbooks is that they were published, for the most part, almost a decade ago (or more). Bread machine companies have discontinued models, added new models, added or changed features, changed parent companies, etc., and bread baking science has changed too. Just keep this in mind because along with the helpful hints and tips you may find some out-of-date information and techniques.

Keep notes on your bread making. Note even the smallest changes or additions you made with each recipe you use and jot down problems or successes. If you had to add 2 tablespoons of liquid because the dough seemed too dry. If the dough rose too quickly. If the baked loaf collapsed. If you added an extra tablespoons of gluten. All the small bits of information are important. Not only will they guide you when you follow the same recipe again, but they’ll give you ideas about what will work or not work with other recipes.

I keep a small notebook in my kitchen drawer. Every time I make a recipe using my machine (for bread or for dough) I note the date I made the bread, the source and page number (if from a cookbook), the loaf size, any changes I made, if I needed to add liquid or flour, a critique of the finished loaf, and finally, any suggestions for next time. I’ve found these notes particularly helpful when I make the recipe again and have forgotten what I did the first time and what I wanted to try the next time. The notes help keep failures to a minimum.

Next Post: Baking Low Sodium Bread - Keeping It Fresh - Part 4

Baking Low Sodium Bread Series:

Part 1 – Introduction  

Part 2 – Beginning Basics

Part 3 – Getting Started

Part 4 – Keeping It Fresh

Part 5 – Without a Bread Machine

Part 6 – Favorite Bread Recipes

Part 7 – Favorite Buns and Rolls
Low Sodium Bread – Demystified