Bake Bread in a Crock Pot?

This entry was posted on May 8, 2012, in Baking, Cooking in Cambodia, Experiments, Recipes and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment

Oh Yes, You Can!

Today I came across this interesting bread recipe while searching for another. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so I thought, “Let’s give it a try.”

One of the things that we lack here is wheat bread. There is a little bakery that sells some loaves of homemade wheat bread, but it is closed until around September or October. We miss our wheat bread and have resorted to the local baked white breads like baguettes.

Mission accepted…make your own bread.

I have no real experience with bread making, so I am on the look out to find an easy recipe for whole-wheat bread. I plan to order the book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day  when we get back to the States, but according to this book, I need special vital wheat gluten to make good whole-wheat bread. I will search for this special ingredient at the grocery stores when we go back to the capital, Phnom Penh.

So here is my experiment for the day…making whole wheat bread in the crock-pot. I didn’t really think I had the right size glass bowl to put in the crock-pot, but since my loaf didn’t rise high, maybe it’s because I didn’t use all the dough in it. I decided to half it and cook one, let the other sit and “rise” then bake the second loaf. Next time I will be brave and put it all in!

This is the recipe I used, modified from Food.com to fit the ingredients I had in the kitchen.

Slow Cooker Bread

Ingredients

    • 1 tablespoon yeast
    • 1/4 cup warm water
    • 1 cup warm buttermilk (I used about a cup of milk and a tablespoon of vinegar.)
    • 1/2 cup rolled oats
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons honey
    • 1 whole egg
    • 3 cups whole wheat flour (I had two cups of whole wheat finely ground and one cup of coarser ground because that is all I had.)

Directions

  1. Grease a deep metal or glass bowl or 1 lb coffee can; turn slow-cooker on high to preheat.
  2. Dissolve yeast in water; combine with milk, oats, salt, oil, honey, and egg.
  3. Add flour and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
  4. Turn dough immediately into bowl or can; cover LOOSELY with foil. (Foil is important so that the moisture from the lid of the crock pot doesn’t drip on your bread and make it soggy.)
  5. In bottom of slow-cooker, place 1/2 cup of water and a trivet or some crumpled foil. (I used the lid to an old salsa jar.)
  6. Place can or bowl on trivet; cover crock pot and bake on High for 3 hours.Note: sides of bread brown and crisp beautifully, top will slightly brown and be soft to touch.
    Yield: 1 medium sized loaf of bread.

The Verdict? Flavor was great…texture was dense. From what I have read, this is where vital wheat gluten would help. I honestly think my combination of flours were not the best either. Good news, I have great bread to toast for breakfast. However, I’m not pleased enough with this loaf to keep it for “everyday use.” Would I make this again? I will try once more…bake all the dough at the same time and use only the lighter flour!

Have you ever tried to bake bread in the crock pot?

Crock Pot Bread with the “Baking Bowl” and Salsa “Trivet”

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