How to Make Toast with a Bread Maker in Summer
The most popular recipe in my collection is "Must-Try for Beginners (Direct Method)," but my close friends know that the pre-ferment method makes toast softer, tastier, and is a foolproof formula. You can wake up to fluffy toast. Unfortunately, it’s too hot to use the pre-ferment method now. So to help everyone enjoy lazy, effortless toast in the summer, I've written this recipe. Please give it a try. This recipe offers an approach to making toast in summer and can be adapted to various methods. The key elements are: 1. Pre-ferment. 2. Retarding technique for gluten development (add yeast later). 3. Save time and avoid over-proofing. The process is divided into three steps: 1. Prepare the pre-ferment a day in advance and refrigerate (2 minutes). 2. Prepare the resting dough in the morning and refrigerate (15 minutes). 3. Run a classic sweet bread program after work in the evening. Sounds time-saving and hassle-free, right? Important tips: Based on feedback from many users and questions asked, I’d like to emphasize that if your bread turns out small, grainy, rough, or sour, it’s likely over-proofed. Over-proofing usually happens for two reasons: 1. Poor temperature control - fermentation starts during kneading, or room temperature is too high during proofing. 2. Using too much yeast. This recipe focuses on temperature control, but if someone inaccurately measures the yeast using spoons or scales, even perfect temperature control won’t help. Do not use scales to measure yeast.
Ingredients
Steps
Prepare the pre-ferment in advance: Mix all pre-ferment ingredients with chopsticks until no dry flour remains (about 2 minutes). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for around 1 hour. Once ready, refrigerate for storage.
The pre-ferment can be prepared 1-2 days in advance and refrigerated for convenience. Use it as needed, but make sure it’s prepared in the morning of the baking day at the latest. One portion of pre-ferment makes two loaves of toast, so this recipe uses half of it. Any leftover can be stored for up to a week but is best used within 3-4 days.
Complete in the morning: Prepare the rested main dough. Combine all dough ingredients in the bread machine and mix for 15 minutes. Set the machine to the dough function and customize the kneading option to 15 minutes. Stir the mixture lightly with chopsticks first to prevent flour from flying, then close the lid and start the machine.
After 15 minutes of mixing, seal and refrigerate until after work. If rushed, refrigerate for at least an hour. (The dough in the image contains some whole wheat flour, which looks darker.)
After work, continue making the toast. To achieve a soft crust, wrap the bread machine’s inner bucket with aluminum foil to shield it from the heating element. It’s more effective to wrap the entire outer bucket to avoid issues like foil melting onto the heating element as shown in the picture.
This is the rested dough after 6 hours in the fridge. It’s ready for gluten development and achieves a smooth edge when torn.
Take out the refrigerated dough. Without warming it to room temperature, add yeast, softened butter cut into small pieces, and half the pre-ferment. Set the machine to a sweet bread program. Ensure kneading is done in an air-conditioned environment; later proofing can proceed normally.
Set the bread machine to: Function - 'Bread'; Menu - '1 Sweet Bread'; Crust Color - 'Medium'; Weight - '500g'. Start the machine and relax while it does all the work. The bread will be ready when the timer beeps.
For those partial to a mountain-shaped loaf, keep reading. Once the machine runs for about an hour and the remaining time shows 2:13, it’s the perfect time to pause and shape the dough. At this point, press the 'Pause' button. 1. Remove the dough for shaping. Divide it into three equal parts (use a scale), degas, and roll each into a rectangle. (Refer to steps 16 to the end of "Must-Try for Beginners" for details.) 2. Remove the kneading blades. 3. After two rounds of folding and rolling, place the dough back in the bread maker and resume the process. Note: Feel free to add fillings like red bean paste, sweet salad dressing, raisins, etc., but avoid cold fillings as they may affect proofing height.
This is the dough after the second proofing. For fancier results, brush with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
This is the baked loaf. It's not the prettiest but ridiculously large, haha. Here’s a sneak peek: The three sections have different flavors. Left: Whiskey-soaked cranberry toast Middle: White bread for sandwiches Right: Sweet salad sauce + pork floss toast Let the loaf cool completely before slicing and freezing for up to 3-4 days.
Anyone familiar with bread machines can immediately see the difference with and without aluminum foil. The foil results in a lighter crust and thinner outer layer.
Here’s the interior, super soft. (Who says it’s an exaggeration? 😤) Apologies for the poor lighting and blurry phone photo. Use your imagination 😂