Gaye Levy
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Home baked bread is one of the simple joys in life. It is no wonder that I periodically write about baking bread. I have even gone so far as to say that the key to happiness is baking your own bread! Seriously, who can resist the aroma and taste from a fresh loaf, straight from the oven, or even from your automatic bread machine?
I think making bread the old-fashioned way is grand. Rolling your sleeves up and transforming a lump of dough into a smooth loaf is a great way to work off stress. But what if you could save some of the work and create delicious breads by using a manually operated dough maker? You may have seen these advertised but do they really work?
Yes! In this review of the Gingerich Stainless Dough Maker from Lehman’s, I will show you how. Not only that, Lehman’s is providing a hand crank, stainless dough maker to one lucky reader in the latest Backdoor Survival giveaway. More about that in a moment because first, I want to tell you how it works.
Old Fashioned Goodness Without Kneading
One of the challenges many of us face as we get older is our fingers do not work as well as they used to. Joints get tired easily, and our dexterity is not what it used to be. For someone younger, the issue is not sore fingers and hands, but time. Making bread the traditional way takes a long time.
With a hand crank dough maker, you resolve both issues. After gathering the ingredients and adding them to the bowl, you mix everything for four to five minutes and you are done. Let me show you.
The first step is to assemble all of the parts. I am not very mechanical but found the process easy. The instructions in the included manual were a cinch to follow. There is an easy to dicipher diagram, so even if you just look and don’t read, you can put the crank and dough hook mechanism together in about a minute.
The heavy duty stainless bowl holds 8 quarts and as you can see, is drilled with holes so you can attach the dough hook mechanism. I found the holes to be perfectly aligned which is always a good thing.
I am the type of person who likes to measure out my ingredients in advance. For this initial review, I followed the recipe in the manual. Here I am adding warm water to the bowl; yeast came next and then the remaining ingredients.
True confession: I totally messed up the order of ingredients but that did not seem to matter.
See the silicone pot holder under the bowl? That helped stabilize the bowl as I was moving the dough hook around with the crank handle.
It is a little blurry but here you see both the dough and hand crank action. This was after 2 minutes of cranking. I am not going to kid you. After about 3 minutes, the dough became very stiff and cranking took some effort. I relieved Shelly from his photographer duties so he could hold the bowl down while I cranked. I really should have used a non-stick mat under the bowl and not a small, silicone pot holder. I also should have done this on my kitchen counter and not my dining room table.
This is what the dough looked like after 4 minutes. I suppose I could have gone a minute longer creating a nice smooth ball, but this worked fine. Notice how the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
The next step involves dividing the dough into 4 lumps then rolling each out to fit in the pans. I could not find my rolling pin so I used a pizza roller instead. Also note the larger non-stick mats I should have used while mixing the dough.
Because there are just two of us, I purposely made small loafs. After letting them cool, we sliced a hunk and oh my gosh, it was so good. The bread was fine grained and easy to slice.
As I was writing this review, Shelly called from the kitchen and said “Wow! This is good. He had five slices in one sitting so I suppose that says it all!
What Comes Next?
The first time using something new, I like to follow instructions exactly. That being said, the next time I make bread using my Stainless Dough Maker, I will add a bit of dough enhancer at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 4 cups flour. This will give my dough a bit of lift. This is something I typically do when making bread from scratch. I will also let the dough rise a bit more in the pans before baking.
Something else I am going to try is using home milled flour instead of commercial unbleached flour. Like I said, it is always good to start with the basic recipe and then branch out from there. As a matter of fact, the manual clearly states the included recipe is a launching point for adapting your own recipes.
Since this Stainless Dough Maker requires no electricity, it makes sense to bake without electricity as well. I am going to need to try baking bread using my Sun Oven and see how that turns out, So many projects; so little time!
The Giveaway
To enter the giveaway, you need to utilize the Rafflecopter form below. Select one or more of the options after signing in using your email account or Facebook, the choice is yours. The best way to start is by clicking on “Free Entry for Everyone”. After that, each option you select represents an additional entry. There are a number of different options so pick and choose, or select them all.
A special word about the giveaway question/comment: Please read the question and respond accordingly, even it the answer is “I don’t know”. This week’s question is:
Please share a tip for baking bread, cooking beans, or preparing rice or some other “survival food”.
After responding, be sure to indicate you have done so in the Rafflecopter.
The deadline is 6:00 PM MST time next Tuesday with the winner notified by email and announced on the Rafflecopter in the article. Please note that the winner must claim their prize within 48 hours or an alternate will be selected.
Note: Due to Customs requirements, this giveaway is only open to those with a mailing address in the United States.
The Final Word
I love bread! Okay, if you stream Hulu you have seen the ads by Oprah Winfrey where she claims she will do anything for bread. I can’t say that I will do anything for bread but because I do enjoy it, I include regular bread baking as part of my overall strategy for survival if the world goes to heck.
I would like to thank Lehman’s for introducing me to this hand crank dough maker and for sponsoring this giveaway. Good luck!
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
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Bargain Bin: Below you will find links to the items related to today’s article o bread and dough making.
Hand Crank Stainless Dough Maker from Lehman’s: Note that I do not have a financial relationship with Lehman’s; I simply believe in their company and the fantastic products they offer both in their store and to the online community.
Norpro Wooden Pastry and Pizza Roller: If you don’t have a rolling pin, or can’t find it, try one of these.
Silicone Baking Mat – 2 Pack: These mats are fantastic. Nothing sticks to them and they can be used in the oven up to 450 degrees.
Silicone Bread and Loaf Pan Set of 2: If you have not baked with silicone pans before, you are in for a treat. They distribute the heat well and are a cinch to clean up. The only drawback to these, if you want to call it that, is they are a bit small than a standard loaf pan.
Dough Conditioner – 4 Pound Can: I shopped around and the best value on dough enhancer was this Honeyville brand. Adding dough enhancer/conditioner will result in a lighter, fluffier bread.
WonderMill Grain Mill: The WonderMill is the quietest and fastest flour mill available. You can create super fine flour or coarse flour at temperatures that preserve nutrients, ensuring that you will always have the perfect flour for your food. The WonderMill will not only grind wheat, rice and other small grains, but will also grind legumes and beans as large as garbanzos. It is extremely easy to use – simply fill the hopper and you’ll get flour.
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking: At an average cost of 50 cents a loaf, this bread is easy, delicious and inexpensive to make. Making your own bread is a skill everyone should have. See Simple Comforts: How and Why You Should Make Your Own Bread.
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132 Responses to “Review: Hand Crank Stainless Dough Maker from Lehman’s”
I’d read of those 2 tips, Dennis, this past week.
Beans: sort out the bad and the rocks before soaking, soaking, soaking (then I take out the floaters) and rinsing, rinsing, rinsing. Add extra things of chose: ham hock, bacon, spices, etc. Rice: cook more than is needed and freeze the rest. Two/one ratio of water/rice, heat to just a boil, turn down to low for 15 mins or so, no peeking and do NOT take the lid off until, then when holes are pocking the top of the rice it is done. I LOVE beans and rice. I’m just getting into baking bread again. I have some coffee cans set aside for also.
I check the internal temperature of my baked goods in order to make sure they are done before I take them out of the oven to cool.
Two ways I check my bread to see if it’s done, one is to remove the baked loaf from the oven, turn it out of the pan, and thump the bottom. It should sound hollow. The other is to check it with my instant read thermometer. It should read 190 or 200 if it is enriched with butter and or eggs.
Have you ever heard of the 3.3 Cent Breakfast By Kurt Saxon? It is fairly simple. You get 50 to 60 pounds of hard red winter wheat, untreated. You will also need a Stanley Aladdin narrow-mouthed thermos bottle and two quart jars. To cover the quart jars get some nylon window screen from the hardware store and cut two six inch by six inch squares.
Put four ounces of wheat in each jar. Put the screens over the jars and hold them in place with large rubber bands. Fill one jar one-third with water and set it near the sink overnight.
Next morning pour out the soak water and drink it. It is vitamin-rich and a good morning tonic. Upend the jar in the sink to drain. After the first draining, flood the wheat about every four hours before bedtime and drain it. The idea is to keep the wheat moist.
At the last flooding the first day, just before bedtime, flood the second jar and let it set overnight like the first. Next day, drink the water and treat the second as the first, flooding both every four hours or so.
On the second evening the first jar of wheat will show sprouts protruding from the ends of the grains. Now it is ready. It is part grain and part fresh vegetable. Its protein and vitamin content is higher and it is altogether a more complete food, rich and amazingly nutritious and, again, a complete meal for less than 4 cents.
Empty the sprouted grains into a two cup measure and put four more ounces of wheat in the jar, flood and set aside overnight as before. Now you have a perpetual routine taking up no real time and producing a fantastic amount of food for little cost.
With the sprouted grain in the two cup measure fill it with water to the two cup mark. Then pour it into a saucepan on the stove and add two more cups of water and a few shakes of salt to keep it from tasting flat. Heat it to a boil, which takes about five minutes.
You will need a funnel to pour the water and the grain into the thermos. Take a gallon plastic bottle; milk, bleach, vegetable oil, etc. and cut it in half. Use the top half for the funnel.
Fill your thermos with hot water to preheat it and then pour out just before filling with the grain. While the grain is still boiling, empty the pan into the funnel and so into the thermos. You will have to use a spoon to push part of the grain from the funnel into the thermos, as well as some of the grain from the pan. At any rate, do it quickly so you can cap the thermos to contain the heat.
Cap then shake the thermos and lay it on its side so its contents don’t bunch up, and leave it overnight. Next morning, pour the contents into a blender and pour out part of the liquid into a cup. Drink the liquid as it is rich in vitamins.
With just enough liquid to cover the grain, turn on the blender at low. Then increase the speed until the grain is all ground to the consistency of oatmeal. You can add cinnamon or any other flavoring if you like but you will find it has a delicious taste of its own.
I’ll give you 2 of my favorite bread baking tips. Number 1 is to put a small fry pan into the bottom of the oven while preheating the oven for the bread. When you put the bread into the oven, pour water into the small fry pan and let the steam rise. This really improves the texture. Number 2 is to not add your salt to the dough. Add it to the kneading flour and knead it into the dough. This way the salt does not inhibit the yeast.
My wife wrote the tips.
I bake a bread in my cast iron Dutch Oven. I love that you can use it in the oven, or outside if need be. Let your fire outside burn down to almost all coals, put the pan over the fire, and put some coals on the lid. This gives the bread a nice brown color all over, since your Dutch Oven is heated on all sides. Add some home made butter to to warm bread, yum! I cooked it this way for many years when my late husband and I did Civil War re enactments and primitive camping.
I use a Japanese trick for making my bread soft, which is the way my husband and son love it. It’s called tangzhong. It’s basically cooking some of the flour in your recipe, for my bread recipe it comes to 1/3 cup flour and 1 cup water, I just put it in a pan and cook it…it’s like making a thick roux. I use half for one loaf of bread and the other half I keep covered in the fridge for the next loaf. There are online sites that help you with the measurements for your bread recipe.
The bread I make the most is banana bread. Adding an extra banana to a recipe makes the bread more moist. Once bananas start to brown nobody eats them so I put them in the freezer in a baggie. They even more tasty in recipes!
I am not mechanically inclined, but you made this tutorial very easy to understand!
Lehmans has amazing wonderful things. Thanks for demonstrating their products.