#40: White Breads

Several years ago, when I first started baking bread for my family, I started with a recipe from the Simple Dollar and I've made this recipe so often that I have the measures memorized. I've made some adjustments such as dry milk instead of wet and reducing the sugar from 1.5 ounces to only 1.  However I've been on the lookout for ways to improve my white bread and I decided that when making Peter's white bread that I would try not one, but all three of Peter's variations and do so all at the same time so I could compare them side-by-side.

So, in addition to making Peter's Multigrain Bread Extraordinare, I also launched three batches of white bread. Wanting to ensure lofty loaves, I multiplied Peter's measures by 1.5 (except the egg) and I was well pleased in the resulting loaves. Having only 4 bread pans on hand, I braided a loaf from both variation 2 and 3.  I sliced up a bunch of pieces so no one could distinguish the breads and then taste tested them on the family.

Variation 1 (2 votes): This variation is probably closest to my existing recipe with the exception that it calls for one egg (my current recipe has none) and melted shortening instead of vegetable oil.

Variation 2 (2 votes): This was the slowest of the lot, probably because the buttermilk I used was not at room temperature.  There was actually quite a big time gap between when I formed the loaves and when I baked it, mostly to give the loaves more time to get the loft I wanted.  You can see from above that the loaf from this variant was slightly shorter than the other two.

Variation 3 (0 votes): This variation involved a soaker with warm milk. The warmth of the soaker caused this bread to both ferment and proof faster. I actually baked one of the loaves with #1 because it proofed so quickly.

Over all, I was pleased with all of the variations, and I could not distinguish between the three so I abstained from voting.  And although I didn't compare any of them side-by-side with my current recipe, I feel they all had a better crust and crumb.