The Basic Bread

 After years of low carb, Atkins, keto, carnivore, and paleo, bread and I have a strained relationship. 

Something about bread doesn’t sit well with me - digestively. I tried gluten free. No dice. I tried einkorn - that was smooth sailing. But einkorn is crazy expensive. Like, $5 a pound expensive. To put that in perspective, a pound of King Arthur is about $1.30. So, that’s a no from me. Turns out, organic flour doesn’t upset my stomach. 

All of my bread, pastry, and noodle recipes all use organic flour. If you get it at Costco, it’s about $1 a pound. Walmart has Great Value organic flour for $1.10 a pound. Not terrible. Conventional flour at Walmart is 47¢ a pound though so if you don’t mind the difference, it is half the cost! 

Bread isn’t a huge financial investment. For somewhere between $1.50 and $3.50 you can get about any kind of bread you’re looking for but the difference is in the quality.  If you’re pressed for time, buy bread. No bread machine, no mixer, no time to knead? Buy bread. 

However, if you’ve got hobbit life fantasies to fulfill, or you’re a full time homemaker, or a domestic hobbyist, or you just appreciate a good yeasty roll, then you really gotta bake some bread. 

This bread is just a basic sandwich loaf. It is missing the bells and whistles. Bells and whistles slow down yeast and complicate the chemistry, but they do make for some lovely variations. This, however, is a vehicle for cold cuts, cheese and pickles. This is sandwich territory. 

Full disclosure: I have a bread machine. It saves my old arthritic wrists. I’ve included the recipe I use to make a small loaf in my bread machine as well as the full loaf size if you’re making it the usual way.