Fresh Bread

I have tried a number of bread recipes with varying levels of success. Why? Why make my own bread? Well, a bit of research has revealed that there are just too many ingredients in store bought bread. How many ingredients does it take to make bread? FIVE!

1. Fresh-ground whole wheat flour
2. Water
3. Fresh yeast
4. Salt
5. Something sweet (honey)

When I made the switch from white (actually Oroweat Potato Bread) to wheat, I was buying bread that contained these ingredients: WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, SUGAR, WHEAT GLUTEN, YEAST, EXTRACT OF RAISINS, SALT, WHEAT BRAN, CRACKED WHEAT, MOLASSES, SOYBEAN OIL, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (PRESERVATIVE), SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM SULFATE, HONEY, SOY LECITHIN, AZODICARBONAMIDE.

Huh?! I thought this bread was supposed to be healthy. But what in the world are those last ingredients, the ones with names I can't pronounce? I urge to to google a few of these. I looked up Azodicarbonamide and found that it is a flour bleaching agent. However, the principal use of azodicarbonamide is in the production of foamed plastics (plastics?) as an additive. It is a respiratory sensitizer (a possible cause of asthma). Most of the world does not look upon the chemical additive very favorably (gosh, I wonder why?). It is banned as a food additive and in food packaging in the United Kingdom. It is banned in most European countries as well as Australia. And its use in Singapore has some pretty severe penalties (up to 15 years in prison and $450,000 fine).

That is not the case in the U.S. The United States allows azodicarbonamide to be added to flour at levels up to 45 ppm. The FDA’s official database on food additives is called EAFUS, which stands for Everything Added to Food in the United States. EAFUS contains more than 3000 additives, including nearly 700 which have not been tested for toxicology. Nice!

So far, none of my attempts have yielded bread suitable for sandwich making. (I will keep trying). But after this research, I decided I am willing to spend good money on fresh bread with simple ingredients! I discovered Great Harvest Bread Company! Their whole wheat bread contains FIVE ingredients:

1. Fresh-ground whole wheat flour
2. Water
3. Fresh yeast
4. Salt
5. Something sweet (usually a local honey)

Each loaf is made from grains milled on site and baked fresh each day! The cost of a whole wheat loaf is $5. They will slice it for you or leave it unsliced. Today I asked them to slice it thicker for French Toast! Yum! The bread stays fresh for 7-10 days on the counter (do not refrigerate bread with honey in it – it will dry it out!). My kids love it – and because it is truly healthy I am willing to go out of my way to get it and spend the extra money too!