Bread can be made from hard red or hard white wheat. The most important word here is HARD. Hard wheat has enough protein and gluten in it to make a great loaf of bread, so it does not require other ingredients like dough enhancers and extra gluten flour. These added ingredients add more cost to a loaf of bread and more items to store.

Soft wheat is used for cakes, cookies, and other baking. We do not store any flour made from soft wheat, or all-purpose flour, but use bread flour or wheat flour for everything we make.

Bread flour is usually made from hard red wheat, again because it has enough protein and gluten to make a great loaf of bread. Bread flour has some ingredients in the wheat removed when it is ground so that it will store longer, usually about 2 years. We use bread flour in all of our baking.

If you live in Utah, we recommend Lehi Roller Mills Bread Flour. It can also be purchased at some Costco locations.

Lecithin replaces the oil in our bread recipe, so there are no eggs, oil or milk, the things that are hard to store. Lecithin can be stored at room temperature. Lecithin acts as a dough enhancer and a natural mild preservative that helps bread stay fresher longer. One bottle of Sunflower Lecithin makes 24 batches of white bread. (1 batch is 4 loaves) which is 96 loaves of bread. One bottle of Soy Lecithin makes 48 batches of white bread. (1 batch is 4 loaves) which is 192 loaves of white bread. Wheat bread requires one additional teaspoon of lecithin. Our Lecithin comes in a squeeze bottle making it easier to use.

After the pans of dough have raised, carefully remove the dish towel, do not bump or disturb the dough when you put it into the oven, so that it doesn’t deflate.

• Place all bread pans, cookie sheets, etc. on the second rack from the bottom, basically in the middle of the oven.  If you consistently have a problem with the bottom of the bread not getting browned, then lower the rack closer to the heating element to compensate for this.  This applies to the top of the bread as well.

• Darker pans tend to aid in the browning process.

• You might need to check the temperature of your oven to see if it is calibrated correctly, or you could try raising the temperature 25 degrees.  You could purchase a separate thermometer, place it in your oven and then it will let you know how correct you oven temperature is.

• Make sure there is at least one inch air space between the pans and the sides of the oven to allow for air circulation and even baking.

Hand wash the Pantry Secrets pans to retain their non-stick coating. Do not put them in the dishwasher.

Bread needs to cool completely on a cooling rack, covered with a flour sack towel.  To store, place the bread in a plastic bag which can be stored on the counter for up to 4-5 days, depending on the temperature of your house.  Then it can be refrigerated or frozen for later use.