Question on making loaves of bread.

[christinajade]

I have the 9 tray excalibur dehydrator. It does an awesome job on dehydrating. I do, however, have a problem with loaves of bread. I have these wonderful essene bread recipes. When it comes to dehydrating loaves, the outside is perfect but the inside ends up fermenting before it dries enough. It too moist on the inside. I make very small loaves that are not bigger than 1 inch high. I have since then started just spreading the mixture onto the dehydrator sheets and scoring slices as to make flatbread. Any ideas for the loaves? I would love to be able to make loaves because they texture isn't quite the same as the essene flatbread. I sometimes want a more "fluffier" bread.

[JennaHoneyBear]

try drying for the first hour or two at 130-140 degrees. this allows the loaves to "sweat" out more moisture, but doesn't disturb the enzymes. then crank it back down to 110-115 until dry

[christinajade]

Ahh..thank you!

[Veganforlife]

try drying for the first hour or two at 130-140 degrees. this allows the loaves to "sweat" out more moisture, but doesn't disturb the enzymes. then crank it back down to 110-115 until dry

This is so confusing to me. Why crank it up for a couple hours and then back down? Why not keep it cranked up? Because it would cook the foods? Well then one is essentially cooking for two hours? Right? I mean if that is the excuse. What does it matter if it's for two hours at that temp or five hours or more?

I have made quite a few loaves at 105 degrees F and have never had a soggy inside...

I say just keep 'em in the "D" longer...

[christinajade]

Ok, well then here's the question... When you dehydrate your loaves, how many hours to you leave the bread in for. You see my problem is that it doesn't get the moisture out of the inside of the bread before it starts to taste a little sour in the inside.

[streetsurfer]

I doubt that a loaf of bread reaches the full temperature the dryer is set at in the first hour or so. The higher rate of evaporation at the start probably has a cooling effect, just as sweating does for us. But how long would it take for the temps in the whole loaf to equalize? It would be interesting to track the temperature inside a loaf, as compared to inside the dryer itself via a remote thermometer with a probe, when the dryer is set at 130 for an hour or two. I'm thinking if any of the loaf is "cooked" by doing it as suggested, it would just be the outer crust, maybe 1/4" or so into the loaf. Then too, the dryers I've seen have the thermostatic switch closer to the heating element than it is to the food, so is the drying chamber actually operating at the temps the controls are set at?

I'd better add, I have never done bread in a dehydrator, so maybe I should stay out of this discussion.....

[christinajade]

hmm..interesting. Well I guess I'm going to have to test it all out. I'll let you know how the bread turns out. I'll probably start a new batch tomorrow.

[walnutty]

First, can I please have your recipes?

Second, once the outside starts to dry slice the bread and lay the slices out to finish dehydrating. This will ensure that the middle does not ferment.

[katchmoleen]

Gabriel Cousens recommends the elevated dehydrated temp for the first HOUR (not two) based on research that was done. Apparently it will speed up drying time but will NOT get the food itself too high, and it also cuts down on bacterial overgrowth. It's what he recommends so I do it all the time now.

[katchmoleen]

OOPS didn't get this sentence in under the wire. :D He recommends 140 degrees.

[christinajade]

Ok great! I ended up making some apple raisin and pecan essene bread! I made 2 loaves and put in the dehydrator at 140 degrees and timed it for an hour. I will lower the temp and dehydrate overnight.

[anniez]

I just made Alissa's Blueberry Bread, Carrot Raisin Bread, and Banana Bread and I started all of them at 140 for the first hour. They are still in the dehyd but about ready to come out. I wonder if you are making your loaves too big.

Annie

[joliepolie]

I crank up the heat the first hour..then slice and dehydrate the rest of the way on the lower temp

[Revvell]

I agree with raising the temp for the first hour and, consider this ~ the outsides will dry before the insides so, flatten the insides a bit so the outsides are a bit thicker than the insides.

[JennaHoneyBear]

This is so confusing to me. Why crank it up for a couple hours and then back down? Why not keep it cranked up? Because it would cook the foods? Well then one is essentially cooking for two hours? Right? I mean if that is the excuse. What does it matter if it's for two hours at that temp or five hours or more?


Just passing on what I've heard from other raw foodies. I've never tried it myself. But I even think Alissa has said to do this? Not sure, I could be making that up lol :p

[Veganforlife]

Just passing on what I've heard from other raw foodies. I've never tried it myself. But I even think Alissa has said to do this? Not sure, I could be making that up lol :p

Nope. Alissa does not promote this. Ok. Can you stick your finger in something at a temp of 140 degrees F? I don't think so. I feel that it cooks the foods. I'm not gonna do it. My whole being of eating Raw is RAW not cooked...
I've never had a problem w/foods in the "D" not getting 'done'.

Alissa explains this on page 52. Every one of her recipes ahe says 105 degrees F.

[katchmoleen]

Dr. Cousens is so scientific he makes my head ache to read what he writes, but he did the research and discovered it did not kill the enzymes of the food to have it that high for one hour. It just brings it up from room temperature. Just like you can set a pan of water on the stove and put it on HI but still keep your hand in the water for a little while as it warms up.

He had some other reasons he thought this was good and now recommends it. I do trust him, he would never recommend anything that killed the "Culture of Life."

[JennaHoneyBear]

Dr. Cousens is so scientific he makes my head ache to read what he writes, but he did the research and discovered it did not kill the enzymes of the food to have it that high for one hour. It just brings it up from room temperature.

sounds good to me! :D

[christinajade]

Ok, so I ended up making the my apple raisin pecan essene bread. It turned out so yummy! The slices remind me of a biscotti shape. I dehydrated at 140 degrees for and hour and a half because the loaf was very moist. I then lowered the temp and dehyrdated some more and then sliced and dehyrdated for the rest of the night. Came out nice and moist but not soggy on the inside. Thanks for the help!

[walnutty]

Recipe please?

[anniez]

Ok, so I ended up making the my apple raisin pecan essene bread. It turned out so yummy! The slices remind me of a biscotti shape. I dehydrated at 140 degrees for and hour and a half because the loaf was very moist. I then lowered the temp and dehyrdated some more and then sliced and dehyrdated for the rest of the night. Came out nice and moist but not soggy on the inside. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for telling us this!

Annie