Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hyeon Een]

Do you like bread and do you buy it regularly? Do you have a breadmaker?

I am a huge fan of bread. Decent bread that isn't sweet. I remember when I was living in the USA I was very disappointed at first by the bread available in my local stores. I had to travel about 3 miles to get to a super-supermarket with an amazing bakery to get half-decent bread.

Korea is 10x as disappointing. I detest 'wonder-bread' in the USA, and I detest 99% of the bread I get in Korea.. normally called "Milk tin" or "cream bread" or "toast" or some other nonsense.

One bread that is more than acceptable is a multi-grain bread from Crown Bakery, which costs 2500won for 8 slices. This works out at about 5 pounds or $10 for a loaf of bread. Which is very, very expensive by Western standards.

So I am considering buying a breadmaker. Are there any other breadlovers out there who have one? If so is it worth having one in Korea? I tend to make sandwiches to take to work every day for my lunch so I get through a lot of bread if that is any help.

And if you do have a breadmaker how hard is it to get the ingredients? Am I correct in thinking that any Lotte-mart/Emart/Homeplus has all that I require for a simple white or brown loaf? And do they have the stuff I need for a good multigrain?

[Sleepy in Seoul]

I have seen a lot of 'bread flour' at some of the supermarkets in Busan (Hanaro Mart in particular). Whether it is the same as bread flour back home is another thing, but if it is, all you'll need is some yeast and water. And a breadmaker.

[m8888888]

I have a breadmaker! But I've never found whole wheat flour here, so my bread are all different versions of white. But I make olive bread, herb bread, oatmeal bread, etc. It's better than the bread you can buy in the stores, and cheaper, but isn't like bread at home still. I miss whole wheat flour... I didn't find it in Ittaewon, but I didn't ask for help, either, so it might be hidden there, and I haven't tried Hannam market.
Oh, and bread flour is just white flour. I think it's supposed to help the bread rise better or something... but I haven't noticed a difference between that and normal white flour.

[pkang0202]

Eat More Chikin!

[thatwhitegirl]

I have one too....love it.
You can make all kinds of different breads; whatever your heart desires.
We go through a lot of bread, as we make sandwiches for work too.

They don't have wholewheat, but I have found little packs of rye flour. I mix in a few tablespoons, along with the flax seed and/or wheat germ I brought over. If you get a bread maker, I'd be happy to share my recipes with you.

But you can find everything you need to make bread here. It's a great appliance...I can't imagine not having one now.

[Vancouver]

[quote="Hyeon Een"]Korea is 10x as disappointing. I detest 'wonder-bread' in the USA, and I detest 99% of the bread I get in Korea.. normally called "Milk tin" or "cream bread" or "toast" or some other nonsense. {/quote]totally. The "butter" they serve at Outback is the same stuff they use for cream breads at T&T
(chinese bakery)

[merrilee]

To those of you with breadmakers, where did you get them?

BTW, it is possible to get wheat flour in Korea. I found some at Home Plus (Tesco). They have a relatively large flour aisle, but ironically that's not where I found the wheat flour; it was on the rice and bean aisle.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm also a bread-lover. I don't bother with a machine. I enjoy kneading my bread by hand. To me, it isn't bread if you haven't squished it around with your own fingers.

I've never found whole wheat flour. I did order something once, but it wasn't whole wheat. Maybe it was 'half' wheat or something--it was a little beige.

[idonojacs]

You don't need a machine.

Get a big bag of bread flour - it has more gluten then regular flour.

I add about four ounces of malt flour - it comes in 400 gram bags cheap, and has the malt bran. You might want to run it through a blender, as it is rather course. I also soak it with some yeast flour water before making the bread.

It still rises just fine.

As to the rye flour, I too saw the 100 gram bags. (WTF do you do with three ounces of rye flour???) I forget the price, but I think it comes to more than $10 a pound.

Boy, are Koreans the world's greatest suckers!

[thatwhitegirl]

idonojacs....
Yeah, the rye is quite expensive. Ridiculously so.
I like your suggestion of malt flour....I'll have to look for it.

Do you have a proper oven then to cook your bread in?
I've got a broiler under the gas range, but wouldn't be able to bake bread in it! I can just about manage scones in it...they still always get burned on the bottom.

OP...
maybe investing in an oven here would be better than a bread maker? Although the machine does take all the hard work and time out of making bread, but it also takes away all the fun of pounding out frustrations on a lump of dough.

[Hyeon Een]

I do have a good oven actually, but since I eat a lot of bread I'm not willing to spend hours and hours each week making it by hand. I want a convenient machine to do it for me =)

And BTW what are the actual grains in a multigrain bread? Are they easy to get in Korea or should I pick them up when I'm abroad?

[thatwhitegirl]

The grains in multigrain bread vary...also the seeds. I have a recipe that calls for sunflower, sesame and flax seeds; and then the different flours...oat, cornmeal, rye, etc.

I brought over 2 pounds of ground flax seed and wheat germ. I add a few tablespoons of each to my loaves, along with rolled oats, either almonds/walnuts and regular flour, and the loaves are dark, nutty and healthy. I also use yogurt sometimes, instead of milk or water.

I'd recommend bringing over things like the flax seed or wheat germ...they go a long way. But Korea does have a lot of seeds and interesting looking flours, so you wouldn't have to import those.

[anorakcity]

making bread without a machine is easy
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
video here: http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=35eac03d90314ffed6a0c0ae143ab87b1474fb89

i actually haven't used that specific recipe with the cast-iron pot yet, but i've made really easy sandwich bread and sourdough, both using recipes found in bittman's "how to cook everything".

glad to see that its possible to find all this stuff though.

[maeil]

I have bought Gold Medal stone ground whole wheat flour at the Red Door market in Itaewon. Around 7500 won for a 5 pound bag.