It can be done! After reading a few articles about slow cookers, I discovered that almost any bread recipe based on 3 cups of flour can be made using a Crock Pot-type slow cooker. What you do is mix the dough, place it in the slow cooker (prepared with nonstick cooking spray), and turn the cooker on to High. Set a timer for one hour and the bread ought to rise and bake.
The people who are working with this concept pointed out that the thing that is lacking about this process is browning, so they are taking the finished loaves and running them under a broiler to produce the crunchy crust on top.
It seems that there isn't any problem with the recipe, so use my basic bread recipe. I buy all-purpose flour at Sprouts in Tucson, alternating between King Arthur's Flour Mill, Arrowhead Mills and Bob's Red Mill brands. In my local Fry's Supermarket and Safeway at Broadway and Campbell, I buy Gold Medal organic all-purpose flour.
BIG SIX BASIC BREAD
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon granulated yeast
1 Tablespoon powdered organic milk
2 Tablespoons organic blonde sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups organic all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups warm water
Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk them together. Using dough hooks or the dough hook on a stand mixer, turn on the mixer at low speed and pour the water in slowly. Stop adding water when the dough forms a lump and cleans the side of the mixing bowl.
Place the lump of dough on a clean work surface and form it into a ball.
Line a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray and parchment paper (optional). Turn the slow cooker on HIGH. Set a timer for one hour.
When the timer goes off, check the bread for doneness. It should be done but not browned. Turn off the slow cooker and allow the bread to come to near room temperature. Brown the top of the bread using a broiler or a toaster oven.
This is going to give you a loaf of Italian-type bread, if that matters a lot. The shape of a loaf of bread isn't usually very important, but if you want a conventional shape, this recipe will produce one standard loaf as you follow the usual rising, shaping and baking procedure.
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