why do bakeries put milk in their bread recipes!!

[eskimomama]

Just wanted to have a little rant...
My DD has a CMP allergy and I'm breastfeeding, therefore not eating any dairy whatsoever... and I just found out that a lot of bakeries in the UK put bl**dy milk in the majority of their bread recipes! even baguettes!

It doesn't make any sense! Bread isn't supposed to contain milk, especially French types I was going for to be on the safe side... argh!
I really wouldn't have guessed until DD's eczema got really bad again, and I double checked at the bakery... and they didn't have any bread they could guarantee without milk...

they do it specifically to annoy you, of course

sympathies, though, must be tough

Not trying to be rude, honest suggestion:
Why don't you make your own bread? It's so quick and easy, and nothing beats that fresh from the oven smell.

One thing I have learned - never guess, always ask. Even if something has been dairy free before, always read labels as this changes.

I've found with bread from a bakery, egg and milk washes are often used on the top to create even browning. Luckily I have a fantastic local waitrose that do loads of lovely breads ith no milk or egg used in them.

(And making bread isn't for everyone, sorry. A working mum with a tiny kitchen and no space for a breadmaker just doesn't have the time to kneed the dough and let it rise)

Fairy, that's not true. I am a working mum, often long hours, I don't use a breadmaker, and I have a tiny kitchen. I do have a mixer though, but you can easily make it without one. It takes 5 minuts to kneed by hand (though I use Kenwood for that, so whilst I make a cup of tea, no effort), and surely sticking it in a warm oven to rise doesn't use any of your time??

Sorry, just saw LadyintheRadiator's post. Exactly, it takes no time at all. Fair enough if you just don't fancy (good reason in my books), but time and effort really not an issue.

I always put milk in my bread. It gives a much softer texture.

(if you ever do fancy it, this is a dead easy milk-free recipe for bread that needs no kneading and only leaves one bowl to wash up. Not great for lunchboxes but is greta just spread with stuff, and makes fabulous toast. I know 'dutch oven' sounds scary, but it just means your biggest casserole pot.)

You're all better mothers than me then!! I honestly wouldn't want to spend the little free time I have of an evening making bread by hand (I don't have a processor either, no room to store one). But kudos to those that do

Nothing to do with being better mothers. I assume you cook sometimes?? Or spend 10 minutes preparing some kind of food, even if it is only taking pizza out of box, sticking in oven, taking out? Bread is still food, and depending on how old your children, they might even enjoy taking part. I don't let ds (2.5) "help" often as we all end up covered in flour, but on the odd occasion that I do bake bread during the day, he absolutely loves pressing the scales button, tipping the flour in the bowl, etc.

Ds has cmp allergy and soya, but we find Waitrose do a few loaves without milk and soya.

I'm just not organised enough to make my own bread all the time

Sorry, I was trying to be slightly funny with the better mothers comment.

Yes, due to DS's food allergies I cook most of his food from scratch as its hard to find nice, interesting food with no egg, dairy or soya in it. He is 22 months, but I wouldn't be comfortable with him in the kitchen with me though, as its very small and very cluttered due to its size. I guess the making bread would just be "yet another" thing that would push my time limits over the edge. Mummy needs some rest too!

Some recipes call for milk - I find that when I put it it (only a little) it makes the bread test less 'yeasty'.

Ignore me, Fairy, I'm tired (not from bread baking, honest! ). Sorry for being touchy. Ah yes, I've only recently "asked" ds to help me bake, and even that only after he brought home buns that they "baked" at nursery, so I thought I should probably at least try to be just as exciting as nursery! :)

I'm surprised. Which shop are you talking about?

dd has severe cmp allergy and we normally find the bakery bread is ok - co op and waitrose usually (check the labels of course). Some of the other shops have a blanket warning as is produced in the same area as milk/egg stuff, but mostly they're ok as well on further investigation. Obviously not a buttermilk loaf or whatever, but just normal brown loaf or baguette we've usually found are fine.

Btw, we do have a breadmaker as well, v handy when weaning for low salt, low allergy bread. Almost none of the recipies that came with it used buttermilk, and it gave the equivalency for oil to replace butter, and makes lovely bread. So don't write off breadmakers just because the recipie leaflet that came with it is duff.

I also don't know why some bakeries insist on adding milk to their bread and other bakery products, it's quite odd. I'm a vegan and find it a pain (no French pun intended) if I want to buy a loaf of bread. Actually, what am I on about, it's not that much of a pain! It's really one of the reasons I decided to be vegan, purely because I don't just pick up anything willy-nilly - it means I use a bit of initiative and look at what they put in the many varieties of food and drink stuff we are offered to buy in regular supermarkets.

Sainsburies organic bread is milk free thus labeled as being vegan and is probably one of the best packaged and pre-cut/sliced supermarket loaves you can buy. It does sell out rather fast though, so you need to get to a Sainsburies store quite early in order to pick up a loaf. It does go off quite quick too, which is a good sign there is no rubbish ingredients/additives to maintain its life.

Also, just to add (and not bigging-up Sainsburies) they do probably have the best labeling scheme on their food products. Their low-fat Spicy Lentil and Tomato soup is really tasty!

Good luck!

I am sure that it's a taste thing. Well, it is when I make bread. I often forget to add oil too, and it tastes the same. I never use salt either.

I add milk to the ones I make myself. I think adding milk is quite normal really.

Get a breadmaker though 9a cheap one will do) it will take the stress out of it all

Thanks all! interesting input. I like the breadmaker idea, but I need to buy kitchen space first :o

I went back to my usual bakery (Gail's bread) and the lady told me that the Waitrose labelling is often wrong for their breads. She checked the ingredients with me and there wasn't milk in many breads, but the usual disclaimer about traces of milk.

Ah yes Gails bread. We had an episode not too long ago where we had bought a Gails sourdough from Waitrose - our usual bakery does it with just flour, water and yeast. dh spread dd some toast and I then looked down at the bag and it had bloody milk listed as an ingredient!
Had to snatch the toast so fast out of dd's hand - she wasn't impressed, and had already taken a bite out of it so quickly gave her some piriton.
I do find that fresh bread and bakery products is a real minefield because of cross contamination. The prepackaged presliced stuff is a bit more reliable but obviously doesn't taste as good!

superoz - did your DD react immediately to the bite she took?

eskimo, I looked in her mouth to see if she had reacted though I couldn't tell, but gave her some piriton to be on the safe side as she had to go to nursery that morning and didn't want to risk it.
dd is very reactive to milk though - usually if something has even small amounts she will have a rash around the mouth or become more itchy shortly afterwards, and her eczema will really flare up in the days after.

DS is dairy and soya allergic. I bake my own.

But for things like pancakes, I use Kara, or Oatly cream as a milk substitute.

It is so frustrating. I don't understand why bread, cakes etc from shops need to have so many extra ingredients in. Think when you make a cake at home - eggs, flour, sugar, voila!
It must be something to do with preservatives but I wish they wouldn't. All the gobblidigook worries me!