Pullman Sandwich Loaf

I have seen these Pullman Loaf Pans for years, and they seemed like a good idea, but I just never got around to trying one until recently.  It turns out that it makes a great loaf of sandwich bread, and the recipe I am sharing today is what Wonder Bread should have been -- it has a great potato bread flavor that is just slightly sweet, and a substantial texture.  Unlike the large, puffy slices you get with commercial sandwich breads, the texture allows a fairly thin slice that is a much more reasonable size.
The pan that I bought is 13" long and comes from USA Pans, which I highly recommend.  Their pans are commercial-grade and reasonably priced, and have a non-stick surface that is silicone based (instead of that scary Teflon stuff). And they are made right here in the good old U.S.A.

After I bought the pan, I searched for good recipes and found the one below on the King Arthur Flour web site, one of my go-to places for bread recipes and flour.  (Turns out that King Arthur also likes and sells USA Pans products.)

Pain de Mie (Pullman Sandwich Bread)

This delicious, fine-grained loaf is perfect for sandwiches and toast -- including French toast and melba toast. (That's what King Arthur Flour people say.) This is 10 times better than any white sandwich bread you can buy at the store, and it's as easy to make as it is to go get store bought. (That's what I say.)

Yield: 1 Loaf (13" pullman pan)

Ingredients 2/3 cup (5 3/8 ounces) milk 1 cup (8 ounces) water 6 Tbs (3 ounces) butter 2 1/4 tsp salt 3 Tbs (1 1/4 ounces) sugar 1/4 cup (1 1/8 ounces) Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk 3 Tbs (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour 4 3/4 cups (20 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 2 tsp instant yeast

How to Make 1 Manual Method: In a large bowl, combine the milk, water, butter, salt and sugar. Add the dried milk, flours and yeast, stirring till the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 5 to 8 minutes, or until it's smooth and supple. Because of the relatively high fat content of this dough, it's a real pleasure to work with. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. 2 Mixer Method: Combine the ingredients as above, using a flat beater paddle or beaters, then switch to the dough hook(s) and knead for 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or dough-rising bucket, cover the bowl or bucket, and allow the dough to rise till doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours. 3 Bread Machine Method: Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your machine, program the machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. When the cycle is finished, remove the dough and proceed as follows. 4 Lightly grease a 13 x 4-inch pain de mie pan. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, shape it into a 13-inch log, and fit it into the pan. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise until it's just below the lip of the pan, 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen (it may rise even more slowly in a cool kitchen; don't worry, this long rise will give it great flavor). 5 Remove the plastic, and carefully place the cover on the pan, let it rest an additional 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350°F. Bake the bread for 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, carefully remove the lid, and return the bread to the oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until it tests done; an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center will register 190°F. Remove the bread from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf.

Oven Temperature: 350°F

Source: King Arthur Flour Web Page: http://www.kingarthurflour.com

Tips If you live in the sticks, you might not find potato flour. I just find the plainest instant mashed potatoes I can, the ones in little packets, and use that instead. Works great! I don't need a big box of nonfat dry milk sitting around when I only use a little bit for this bread. Find the small packets and buy a few to have around. I saw on the King Arthur web site that you could use powdered buttermilk in place of the nonfat dried milk.

I happen to have an electric knife that gets used very infrequently.  (I got it primarily for cutting biscotti, but that is a recipe for another time)  It is perfect for slicing this bread into slices that are just the right thickness for sandwiches -- just enough bread to hold the contents without overwhelming them.  Of course, the knife works just as well if you want to cut the bread thicker for some really awesome French Toast.