makeing bread by hand

fizzel81 · 15 July 2006 at 8:15PM

the bread machine has died:o i simply do not have the money to replace it untill at least the 25th but i have lots of bread makeing stuff(flour and yeast) left how do i do bread by hand? and where is best place to put it to rise?

sorry for a silly question fi

davesgirl_2 · 15 July 2006 at 8:17PM

ooo i would love to know how to do thid too - till i can save for a breadmaker:D

Ted_Hutchinson · 15 July 2006 at 8:26PM

We don't have a bread maker so always make it by hand.
This is more or less what we do in Pictures

We use our airing cupboard for rising because it's the warmest place in the house.
This Scottish website also makes some good points.

Jamie olivers bread recipe

thriftlady_2 · 15 July 2006 at 8:38PM

The big advantage hand baking bread has over BM baked bread is that you can make more than one loaf at a time. For this reason I find hand baking time saving. I make 3 loaves at a time 3 times a week +rolls for packed lunches and sometimes sweet filled breads like cinnamon rolls.

Here's my recipe (adapted from Delia)

For one 2lb loaf (I always triple up)

1 1/2 lb white bread flour(or 1 lb white and 1/2 lb wholemeal or all granary flour)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp easy-blend yeast(the kind recommended for bms0
3/4 pint(15 fl oz)
hand-hot water

Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Stir in the water,bring it all together and turn out on a floured board.
Knead for about 3-4 mins.You may need extra flour if it is too sticky. It will start to feel smooth and 'alive'.To knead,push the bread dough away from you,then fold it back on top of itself, turning it on the board (sorry-much easier to demonstrate than describe).

Put the dough back in the bowl,cover with a damp cloth and leave for about 2 hours.You don't have to put it anywhere warm unless you want it to rise quickly.

After 2 hours it will have doubled in size. Punch it down to knock all the air out of it. Give it a few kneads,form it into a rough loaf shape and put it in a greased 2 lb loaf tin.If you haven't got a tin, shape into a round or oval loaf and place on a greased baking tray.

Leave to prove for about 30 mins or until the bread rises above the tin, then bake at 230c for about 40 mins. When the loaf is cooked the bottom should sound hollow when tapped with your knuckles.

You can roll the dough out for pizza (no need for second rise), or scatter cheese,ham, or chocolate over and roll up like a swiss roll and bake.You can pull off small chunks of dough, roll very thin and bake on the oven bars for a few mins and you've got flatbreads.

It's really versatile and easy, I could never go back to bought bread now, nor would my family let me. HTH

Tracey04 · 15 July 2006 at 9:47PM

is it cheaper and easier to make bread through a bread making machine than buy it at the shops, can you make anything else in it and whats the electric usage like. Somebody once told me a slowcooker is just like leaving a light bulb on is that right?? Thanks Tracey

Stratford_Bill · 21 July 2006 at 12:52AM

I have found bread made in the machine a bit rubbery since it bakes at a lower temperature than an oven. If you can be bothered, you can make better bread in the oven. If you can warm the oven a bit, you can leave the bread to rise in that. Or you can leave the bowl in a basin of warmish water.
You can make dough in the bread maker by just using the mixing programme. Then put the dough in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. You can make some cakes in the breadmaker. The slowcooker and the electric light is about right. Note that boiling pulses (eg kidney beans) is unsuitable in the slowcooker.

sarahs999 · 30 August 2006 at 11:24AM

Does anyone have a great white bread recipe to make by hand? I've been making fab wholemeal bread from a link I got on this site but my FIL is coming to stay and he won't touch wholemeal.
Thanks!

Sarah

seraphina · 30 August 2006 at 11:39AM

I use Delia's white loaf, which is on her website:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/plain-and-simple-white-bread,1350,RC.html

I use a bit less salt than she does. Never had a failure yet (touch wood!)

WeirdoMagnet · 30 August 2006 at 11:45AM

This is the one we use - has been used by my OH's parents for years too.

Ingredients

2oz live yeast*
½ pint boiling water
1 pint cold water
1.5kg bag of flour (save a bit for kneading)
2oz butter
1 level tbsp salt

Method

1. Put hot and cold water in bowl. Crumble in yeast and dissolve with whisk.
2. Add the flour (saving a bit for kneading), the salt and the butter and mix.
3. Once the ingredients are thoroughly combined, turn the dough out and knead well, for about 5 minutes.
4. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise to about double its size (about an hour).
5. In the meantime oil the tins with a tiny amount of oil (I use olive oil).
6. Turn the risen dough out and knead again. Divide dough as appropriate – we use a sharp, smooth bladed knife. I find this amount will make four loaves (they won’t be as big as shop loaves). ‘Wrap’ the dough so you get a smooth ‘top’ (I hope this makes sense!) and place into the tins.
7. Allow to rise again to ‘loaf size’.
8. Bake for about ½ hour at 220-250°c.
9. Turn out on rack to cool.

* You can get live yeast free from the bakery depts at Asda

Sazbo · 30 August 2006 at 6:20PM

sarahs999 wrote:

Does anyone have a great white bread recipe to make by hand? I've been making fab wholemeal bread from a link I got on this site but my FIL is coming to stay and he won't touch wholemeal.
Thanks!

Sarah

Hi Sarah - do you have the link for the wholemeal recipe? I'd love to try it!

thriftlady_2 · 30 August 2006 at 6:27PM

I use Delia's too, also with less salt (1 tsp). I triple the recipe and make it in 4 tins if that makes sense. My wholemeal loaf is the same recipe but with 1/3 wholemeal flour.

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makeing bread by hand

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