Breadmaking - recipes, hints, tips, questions

LittleLauz

Baking bread for first time today, at the moment I'm just letting the dough rise, but my question is, will it rise much more whilst it's cooking as im not sure what size tin to use?

LittleLauz

And also I've put the bowl of dough in front if the radiator to rise, as even when my heating is on my flat doesn't get very warm. Will this be ok?

Linda32

Hi,

The dough will rise abit when baking. Does the receipe say what size tin. It should do I would have thought.

The dough should rise where ever you leave it

LittleLauz

I did them as rolls in the end as only had a tiny loaf tin and it looked like quite a lot of dough!
They turned out pretty well and my flat now smells divine!!
I shall have them later with my homemade lasagne which is now baking :-)
think I'll try and bake some every weekend, much nicer than shop bought bread, I'm converted!

zippychick

glad they worked out - you can always make it freeform without a tin for a more rustic look

ive merged this with breadmaking quick qs (and another thread )

This thread may also help and of course adventures with bread dough

doublenorwich

Using my old Morphy Richards breadmaker, my wholemeal loaves (500g,program 3) used to collapse with a sunken top. When I reduced the yeast the loaves hardly rose, producing dense bricks. If you are making bricks, try this:
Inspect the loaf just before the final (bake) hour. Don't let it start the bake since that will kill the yeast. If it has not risen much, pull out the mains plug and leave it to rise for about 20mins. Keep inspecting and waiting until it has risen about 2/3 of the pan height. Then select the bake program (No.10), which takes an hour.
I made about 250 bricks before this! My loaves are now 6" tall, and don't collapse.:)
NB You may need to keep the loaf warm during the delays. I select the bake program for just 10seconds. (To switch off the bake program, you it is best to hold the Start/Stop button in for a few seconds, or pull out the mains plug).

Kildare

Hello! Hope this is the right place to ask for help with my new breadmaker.

I received a John Lewis Breadmaker as a wedding gift a few weeks ago and am chuffed to bits with it - making fresh bread every weekend

However although the bread rises and comes out fine, I find the loaf is quite dense. Also, it doesn't stay fresh very long. If I make bread in the morning for breakfast, by lunchtime its gone stale

This is the recipe I've been using (it goes with the breadmaker) - are there better recipes I could be using?? And is there anyway to make the bread last a few days?

Basic white bread 750g
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sunflower or light olive oil
1¼ tsp sea salt
2½ tablespoons dried milk powder
2 tablespoons caster sugar
3 cups of strong white bread flour
1¼ tsp of dried fast action yeast

lapis_lazuli

Kildare wrote: »

However although the bread rises and comes out fine, I find the loaf is quite dense.

I make mine by hand but with a foodmixer to do the actual kneading. My bread is denser than shop bought, but I think that's because of the way the shops make theirs, by using huge amounts of yeast and lots of Vitamin C to force the bread into rising quickly.

How many times does your dough rise in the breadmaker? The classic method is mix ingredients --> knead dough --> leave to rise --> knead again aka "knocking back" --> shape or place into tins --> leave to rise again --> Bake in oven. The point of the knocking back is to evenly distribute the pockets of air created by the yeast, and then the second rising (or proving) lightens the loaf further since additional air bubbles are created. If your dough rises just the once, then of course the bread will be dense. I rather like the denser texture. Home made bread is horribly addictive, and the extra density means that you feel full sooner, so you don't end up eating as much at one go. I'm pretty certain that's just the way it is with home made bread. The mxier makes a beautifully smooth and elastic ball of dough, just as it should be, so I can't really blame that.

Also, it doesn't stay fresh very long. If I make bread in the morning for breakfast, by lunchtime its gone stale

Are you eating half the loaf at breakfast and then the edge goes hard by lunchtime? Just cut off a thin slice. Underneath it'll be soft. It will go stale sooner as it doesn't have all the additives to make it keep longer which shop bought bread contains.

This is the recipe I've been using (it goes with the breadmaker) - are there better recipes I could be using?? And is there anyway to make the bread last a few days?

Basic white bread 750g
1 cup water
2 tablespoons sunflower or light olive oil
1¼ tsp sea salt
2½ tablespoons dried milk powder
2 tablespoons caster sugar
3 cups of strong white bread flour
1¼ tsp of dried fast action yeast

I use a variation of Delia's, posted by thriftlady:

1.5 lbs of flour,
1 teaspoon of salt,
1 teaspoon of sugar,
1 teaspoon of dried yeast,
15 mls of water.

There's no fat, but it tastes fine nonetheless and stays fresh for three days or so.

zippychick

lapis_lazuli wrote: »

I make mine by hand but with a foodmixer to do the actual kneading. My bread is denser than shop bought, but I think that's because of the way the shops make theirs, by using huge amounts of yeast and lots of Vitamin C to force the bread into rising quickly.

How many times does your dough rise in the breadmaker? The classic method is mix ingredients --> knead dough --> leave to rise --> knead again aka "knocking back" --> shape or place into tins --> leave to rise again --> Bake in oven. The point of the knocking back is to evenly distribute the pockets of air created by the yeast, and then the second rising (or proving) lightens the loaf further since additional air bubbles are created. If your dough rises just the once, then of course the bread will be dense. I rather like the denser texture. Home made bread is horribly addictive, and the extra density means that you feel full sooner, so you don't end up eating as much at one go. I'm pretty certain that's just the way it is with home made bread. The mxier makes a beautifully smooth and elastic ball of dough, just as it should be, so I can't really blame that.


Are you eating half the loaf at breakfast and then the edge goes hard by lunchtime? Just cut off a thin slice. Underneath it'll be soft. It will go stale sooner as it doesn't have all the additives to make it keep longer which shop bought bread contains.



I use a variation of Delia's, posted by thriftlady:

1.5 lbs of flour,
1 teaspoon of salt,
1 teaspoon of sugar,
1 teaspoon of dried yeast,
15 mls of water.

There's no fat, but it tastes fine nonetheless and stays fresh for three days or so.

that's a handmade bread recipe

There is a basic breadmaker recipe thread which may help

we also have a thread on storing homemade bread

Kildare

Hello!

My bread rises twice in the bread maker. Thanks for the links - I'm going to dig through these this weekend and have another go.

A couple of extra questions:
1. Could the paddle from the breadmaker be making the bread stale? When I pull it out it leaves a hole in the bottom so maybe this is causing the problem.

2. The instructions say to leave the bread in the pan until the bread pan has cooled. Should I wait until the pan has gone cold or take the bread out once the pan is cool enough to hold?

Sorry for the all the questions - I'm a complete novice at this :cool: