The shocking truth about bread and why you should make your own..

Swan_2

Topher wrote:

I read somewhere that someone who makes homemade bread puts vitamin C powder in it, to help it rise, and to preserve it

a lot of us on this forum put it in our bread. I've done it for decades with both my hand-made & BM produced loaves & it does help the rise, particularly with wholemeal
never really thought about the preservative aspect, it never lasts long enough to worry about that!

btw, Vitamin C = Ascorbic Acid = E 300

Waldir

What breadmaker would you recommend for 2 people?
Pricerunner lists some from £30 to £80 (link). Should I just go for the cheapest one (which I already find a bit expensive )?

Thanks,
Waldir

Cat72

The best breadmaker seems to be the panasonic which comes in 2 models. The sd252 and sd253. the 253 is for nuts/ rasin dispenser. At the moment Robert dyas have the 252 at £69.99 here plus and extra 20% off is available for new customers ( if you go to the robert dyas home page it gives you details). So this should bring it to about £49.99 which is a great price for what is a highily recommended breadmaker .HTH

leonie_2

I have to say that i've taken homemade bread one step further and i've got a grain mill. I mill half the wheat and add to it a couple of hundred grams of store bought strong flour. The resulting loaf is so rich and satisfying. I mill the wheat just before using it so its lovely and fresh.

I also use freshly milled wheat in things like white/cheese sauces and they really taste so much nicer. Its an expensive buy but eating things from the freshly milled flour is just so nice!

Also, as I buy my wheat in huge bags like the manufacturers get, I get to see (and pick out) all the crappy bits that are usually milled with the wheat! :eek:

doddsy

leonie wrote:

I have to say that i've taken homemade bread one step further and i've got a grain mill. I mill half the wheat and add to it a couple of hundred grams of store bought strong flour. The resulting loaf is so rich and satisfying. I mill the wheat just before using it so its lovely and fresh.

I also use freshly milled wheat in things like white/cheese sauces and they really taste so much nicer. Its an expensive buy but eating things from the freshly milled flour is just so nice!

Also, as I buy my wheat in huge bags like the manufacturers get, I get to see (and pick out) all the crappy bits that are usually milled with the wheat! :eek:

Hi Leonie, can you tell me where you get the wheat from? Would be interested in this myself.

regards
doddsy

liz545

I use the white bread recipe from Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess which stipulates using a little powdered mashed potato in with the flour, in order to increase the shelf life of the bread. I guess this is the HM equivalent of adding preservatives!

malamala

The article mentioned about Soya Flour as an additive to manufactured bread, but it did not say whether it is bad for health or not. As said above, not all bread addictives are bad for you.

We love making our own breads too but lately we tried the Burgens bread which tastes like food from heaven! With soya and linseeds and soya flour as ingredients.

Has anyone got a recipe for this lovely Burgens bread?

Also, I add a little sponge cake emulsifier in making cake, it is so much more lighter, I have heard many bakeries add that into their cakes too. Not sure if it is unhealthy or not, but I only bake about 6 cakes a year so I thought it should be ok (?) Any comment about sponge cake emulsifier?

Thanks!

vivaladiva

malamala wrote:

Also, I add a little sponge cake emulsifier in making cake, it is so much more lighter, I have heard many bakeries add that into their cakes too. Not sure if it is unhealthy or not, but I only bake about 6 cakes a year so I thought it should be ok (?) Any comment about sponge cake emulsifier?

Thanks!

Never heard of this. What is it and where do you get it?

Queenie

Topher wrote:

I read somewhere that someone who makes homemade bread puts vitamin C powder in it, to help it rise, and to preserve it.

I understand that modern flours are milled differently in such a way that eating wheat products is not as healthy as it might be, and makes them addictive.

T.

If you don't have any Vit C/Ascoribic Acid then you can used fresh lemon juice 2tsp per 500g flour. Its a bread improver and helps the yeast to grow in a shorter time hence improving the volume of the loaf which is why it's recommended when making wholemeal loaves which tend to be denser and don't rise *as* well. Check the ingredients in your flours/yeasts/breadmixes, sometimes it's already included.

Waldie wrote:

What breadmaker would you recommend for 2 people?

Bread machines vary but most make loaves of 1lb 11/2lb and 2lb capacity. Mine will make a 1lb loaf but I need to use the 1 1/2lb setting.

As for price, you do not need to buy an expensive model - shock, horror, yes I know that goes against the grain of fellow OS'ers who swear by their Panasonics :whistle: - I bought mine in a Wilko's sale for a fabulous price. For me, it was a gamble because I didn't know if I would get the use to justify buying an expensive branded model.

I've had it almost 2yrs and not only has it not let me down, I recently recommended an almost identical model to someone else just a different name emblazoned on it So far she's having lots of fun and success with it

The only thing which mind doesn't do (compared with the Panasonic) is have an automatic nut/seed/fruit dispenser; all that means is that I add those when my machine 'beeps' or throw them in towards the beginning if I won't be around at the 'beep' - for me that is no big deal. I can make cakes, teabreads, doughs, jams and that's plenty for my needs

HTH

Queenie

Bizzimum wrote:

Never heard of this. What is it and where do you get it?

I found this from http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0026218.html

Emulsifier

Food additive used to keep oils dispersed and in suspension, in products such as mayonnaise and peanut butter. Egg yolk is a naturally occurring emulsifier, but most of the emulsifiers in commercial use today are synthetic chemicals.