The price of a loaf of bread

paulwf

silligilli wrote: »

I wonder if anyone has a solution to a small problem I'm experiencing. I've just started making my own bread again and on the whole it has been a success but my last couple of loaves have tasted quite 'yeasty'. What, if anything, am I doing wrong or is it just the taste of real bread rather than shop bought?

BTW I use dried yeast.

It could be...

- You are using too much yeast, go by what the yeast packet says not the bread recipe as that might be referring to fresh yeast or a different type of dried yeast

- Are you doubling up a recipe? I haven't got the ratios to hand but AFAIK if you double the quantity of flour you do not double the quantity of yeast. Perhaps try using 1 1/2 times the original amount.

- You are leaving it too long to rise. Some recipes (I think Delia?) call for a very long rising period, the yeast keeps multiplying and the bread generally tastes a bit sour/bitter. As I wrote in a previous post yeast activity is very dependent on temperature, in a 30C summer kitchen the rising time will be far less than in a 15C winter kitchen. A 40 min first rise and 20-30 min second rise is all I'm using in this heat.

You could also try using fresh yeast or a different brand as there can be a bit of difference in taste.

Chaser

allegradream wrote: »

Hi,

I store a lot of flour in the kichen and the only place that's beaten the weevils is the freezer, I use the bottom drawer of my chest freezer exclusively for flour, icing sugar, stuffing, lentils and pearl barley...those little devils get into allsorts...just take your flour out to get to room temperature before use...and it can be refrozen afterwards.
Ive found it doesnt rise as much if used direct from freezer, but at room temp works just as well.

I looked up the weevilly things a while ago and found "confused flour beetle" as a likely name for them..anyone else looked them up?

I tend to make 2 pizza bases, 6 loaves and 24 buns each saturday morning to freeze for the week ahead, and it works out so much cheaper even using wholemeal flour.

Regards, Denise

I have found the only things that beat the dreaded weevil is the lock and lock boxes from, aforementioned, Lakeland. Not cheap but worth it in the circs. I used to make all my own bread years ago when all you could get in the supermarkets was 'plastic' bread. Always used the Elizabeth David overnight slow rise method for white bread. The Elizabeth David bread book is a fantastic book to keep by the bed and dip into from time to time. Now there is only the two of us I use my breadmaker a lot but want to try and get back to oven baking for the white bread as the breadmaker's doesn't turn out quite how I want it. Wholemeal and granary is delicious, keeps much longer too.

nick_b

silligilli wrote: »

I wonder if anyone has a solution to a small problem I'm experiencing. I've just started making my own bread again and on the whole it has been a success but my last couple of loaves have tasted quite 'yeasty'. What, if anything, am I doing wrong or is it just the taste of real bread rather than shop bought?

BTW I use dried yeast.

How much yeast are you using to how much flour? You may be using too much.

Brydav

I've had a bread maker for years (Christmas present) but have only used it on and off, and just stuck to the recipe that came with the machine: water, flour, dried milk, salt, sugar, butter and yeast.

I recently started using it more often to try to save some money, and worked out that this method cost me about 61p per loaf (including the electricity and using supermarket own brand ingredients). Then I found a simpler recipe in a book by Annette Yates ("Fresh bread in the morning from your bread machine") which just uses water, flour, salt & yeast (and tastes just as good to me) and brought down my estimated cost to just 46p a loaf.

I could probably drop this even more if I bought larger packs of yeast, but eight 7g sachets of Tesco fast action dried yeast is only 67p. I use a teaspoon per loaf, which is less than a sachet, so I actually get 11 loaves per pack - a yeast-cost per loaf of 6p, which I don't think is too bad.

I have to admit, Bread Machine loaves don't look as good (especially with the 'hole-in-the-bottom' problem!) but to improve the appearance, I've also started using the machine to just make the dough, then baking it in the oven. I'm sure this will increase the cost a little but I haven't worked it out yet; I already felt a complete nerd for creating a spreadsheet just to work out the basic loaf cost!

The only problem with HM bread as a MS exercise (or a weight loss exercise!) is that it tastes so good it gets eaten quicker (and it's hard to slice thinly!)


My quantities, in case anyone wants to try it, are:
350ml water
500g strong white bread flour (sometimes I substitute a third with wholemeal or wholegrain)
1 tsp/5ml salt
1 tsp/5ml dried yeast

for a rustic Italian style loaf I replace 3 tbsp of the water with olive oil and add a good pinch of mixed herbs.

Buon Appetito!