Bread Making Question

Red_Doe

I`ve heard it said that you can`t make bread in a cold kitchen, but I have no choice...can`t afford to heat my kitchen and the weather at the moment, thanks to gales and storms, is chilly, so my kitchen is cold.
Does anyone know of any tips and tricks for making bread in a cold kitchen please? I tried but it becomes quite hard to knead and just turns out all dense and heavy.

Swan_2

Red_Doe wrote: »

I`ve heard it said that you can`t make bread in a cold kitchen, but I have no choice...can`t afford to heat my kitchen and the weather at the moment, thanks to gales and storms, is chilly, so my kitchen is cold.
Does anyone know of any tips and tricks for making bread in a cold kitchen please? I tried but it becomes quite hard to knead and just turns out all dense and heavy.

hi Red Doe
here are a few hints & tips, & I'm sure there will be others along with more soon


you can make bread in a cold kitchen, it'll take longer to rise, but does have its the advantage better flavour

you don't have to let the dough rise in your kitchen, put it in the warmest place in the house

if your bread is hard to knead add a little more water to your mix, a soft pliable dough will always rise better than a tight stiff dough

try warming the flour before mixing & kneading, microwave is fine



& there's thread HERE with some more tips about cold rising

Sambucus_Nigra

Don't knead it - use the slap and fold method....

http://bakemyday.blogspot.com/2008/02/slap-your-dough-method.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdtUR-XTG0

You only have to slap and fold for 10 mins, until the bread feels like a fat belly. Then leave an hour. Then shape. Leave an hour. Then bake in hot oven.

Simplest bread ever....we did it in a cold classroom first time in Feb and it still worked.

Phillspad

I have found that using warm water (third boiling water to two-thirds cold water) and kneading on a wooden board helps to maintain a good temperature. I then prove in the airing cupboard to a good rise, doubled in size. Knocking back on same wooden board and shaping, followed by second rise in the airing cupboard all works for me with good bread consistency.
I have heard from my grandparents generation, I'm 61, that cold kitchen will not harm a rise, only slower, but it is the drafts that kill a rise. In the 1950's we did not have a warm kitchen in winter, pretty cold as I remember, yet bread making always seemed to be successful.
I do hope this helps; the airing cupboard has proved a success for me.
Good luck!

Red_Doe

Thanks folks for the responses, will give each a go and hopefully no more heavy bread.

rosie383

Put as many tea towels over it as you can. My SIL gave me this tip and it works. Their house is freeeeezing in winter. She said ' if you want to get warm, you put lots of layers on... works for dough too!"

Sassers

I was in the same situation with no heating for two winters in a row.
What I did as soon as I got out of bed was make it. I’d then go into the (very cold kitchen) and make up the bread as usual, but with hotter water, then cover it in clingfilm still in the big bowl.
What I’d do then is put the bowl in the bed and put the duvet over it.
The warmth in the bed would make the dough rise. May sound yukky and unconventional to some, but hey, my bed and the bowl were spotless.
The bread was fab too.:D