Home Made Bread Please Help!!!!!!

Debt_Free_Chick

Ticklemouse wrote:

I've always used the stuff in the little tins and my brown bread is great. My white, is however, a bit of a disappointment, but as it only rises properly on one side, I put it down to my cheapy breadmaker.

I use this yeast too - Allinsons in the vacuum packed tin.

To solve your white bread problem, try using the dough setting. When done, knock it back, shape, put in a tin, leave to rise and then cook in the oven.

BTW I have a cookworks 1.5 lb breadmaker and have lost the recipe book. Anyone got any ordinary white and brown/wholemeal loaf recipes? Can't remember the amounts to put in.

Try the Delia recipes and adjust the amounts. You want to produce a loaf of 1.5lb, not use 1.5lb of flour!

BritBrat

No way I am a bread maker.

But I will pass on a tip from when we use to make it many many years ago and it realy makes a difference.

Ready for this simple tip?

Vitimin C, add it to the mix or look for yeast that has it included.

Your bread will be nice and lite.

How do they make it hard crusted?

They throw water into the oven causing steam that makes the crust hard. Dont do in an electric oven.

culpepper

I use the little orange tin for mine and it is fine.
Yeast does not last forever though.
You cant use the fresh yeast in machines (or so my machine instructions state)
you might be able to use it if you did the yeast,sugar water thing outside of the machine and then added it.
My machine takes 1 and 1/4 tsp to rise a 2lb loaf so if it is very yeasty maybe youre using too much.
You should use the strong flour .

r.mac_2

yes - yeast 'dies' after about 3 months, so only buy in bulk if you know you'll use it all up!

My mum fell foul of this and replaced her actual breadmaker machine, because she thought it was broken!!! lol

halloweenqueen_2

You can buy little boxes of yeast at Tesco, I've been buying mine there for a little wile. I get the steam in the oven to make crusty rolls buy putting a shallow dish of water in the hot oven just before putting the rolls in and it works.
Would love to be able to make tiger bread though:(

elona

This is probably a stupid question - but what is tiger bread?

r.mac_2

The Tesco bakery section sells it and it is really yummy. crispy on top (think they use a chilli oil?) and very soft, almost milky bread inside.

I would also be interested in a recipe

thefirs

If you're going into Tesco to get yeast, why not just ask for it FREE from the bakery counter? In my experience bread that tastes of too much yeast has come from an excess of dried yeast; using the fresh stuff will help you avoid this and save money into the bargain.

Mustang

Curry Queen: The recipe I gave makes about a 1/5 kg loaf or 6 nice-sized rolls, which is enough for me for a couple of days.

Chrisico: Yes I agree. Keep the yeast in a fridge.

BritBrat: Absolutely. However, my Russell Hobbs Pro bread machine is designed with a water container next to the heaters so it can produce an excellent amount of steam for steaming/cooking the buns. For my Panasonic which doesn't have that particular gizmo, I carefully and lightly spray the top of the dough with water just before it starts cooking. If you bake it in the oven, put a metal container in the bottom of the oven and add some ice cubes. Also, spray the sides of the oven when you put the dough in to cook, and also lightly spray the exposed areas of the dough. Phew!

Vit C? I used to add it - a crushed up Vit C tablet, but don't bother any more. Vit C helps keep the bread fresh longer ... but my bread never hangs around to go stale.

To make a loaf 'fluffier' and lighter, make sure you add milk powder to the mix. And just recognise that any additional 'bits' you add to the mix, eg wholemeal bits, grains, herbs etc will tend to 'cut' the air-bubbles that form during rising, and will therefore lower the 'fluffiness' level of your bread.

r.mac: Tiger bread: Although I've never cooked it, I understand that you need to top your dough with a rice paste which creates the cracked appearance. Here's a recipe - not tried it so someone let us know if it works...

1 tablespoon bread flour, 3/4 cup rice flour, 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, and 6 to 8 tablespoons of water to make a paste. If it seem too thin to spread without running off the top of the dough, add more rice flour. It
should be thick enough to spread with a brush, but not so thick that
is sits like a lump of mud. Brush the rice paste onto the bread dough and leave to rise in the normal way. This makes enough for 2 to 4 loaves.

Trow

I had dried yeast that kept fine for over 2 years in the fridge before it gave up - if you keep it right you can get way more than 3 months from it.