Bread maker help

totallybored

Ive finally decided to get a bread maker and it arrives next week :j I'm going out tomorrow to buy some flour and things for when it arrives but I need some advice on what to buy as I've never used one before.

I want to make white breads to start so I guess I'll need white flour. Is there a special bread flour or do I buy strong flour? And do I buy the sachets of yeast?

Do I need the Italian 00 flour for anything? I've seen it sitting on the shelf with other flours before and I vaguely recall reading recipes that use it. I'd like to make a focaccia and ciabattas. And for French bread do I need specific flour?

I want to make a sourdough loaf as they are really expensive to buy, is that difficult? I've had a look at a few recipes And they say they need sourdough starter. What on earth is this?

Any help is appreciated as I love cooking but baking is something I don't really do yet

mummyjane

I have had success using supermarket own brand strong flour. It is really down to personal preference I think, I only tend to use 00 flour for pasta but have only made focaccia (I used normal strong white flour) and it turned out yummy

Sourdough looks reasonably easy to make, I keep thinking about making some - might have to try over the weekend.

sonastin

I use strong bread flour - Asda seems to be cheapest at the moment. 60p for 1.5kg. Lidl also do a decent flour at a good price (65p I think for 1.5kg). Yeast needs to be easy-bake or fast-action I think. Allinsons do a little tin of it which I think works out cheaper than the sachets (99p for 100g). Make sure you get the green one; I've read somewhere that the yellow one doesn't work so well in a breadmaker. But I think the sachets work just as well - just haven't tried them myself.

That's all I started out with but have slowly been adding to the larder and adapting what I'm putting in to try different things - wholemeal flour, seeds, dried fruit for fruitbread, etc. Haven't got as far as the italian breads yet so not sure what you'd need for them.

I've found that the bread is much lighter if I use oil instead of butter. I've found myself getting p'd off with my OH when I get home from work and he hasn't had any bread for lunch because that means its another day before I can make a new loaf!

Planning to have a go at brioche at the weekend - was always a special "camping holiday in france" treat when I was growing up.