Paul Hollywood's Bread tv programme

andygb

I think that the debate over homemade against shop bought in this country, is possibly not anything like the same comparison on the continent.
In France, even in the supermarkets - Carrefour, Aucham, Leclerc are good examples, you can buy superb bread which leaves our commercial stuff for dead. I also noticed a couple of months ago (on a day trip), that both Carrefour and Auchan now keep supplies of different flour (artisan flours in large quantities) next to their bakery produce, and that they sell examples of bread made with the different flour varieties.
We usually go to farmer's markets down here in Kent, but even though they have stalls selling "artisan" bread, two things strike me - they are far too expensive (sometimes between £4 and £5 per loaf), and they are not as good as supermarket bread in France, or indeed the bread which I bake at home.
Last year on our two week trip through France, Switzerland and Italy, we did a lot of self catering on the move in order to save money. So, we would buy a couple of flutes or ficelles in the morning, and maybe a little treat or two - quiches/tarte de fruits/fougasse. In one exceptional boulangerie in Beaujolais the bread was always around the 1Euro mark, about .85p!
I think the more people who bake bread, the more people will be aware of the dire standards of UK bread.

andygb

Olderbutnotwiser wrote: »

You can never watch enough of Mr Hollywood! I'm really pleased it tastes great, the shape may just have been beginners luck. I've not done this before but think I'm hooked I'm going to try the ale/rye bread this afternoon and really fancy making the malt loaf at some stage ( I may end up about 15 stone though that scares me a bit!)

That was a seriously good first attempt, and one that many experienced bread makers would be more than happy with. I bet it tastes as good as it looks as well:)

Grouchy

Olderbutnotwiser - you obviously have the touch, lovely looking loaf and hopefully as tasty. Was that the PH recipe followed to the letter?

andygb - yes the French stuff is good stuff and I'm after the taste that they can achieve, hopefully I'll get there with experimenting. I'm a bit rural and the choice of flour is limited but I'm looking to source some artisanal type flours locally.

DianneB - thanks for that feedback. We need a special thread for homebaked breads!

Supermarket vs homemade - I don't think there is a comparison to be made, homemade tastes so much better to me (even my less successful efforts) and you know exactly what is in it! Still, each to their own.

I'm planning to make the PH bloomer tomorrow, see how that goes...

Cheers

LandyAndy

Bought the book tonight

anniemf2508

have just made the dough for my second bloomer, will leave over night and bake in the morning.
My youngest likes the taste of it better than shop bought.

Olderbutnotwiser

Grouchy wrote: »

Olderbutnotwiser - you obviously have the touch, lovely looking loaf and hopefully as tasty. Was that the PH recipe followed to the letter?

Yes followed to the letter, who am I to argue with 'The Hollywood'

The only thing was during the first knead with olive oil, it proved a little messy so I threw a little flour on the board, I may have added too much water!

andygb

Olderbutnotwiser wrote: »

Yes followed to the letter, who am I to argue with 'The Hollywood'

The only thing was during the first knead with olive oil, it proved a little messy so I threw a little flour on the board, I may have added too much water!

When you make a few more loaves, you will find that a "wetter" dough is not too intimidating, in fact a lot of the better bread is made with a higher water content. I use 500ml of water, plus two Tbs of olive oil to 650g of white flour (I sometimes use 500 white and 100 country grain).
You can coat your hands with dry flour or oil and move the dough around quickly.
This is the method which I use for my 14 hour proving.
It is a bit sticky, but I find the texture of the crumb is better, and it has a nice, chewy, sourdough type feel.

Here is a good site for bread making advice

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

Olderbutnotwiser

Thanks Andy I'll give that a try and thanks for the link!
I prefer a doughy bread so perhaps that will work well for me
I made the Rye/Ale/Oat bread yesterday, you put treacle in it and it was gorgeous- made a lovely treat.

aliama

Raksha wrote: »

Planning on making a trencher for tea tonight. No roast lamb, but subbing lamb mince, no salad, but subbing some left over from Sunday with a Mediterranean roast veg mix from Mr T

Did you make the trencher? How did you get on and how did you find it? I made it last week to have with leftover roast lamb, and found it a little thick and heavy. It definitely needed the gravy to soften it up a bit. Then again, perhaps I didn't get it thin enough. The flavour of the bread itself was delicious, and I'd like to adapt it into a loaf or maybe rolls.

So far I've also made the bloomer , the rye bread (the one which is served with pate) and the sour dough. All have been delicious.

Picked up some malt extract at the weeking, so I'm going to make the malt loaf and the one which he made on the program with the oaty crust.

And the flatbreads at some point too. The cypriot salad looks freaking delicious in the book, so those pitta breads will be on my list, I'm sure. I think they're on the show Monday coming.

anniemf2508

Just made crumpets from the book....you do need a little bit of patience as they take awhile to cook but i think they look and taste great