Quick questions on bread making

Penelope_Penguin

toddles* wrote: »

thank you
I think the yeast definatley died. I put the yeast in last, in the correct order but through the night it must of soaked through. Not sure what to try tonight. Maybe less water so it doesnt soak through to the yeast.

I've been making bread overnight for years, and as long as you put the water in first, cover it with flour, and put the yeast on top of that, the liquid has never wicked up to start the yeast off early.

Try again, and let us know if it works

Maybe put the timer on first thing in the morning, so that you can check progress through the day, as an experiment

cooking-mama

Did you use fresh yeast?,I dont think thats suitable for breadmakers...in fact even some of the dried packet yeast isnt,,check the labeling on your yeast pack to make sure its OK to use in bread machines..Good luck.

andygb

I am just about to make some more bread. I have noticed recently, that the bread has risen far more, and had a much lighter texture than previously, and I can only put this down to one thing.
I have a bowl of warm water 400ml, and add 2 tsp sugar and dissolve. I then add two sachets instant yeast (I use 700g of flour), and leave for 15 minutes, by which time it has activated nicely.
This gives me a chance to get the other ingredients mixed nicely - flour, salt, olive oil/butter.
I always get a really crunchy crust (which I like).
I also find that my own bread lasts a week, without going stale, and never mouldy.

toddles*

I am going to try again, follow the instructions religiously and leave it on timer for the next couple of hours, see what happens. fingers crossed. thanks everyone

-BA-

Hi all. Just picked up a cracking deal of an ex-display Panny 255 for £45 with a 3yr warranty from Comet and am now oh the hunt for the right materials to go with it. In particular I am after good flours and have heard that Allinsons Strong White is a good option. Does anyone have any good recommendations for wholemeal and granary. I have always like wholegrain/granary/seeded loaves and am really keen to give these a go. Have trawled through some of the threads and taken down a couple of recipes but can't find specific types of flower to go for. Thanks in advance.

angeltreats

-BA- wrote: »

Hi all. Just picked up a cracking deal of an ex-display Panny 255 for £45 with a 3yr warranty from Comet and am now oh the hunt for the right materials to go with it. In particular I am after good flours and have heard that Allinsons Strong White is a good option. Does anyone have any good recommendations for wholemeal and granary. I have always like wholegrain/granary/seeded loaves and am really keen to give these a go. Have trawled through some of the threads and taken down a couple of recipes but can't find specific types of flower to go for. Thanks in advance.

Allinson do a lovely seed & grain flour. I haven't tried it in a breadmaker but I've made some lovely loaves from it by hand. Generally though what I do is use half wholemeal, half white, and just throw in a handful of seeds like pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, whatever I have really. Again sorry but I haven't tried that in a breadmaker, I believe they are a bit fussier about recipes whereas if you do it by hand you can chuck in whatever you want! But I'm sure it's worth experimenting.

-BA-

Thanks for that. I will have a good look around tomorrow when I am shopping. Got a nice little list of ingredients to pick up and can't wait to give it a go.

skyelark

Ok folks, hope you can help me here. Just did my first successful hand made loaf at the weekend (Delia cool rise recipe). The first batch I made 2 small loaves. The 2nd (she said this was ok to do) I made 1 large. My problem is, although the 1st batch was perfect and delicious, the 2nd was not cooked properly inside (still doughy in middle of bread). I took the advice and tapped the bottom, which sounded hollow before I turned it out. Any fool proof tips on making sure the whole loaf is cooked?

angeltreats

skyelark wrote: »

Any fool proof tips on making sure the whole loaf is cooked?

Do you by any chance have a temperature probe? Bread is cooked when it reaches 90ºC, so you could probe it to be sure. I do this sometimes if it's a type of bread that's quite heavy or has an ingredient like beetroot that makes it hard to tell whether it's cooked.

You can pick up a probe for under a tenner, and they're also incredibly useful for cooking meat, eg to tell if roast beef is cooked to your liking without having to slice it open.

skyelark

angeltreats wrote: »

Do you by any chance have a temperature probe? Bread is cooked when it reaches 90ºC, so you could probe it to be sure. I do this sometimes if it's a type of bread that's quite heavy or has an ingredient like beetroot that makes it hard to tell whether it's cooked.

You can pick up a probe for under a tenner, and they're also incredibly useful for cooking meat, eg to tell if roast beef is cooked to your liking without having to slice it open.

Great thanks. I will go on to Amazon and have a look. The tenner for it will pay me back in ingredients that have not been wasted!