thinking about buying a breadmaker? wait - read - mine makes sausages

apprentice_tycoon

I use Hovis bread flour but there are lots of posts about trying ordinary flours which will be much cheaper.

This is enough an ordinary large loaf (I split this amount into 3 hand shaped bloomers)

1 1/2 lb bread flour - or whatever you choose
2 level teaspoons of salt - I've reduced this very slightly in mine, personal choice
1 oz of butter or lard
1 sachet of fast action bread yeast
3/4 pint warm water, just a little over blood heat.

Put the flour, salt, yeast and fat into the bowl, use the K beater to rub in the fat.
Change to the dough hook and mix the water in, it shouldn't be sloppy, but enough to gather all the flour together
Knead for around 6 minutes until it's silky
Grease your bread tin or baking sheets
Shape the bread into whatever you are making
Sprinkle with flour, cover loosely with cling film, with a tea towel over and leave to rise by your oven for an hour or so until it's double the size, after about 30 minutes....
Heat your oven to around 230 c 450 f gas 8 or (perhaps a little lower, again personal choice and certainly a little lower for rolls
Bake for around 30 minutes for a loaf or less if you are making something smaller, when it's done the bread will sound hollow when you tap it's bottom

Cool on a rack

Brown bread is just the same.

Bogof_Babe

That's just what I wanted A_t, many thanks. Got to buy the yeast etc. and then we're in business! :T

apprentice_tycoon

Good luck with it - it's pretty foolproof. I never know if I should be writing recipes here in metric or imperial, I work in ounces my kids work in grammes, 2 different languages!

dell_2

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

should be writing recipes here in metric or imperial, I work in ounces my kids work in grammes

My preferred way to "know things" :

my weight in kg's (food in grammes)*
My height in feet
Distance in miles
Carpet in sq mtrs

I just can't get my head round "the other way" for these

Weird? Or just a 70's child?

* Oh except butter which has always been in ounces