handmade bread

[Deleted User]

I need to make more bread!!! that sourdough I sliced and put in the freezer has almost gone. I decided that there was too much dough (5lb) to go into the pot so I made 2 large loaves and one small instead. I placed the tins directly on the bakestone and threw a pint of water into a roasting dish for steam. Tbh they were a much easier shape to slice for the freezer that I`ll be doing that again

The price of organic sourdough loaves in T is horrendous. I calculated that the equivalent in T would be over £8 and they aren`t nearly as nice as my hm. They are very worth making. Anyway the starter has woken up much faster as I resurected him last night and fed him warm water and lots of 000 plus white plus wholemeal flour. I forgot to take the piece out hence me keeping an emergency starter which is 6 months old. I`ll take a piece out today before adding the salt disolved in water. The dough will like it today when the sun shines in and I`ll be baking at tea time

[Deleted User]

re dense bread: I think it is important to get back to basics ie realising that bread is made with a living organism that gives out gases as it grows. The gases cause the rising, together with steam expansion in the dough so dough needs to have enough water and yeast needs to be active. That is why instant yeast isn`t wonderful in that you can`t see if it is active before you start preparing the bread. Strong flour has enough gluten to hold the stretch in a rise. Also don`t over rise as dough can collapse down again and wipe the bowl with oil so it doesn`t stick and the rise will be better



Salt also slows it all down so I use the minimum and dissolve it in water so as not to shock my bread

anguk

You've all convinced me. I'm going to have a go at hand-making bread. I've never been happy with my breadmaker bread, I normally just make the dough in it then stick it in the oven so I'm going to try and make it from scratch.

I think I'll try thriftlady's bread rolls first before I attempt a loaf in a tin. :eek:

simpywimpy

In yesterdays Sun newspaper there was a piece on cooking courses and I spotted bread.

The French Table in Surbiton, Surrey run by hubby and wife team have meditteranean cooking courses and offers a special one in bread making for £50

I quite fancied this but its just too far away for me

email was [EMAIL="s.singer@myjam.co.uk"]s.singer@myjam.co.uk[/EMAIL] or phone 020 7482 7403 in case anyone wants to try it

simpywimpy

dense bread:
I changed my salt to fine sea salt after reading it makes a difference and used an allinsons yeast that you had to activate in water first to a throthy top but the result was exactly the same as with table salt and normal dried yeast.

Would using fresh yeast make enough difference or could it be my kneading skills?

thriftlady_2

kittie wrote: »

The price of organic sourdough loaves in T is horrendous. I calculated that the equivalent in T would be over £8 and they aren`t nearly as nice as my hm. They are very worth making.

I'm really getting excited about baking my first sour dough loaf sometime in the next couple of days. My starter is bubbling away nicely and smells fruity rather vomitty (which it did after the first day or so).When the starter is ready I intend to make the sponge before I go to bed, then make the dough in the morning, let it rise through the day and bake in the evening. I'm hoping to do this every other day to keep a supply on our table. If it all goes according to plan I shall actually be spending even less on my breadmaking than usual as I won't be using commercially produced yeast.

fluffybunnies

I've never used salt in bread and never had any problems...

Justamum

simpywimpy wrote: »

dense bread:
I changed my salt to fine sea salt after reading it makes a difference

Does it? I've never heard this before. I just use ordinary table salt and have no problems with it. What is the sea salt supposed to do? Maybe I should try it if it's going to be worth it.

simpywimpy wrote: »

and used an allinsons yeast that you had to activate in water first to a throthy top but the result was exactly the same as with table salt and normal dried yeast.

Would using fresh yeast make enough difference or could it be my kneading skills?

I've had to use this type of yeast recently because my local supermarket has stopped stocking the Doves Farm one in the orange packet - they only have the sachets which work out more expensive. So I had to go to Tesco and saw this Allinsons one so decided to give it a go. The results are no different from my normal bread, so next time I go to Tesco I'll pick up the orange packet again. I've used fresh yeast in the past and tbh found it more of a faff. (If you do get fresh yeast you can freeze it)

What problems are you having with your bread? I doubt it will be your kneading skills which are causing a problem - I can be very lazy about mine and sometimes barely knead the lot together until the texture changes - a couple of minutes tops (I certainly can't be bothered with the 10 minutes kneading).

debtmuncher

i have the orange packet of doves yeast....is this what you call easy blend?

Justamum

debtmuncher wrote: »

i have the orange packet of doves yeast....is this what you call easy blend?

Yes. You mix it in with the flour before you add any liquid.

Which reminds me - I must go and check on my own loaves! I'm busy listening to the Archers Omnibus on i-player and have forgotten about it!!!!