handmade bread

Swan_2

like you, I'd much rather have a good handmade loaf than a bad breadmaker one

I was given a Morphy Richards Fastbake by a friend who'd bought it but never used it, & the bread it made had that unpleasant cakey texture no matter what recipe I tried
then it broke, & because I'd gotten used to the convenience of having effortless bread I replaced it with a Panasonic & the difference is like day & night, similarly with a Kenwood I've had the use of

but I still handbake bread, I have a loaf of pain ordinaire (bog standard bread really ) rising just now & I love kneading, shaping it, slashing the crust & seeing the lovely loaf come out of the oven

much as I love my Panny, I'll never stop hand baking bread



PS ... if you haven't seeen the breadmaker threads here or the hand baking threads, I can post some links for you later

hart44

I dont have a bread maker (or want one lol) so do mine by hand, I love it that way I can shut off the rest of the house and just daydream

Swan_2

hart44 wrote: »

I dont have a bread maker (or want one lol) so do mine by hand, I love it that way I can shut off the rest of the house and just daydream

me too, it's so relaxing & you get lovely bread into the bargain

laineyc_2

I don't have a breadmaker. I use my K-mix to need the dough.

Swan_2

laineyc wrote: »

I don't have a breadmaker. I use my K-mix to need the dough.

that's cheating

jannyannie

Hi

I used to have a breadmaker but was never that impressed. I now bake by hand and I find it really relaxing, you've just got to make sure you're staying in for a bit to give it time to rise!

Jan x

rachbc

I have a bread maker and kenwood with a dough hook and I much prefer making bread by hand - you can feel the dough and know if you've got it right or it need for flour or liquid. I've just bought 'Artisan Breads Every day' cookbook and it is amazing - all the breads are cold raised overnight and the pizza was the best I've ever made, made a rustic loaf which was fab and soooo easy and am making a soft fluffy white sarnie loaf tomorrow that looks superb from the growing mound of dough in the fridge

hart44

rachbc wrote: »

I have a bread maker and kenwood with a dough hook and I much prefer making bread by hand - you can feel the dough and know if you've got it right or it need for flour or liquid. I've just bought 'Artisan Breads Every day' cookbook and it is amazing - all the breads are cold raised overnight and the pizza was the best I've ever made, made a rustic loaf which was fab and soooo easy and am making a soft fluffy white sarnie loaf tomorrow that looks superb from the growing mound of dough in the fridge

That sounds like a book I should get
My lot eat all the rolls I make within 2 hours of me doing them so every Sat I make 2 loaves and 12 rolls and love the smell in the house too

u751904

I do both. I get good results with my machine. It is a basic model. I get better results with both when I use fresh yeast. I use two cups of flour, 1/2 tsp of instant yeast which is slightly less than they suggest in the book. IF the bread is heavy lower the instant yeast slightly. As it is warm you might find you don't need so much. MAke sure the salt is the same quantity though.

The advantage of hand work is that you learn from the dough. I use the following technique for kneading which I learnt a few years back and never looked back. I add NO extra flour to the work surface when I do this. you start off thinking it is far to sticky but then it comes together and works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdtUR-XTG0

suzybloo

I have a breadmaker - panasonic - but no-one in the house likes the bread from it so have also decided to give hand baking a go and have quite a good looking loaf sitting cooling just now - hope it tastes as good! I used Lidls breadflour at 68p and allinsons quick yeast, hopefully I will improve making it the more often I do it, as I fing it difficult to know how long to knead it. Total cost of one loaf is approx 29p which cant be bad!

good luck,