Can we talk about bread making?

[ohiofarmgirl]

i cant believe how cheap the yeast was - and how long it lasted! whooot! even if you pay shipping its still a darn good idea!

and really - its not that fancy at all. i think the oatmeal bread is more difficult. for whatever reason i dont have great luck with the loaf pan ones.

but everyone likes their own thing.

and dont forget there is that whole "bread in 5 mins a day" - people LOVE it. Bourbon Red (who's an expert baker) switched to this method and wont go back. its the "no knead" method. the only reason i dont like it is b/c you need space in the fridge and we are pretty full. but its great if you want pizza in a snap. the crust turns out really good.

 

[sdf8]

Not sure if you are still thinking about the sourdough route, but I enjoy using sourdough starter to make bread. It is relatively easy to make and easy to keep. And, as someone mentioned, you can always acquire some from a friend or an online source. Some folks have "heirloom" starter from a gazillion years ago (there seems to be a feeling it mellows with age) and will send you some for a couple bucks.

There are plenty of recipes online if you want to make your own, which I chose to do. Basically, you mix a little flour and water to a consistency of pancake batter (about a cup of each). I use rye flour, myself. Let it sit for 24 hours at about 70 degrees or a bit warmer. Lots of recipes "cheat" and add sugar or a couple grains of yeast to help things along. I don't think it hurts, but it loses some of the charm when you do that.

After 24 hours, pitch half of it and add a half cup water and a half cup flour. Let it sit 24 hours...

Do this for a few days (up to a week) and you will see some bubbles starting to form. At that point it is ready. Put it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

I usually make bread once or twice a week, but I've kept it successfully in the fridge for at least three weeks without killing it. You can freeze a bit or dry some so you don't have to start from scratch, if you kill it.

Assuming you don't kill the starter, you don't have to go through this process every time. Basically, you will add a little more flour/water to a small amount of the starter and toss it in the fridge and it is ready for the next time.

The whole bread making process is pretty straightforward but has some minor subtleties. I'll be happy to share if you decide to go down this path, but I hate to make this any wordier than it already is...

good luck,
sf

 

[savingdogs]

Well I'd like to learn to make a variety of breads! I love the smell of it cooking in the house and find home made bread, even my early attempts, to be so much better than store bought. I also like having complete control of the ingredients for my other health reasons.

I think I need to perfect my "basic bread" a little more before I get fancy, but one of the breads I like to purchase is full of little nuts and grains, like sunflower seeds, etc. Are those just rolled in at the last minute?

And does anyone know how big a part the salt plays in the chemical process? I'm on a sodium restricted diet and there would be times that no-salt bread would be useful for me even if it wasn't my favorite.

 

[sheaviance1]

I'm a new breadmaker too. I have found a method that gives me a beautiful thick crust and a nice crumb inside. The family loves it. I found it on motherearthnews.com. Make a fairly wet dough, and the one called for on the website takes very little yeast, let it rise for a nice long time. You bake it in a covered dutch oven. I do not have a whole lot of free time for baking bread, but I have discovered that even the quick rise types bake up beautifully in a dutch oven. I don't remember off the top of my head the entire method, but basically, you bake covered for most of the baking time, then remove the cover and finish it out. Also, the dutch oven has to be hot when the dough is put in. I love the way this makes a loaf of bread. You may want to try it for yourself. If you need me to find a link and post it, just let me know.

 

[savingdogs]

You could probably make that on the woodstove, then, right? With the dutch oven. I'd love to have one of those to cook in when the power goes out.

 

[ORChick]

This is a recipe that you might like; it has a little more to it than *just plain bread* . I got it out of a library book; I forgot to write down the author's name, but the book is "Great Scandinavian Baking Book"; this is an Icelandic bread, and has become one of my standards.

1 cup of any multi grain hot cereal mix that you like (lacking such I would use steel cut oats, and mix other grains in if I have any)
1/2 Tbls each flax seed and sunflower seed (or other seeds)
3 cups boiling water
--- Combine cereal, seeds, and water, cover, and let cool to lukewarm - at least an hour.
1 Tble dry yeast
2 Tbls brown sugar/honey,molasses/what you will
1/4 c. water
--- Mix the sugar and water together, and proof your yeast till bubbly
1 scant Tbls salt
2 Tbls fat (I use bacon grease)
5-6 cups flour ( I usually use white and whole wheat, about half and half)

Add yeast mixture to the cooled hot cereal mixture, and then the salt, fat, and half the flour. Mix till smooth. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition, enough to make a stiff dough. Cover with a tea towel, and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead till smooth and elastic, adding flour to the board as needed. Let rise in a greased bowl, covered, till doubled (approx. an hour). Punch down, form into loaves (either for loaf pans or free form). If desired, brush with water and sprinkle seeds on top (sesame, sunflower, flax, poppy, etc). Cover, and let rise till double (approx an hour). Slash tops. Bake in pre-heated 400* oven x 30-40 minutes, till loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

You could add some chopped nuts to this, or change the flour ratios. If you have the time, I find that I like the final result better if I can let it rise twice in the bowl (punch it down after first rise, return it to the bowl, let rise again till double, and then form loaves).

 

[ORChick]

Re: salt in bread - from "The Book of Bread" by Judith and Evan Jones.

"... salt is helpful in governing the action of yeast and in strengthening the gluten, in additon to imparting flavor to each loaf. .... Salt prevents dough from becoming too sticky and is one of the factors needed to achieve a crisp crust.
.... saltless bread does have a bland flavor that may seem hard to get used to, but the loaves are certainly edible as well as perfectly presentable."

My own experience with saltless bread was the one time I made some for my grandfather, on a salt restricted diet. I was new to breadmaking, and proud of my newfound skill. I can only say that it was, to my taste, absolutely awful - though Grandfather and the rest of the family claimed that they liked it. I use very little salt in my cooking, as I don't much like salty things, but I have always added salt to my bread since that one time.

 

[savingdogs]

That sounds really yummy. My current bread is coming out a little dense, I wonder if it is because that recipe only has my punching it down and rising one time. That isn't "messing with it" very much.

I'm dying to have some grocery funds and buy some of these ingredients! I love homemade breads!

 

[savingdogs]

Re: salt in bread - from "The Book of Bread" by Judith and Evan Jones.

"... salt is helpful in governing the action of yeast and in strengthening the gluten, in additon to imparting flavor to each loaf. .... Salt prevents dough from becoming too sticky and is one of the factors needed to achieve a crisp crust.
.... saltless bread does have a bland flavor that may seem hard to get used to, but the loaves are certainly edible as well as perfectly presentable."

My own experience with saltless bread was the one time I made some for my grandfather, on a salt restricted diet. I was new to breadmaking, and proud of my newfound skill. I can only say that it was, to my taste, absolutely awful - though Grandfather and the rest of the family claimed that they liked it. I use very little salt in my cooking, as I don't much like salty things, but I have always added salt to my bread since that one time.

I MUST cut sodium from my diet and that is one thing prompting me to bake my own bread. It does taste a little flat and my palate is pretty used to low sodium. I found I cannot cut the salt too drastically. Even just cutting it in half makes the bread pretty bland. But you just explained to me why my bread is not crusty. That is part of why I was interested in adding seeds and nuts because in general that is how you get around a low sodium diet....you add other flavors.

Thank you everyone for such wonderful links, recipes and ideas. I hope other people who are new at bread making will be able to try these recipes too.

 

[CrownofThorns]

I buy my yeast from Azure Standard. I bought 2lb 2 years ago and it still works like the day I bought it. I haven't been freezing it either! It's just in the door of my fridge.

Spelt makes delicious bread. My grandmother is celiac, and my mom borderline so they both use spelt and sometimes their bread turns out better then my white wheat.

I'd LOVE to make rye bread. I think Ruby Tuesdays croutons are made from rye and they are SO GOOD! My brother got some rye seeds from a man who has managed to grow it up here so we'll see how long it is before we get enough to make into bread.

I got a free sourdough culture, unfortunately I can't remember where from. It's from an organization called Friends of (I want to say Ed something?) It makes WONDERFUL sourdough flapjacks. I've neglected mine all winter. I hope it's still ok.

I've recently had to start adding extra gluten to my bread. Has anyone who orders Hard White Wheat Berries from Azure Standard noticed that lately the hard white looks, and acts almost like the soft white? I'm wondering if they had an unusually warm winter when my last couple of bags were harvested.

I've been following the recipe that is one the Bob's Mill Gluten package and I really like it. Adding an egg or two makes it even tastier, and it's wonderful with cinnamon and raisins.