Bread

[Walker570]

Anyone on here make their own bread?   I have a bread maker and have not made any for many years.  Our local bakery has stopped making the good solid sandwich bread and now only produces soft squadgy garbage.  Plan to go back to making our own and just wondred if others made their own etc etc.

[ditchman]

7 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Anyone on here make their own bread?   I have a bread maker and have not made any for many years.  Our local bakery has stopped making the good solid sandwich bread and now only produces soft squadgy garbage.  Plan to go back to making our own and just wondred if others made their own etc etc.

have you tried sour doe bread...very very easy to make and smother it in poppy seeds

[bigroomboy]

Yes all the time in the bread maker. I found the nicest was a 50/50 of malted and white flower with pumpkin seeds.

[Vince Green]

I make German "schwartz brot" German black wholemeal rye bread with no wheat ( a family member has a serious problem with wheat ) and no sugar.

Once you develop the taste for it you realise just how good this bread can be. Its thick to the point of being pudding like but a couple of slices with butter is a meal in its own right.

Several people with IBS , diabetes and Celiacs disease have contacted me and I have made it for them too. Rye bread is considered very much better for the digestive system.

Demand is such I could make a business out of it but instead I help them to get started making it on their own.

Try it, its not immediately to the English taste but it sure grows on you

[Walker570]

Lots to go on there. Also interested in a fruit loaf receipe, paneton type. That is almost like eating cake.  Mainly looking for a firm bread which toasts well and also makes good tidy sandwichesmbut willing to try others.

[welsh1]

I like to knock up challah bread,trouble is it doesn't last the day lol.

[amateur]

I have been making wholemeal loaves for myself and gluten-free loaves for my wife for years.

I use a mix for the gf, but have developed my recipe for the wholemeal using my own blend of white and wholemeal spelt and white and wholemeal wheat flour. Following one of loriusgarrulus's recent posts, I have started adding oats to the blend.

I don't eat any other bread and our grandchildren demand "Grandpa's" loaves

[moondoggy]

I dabble occasionally. 
My advice would be to use good quality flour. I now get all my flours and yeasts from Bakery Bits. Great site with good advice. They are very knowledgeable of all things baking.

For books, have a look at Crust and Dough, both written by Richard Bertinet.

I would also say, ditch the bread maker and get hands on. There is nothing quite like that first crust from a freshly baked loaf covered with lashings of a good quality butter. 🥖🍞

Edited March 12, 2022 by moondoggy
Spelling and photo

[bruno22rf]

I make a loaf every 2 days in my machine, 1.5 kg bags of flour from Aldi are 60p so 20p a loaf + a couple of pence for the yeast. Aldi flour is sometimes not quite up to the more expensive brands but 1/2 tsp of flour improver makes a big difference.

[amateur]

2 hours ago, moondoggy said:

I would also say, ditch the bread maker and get hands on. There is nothing quite like that first crust from a freshly baked loaf covered with lashings of a good quality butter. 🥖🍞

Equally, there is nothing nicer than getting up, first thing in the morning, to the smell of fresh bread, machine baked on the delay timer, or if you are in a hurry, 5 minutes to load the machine and a 3 hour quick bake.

[Robden]

There's a good baker near me so I buy it from them.  Thinking I may start again. I got fed up making bread after living on a boat for 15 years. Made a loaf (by hand) every 2-3 days.

[bruno22rf]

7 hours ago, amateur said:

Equally, there is nothing nicer than getting up, first thing in the morning, to the smell of fresh bread, machine baked on the delay timer, or if you are in a hurry, 5 minutes to load the machine and a 3 hour quick bake.

My Panasonic does a quick bake in 1hr 55mins, perfect loaf every time. If you add the yeast after about 3-4 minutes as the machine is mixing it isn't affected by the salt and seems to work better, don't forget to remove the paddle after the mix stage.

[amateur]

10 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

My Panasonic does a quick bake in 1hr 55mins, perfect loaf every time. If you add the yeast after about 3-4 minutes as the machine is mixing it isn't affected by the salt and seems to work better, don't forget to remove the paddle after the mix stage.

The 3 hour quick bake on my machine is for wholemeal. I believe that there are quicker programs for white, but I only eat wholemeal. As for the rest, I don't fiddle with my machine,  just load it and press the buttons. 😁

[Walker570]

Lots of good advice. I think I will stick with the machine as time is no problem.

[ditchman]

some seriously nice looking loaves...........you are a clever lot

[bruno22rf]

On 13/03/2022 at 07:16, amateur said:

The 3 hour quick bake on my machine is for wholemeal. I believe that there are quicker programs for white, but I only eat wholemeal. As for the rest, I don't fiddle with my machine,  just load it and press the buttons. 😁

Mine will do a 50:50 mix with wholemeal in the same 1:55 and the longer programs never seem to work as well as the rapid. There's no "fiddling", the machine is already running when I add the yeast and doing so prevents the odd loaf failing as the salt kills the yeast, removing the paddle takes 10 seconds and you don't get that big groove in the base of the loaf. Best around half an hour after finishing with Aldi Blackcurrant conserve 😋.

[amateur]

Aah!, not tried the quick white with my wholemeal mix, but you are right, the quick programs seem to produce better results, but, of course, the quick program doesn't work with the timer, so I have to do the delayed overnight run with the 5 hour wholemeal program.

Having had, and broken, a few breadmakers over the years, I must say that the Panasonic has performed excellently so far.

[bruno22rf]

If you want a good bargain machine buy the Aldi one when it's available, keep the receipt cos after a couple of years the seal in the bread pan locks up and the machine stops, take it back and ,as Aldi don't keep spares, you get your money back, then buy another one. Like my Panasonic but it chews up paddles most years.

[amateur]

5 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

If you want a good bargain machine buy the Aldi one when it's available, keep the receipt cos after a couple of years the seal in the bread pan locks up and the machine stops, take it back and ,as Aldi don't keep spares, you get your money back, then buy another one. Like my Panasonic but it chews up paddles most years.

Seal failure was the main reason why my previous breadmakers died, mainly because all of the recipes said put the liquids in first and the yeast last, so eventually they all leaked.

Then I followed loriusgarrulus's advice of putting the yeast in first, then the dry ingredients, then the liquids.

Bingo!

The Panasonic has been going reliably for the past 5 years 

Edited March 15, 2022 by amateur

[Dave-G]

I've recently started making dodgy cornish pasties. :-)

[udderlyoffroad]

On 12/03/2022 at 21:00, moondoggy said:

would also say, ditch the bread maker and get hands on.

This.  If you must invest in a machine, get a mixer machine to kneed the dough.  Even a cheapo will do, and there's much less to go wrong, and it has other uses in the kitchen than just bread making.

[Walker570]

On 14/03/2022 at 08:50, bruno22rf said:

Mine will do a 50:50 mix with wholemeal in the same 1:55 and the longer programs never seem to work as well as the rapid. There's no "fiddling", the machine is already running when I add the yeast and doing so prevents the odd loaf failing as the salt kills the yeast, removing the paddle takes 10 seconds and you don't get that big groove in the base of the loaf. Best around half an hour after finishing with Aldi Blackcurrant conserve 😋.

Do you need to add salt?  Is it essential

[bruno22rf]

I think salt has various benefits, but we are only talking 6 grams here in a 500 gram loaf so if my maths is correct it's less than 2%. I think it must help with preserving the loaf a bit as well but, in my experience, if you want a loaf still fresh after 2 days then use Wessex Mills French bread flour, downside is it's price 😬. Far cheaper to use the Aldi Flour and just make a fresh loaf.

[amateur]

Salt moderates the growth of the yeast, so less salt creates a more open texture, even big cavities in the loaf and the loaf can overflow the tin.

Too much salt and you kill the yeast and end up with a solid lump

Historically, salt was heavily taxed in Italy, so Italian bakers used less of it and hence Italian bread has a more open texture.

[Walker570]

HHhhhaaaaaaaaagghhhh !!!!!   Disaster struck.   I had my first mix in the bread maker (maybe 20 years old) it mixed fine, etc etc then began to rise nicely and had risen to the point where the baking cycle would start and it fused all the electrics in the house. Rechecked and it did it again. Obviously a fault in the machine as it turns the heat up.  Scrambled the loaf tin out and turned on the oven and put it in there.  OK not a full disaster because at least my wife can crumb it and make treacle tarts.  It is eatable as well but obviously not as good as it would have been even for a first try.  Looking through all the different mixes for making bread it does appear that being super critical on weights and measures is not required ... I think a bit of trial and eror to find what suits our machine.

Ordered a new one from Aldi £50 delivered with good reviews so will now wait that new ones arrival.   The old machine was one we purchased probably 20 maybe 25 years ago so I suppose asking a lot for it to be brought back to life.