Breads/Biscut making, advice, help, recipes. Pics pg 3

[big brown horse]

Mountain Man:

I learned to bake by making every mistake possible and a few they were not aware were possible. It taught me these "quality checks" for when making bread:
Wait to see the yeast go active. It will grow and move. I always feed it a pinch of sugar right at the start and the water should feel like baby bottle temperaure.
If using a mixer to knead, let it mix until all of the dough is on the hook and you can hear it slap the side of the bowl. Then take a handful and stretch it out like bubblegum. If it thins out without breaking, just like bubblegum, it is ready to let rise.
Let the dough rise until it keeps the indentation if you poke about an inch in with your finger. If it closes in, wait longer, if it starts to collapse, it has risen too much.
When punching down actually let it rip and give it a good hit, great for relieving stress, too...
When raising in the pan, still test with the finger poke before baking.
If you have to throw out the dough, be sure to kill it first with an overdose of salt. (guess how I learned that...)


One more thing...if you have been nervous trying to make bread, the salt in your sweaty palms can kill the yeast---yet another lesson from experience...

Hi Needlefrau,

Thanks for the advice, and welcome to Sufficient Self!

 

[modern_pioneer]

Mountain Man:

I learned to bake by making every mistake possible and a few they were not aware were possible. It taught me these "quality checks" for when making bread:
Wait to see the yeast go active. It will grow and move. I always feed it a pinch of sugar right at the start and the water should feel like baby bottle temperaure.
If using a mixer to knead, let it mix until all of the dough is on the hook and you can hear it slap the side of the bowl. Then take a handful and stretch it out like bubblegum. If it thins out without breaking, just like bubblegum, it is ready to let rise.
Let the dough rise until it keeps the indentation if you poke about an inch in with your finger. If it closes in, wait longer, if it starts to collapse, it has risen too much.
When punching down actually let it rip and give it a good hit, great for relieving stress, too...
When raising in the pan, still test with the finger poke before baking.
If you have to throw out the dough, be sure to kill it first with an overdose of salt. (guess how I learned that...)


One more thing...if you have been nervous trying to make bread, the salt in your sweaty palms can kill the yeast---yet another lesson from experience...

Still making bread, not the best loafs mind you, but they vary. Not bad ones so much, but still seem to be fickle.

One batch will be fine, the next will be more flat on top. As long as they're good eats, they are still eaten.