Making bread??

[lorihadams]

I use a bread machine but remove it to rise a second time and bake in the oven. I have only made pizza dough and whole wheat loaf bread and sometimes the only problem I have with my bread is that it is very crumbly when cut but I think that is just how it goes.

I would love to get it softer and less crumbly if anyone has a good recipe for whole wheat!

 

[keljonma]

Here is a good beginner recipe

Toast & Sandwich Bread
From King Arthur Flour Company

2 tsp instant yeast
2 T sugar
1 c lukewarm milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
2 T butter, melted

Bread Machine Method (1 1/2-lb. or larger machine): Place all of the ingredients into the pan of your bread machine, program the machine for Basic White Bread (or equivalent), and press Start.

Manual/Mixer/Food Processor Method: In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix for 2 minutes. Switch to the dough hook, and knead for 10 minutes. By hand, knead till you have a smooth, soft dough. Using a processor, process for 90 seconds.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise about 1 hour, or till its doubled in bulk.

Shape the dough into a loaf, and place it in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Tent the dough with a proof cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, or until its crowned 1 to 2 inches over the rim of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it tests done (its internal temperature will read 190F on an instant-read thermometer). Remove the bread from the pan to cool. Yield: 1 loaf, 12 slices.

 

[old fashioned]

I have to admit I LOVE bread.. Not that white stuff they sell at the groc. store but I love stuff like Arnold's Oat-nut bread!!

I thought I would try my hand at making my own bread, purchased pans, pizza board, great flour and the book--- " Artisan Bread in 5 min. a day" I tried three different loaves and hate them all.. So, I went to my favorite used book store and purchased Bernard Clayton's "New Complete Book of Breads Revised and Expanded".. for 2$.

I came home and started marking the recipes that sounded wonderful..

So, tell me how do you make bread? What's your favorite recipe? What tips can you give to a newbie? What items are essential for great breads??? Should I just purchase a bread machine and be done with it????

Thank you for any/all ideas-help..Dixie

I also have Bernard Clayton's "Complete Book of Breads" though not the "New, revised, expanded" edition. I love it and use frequently. Mostly because it has atleast one recipe where you add the yeast directly to the dry ingredients, then add hot liquids. I've used this method on several different recipes even when it calls for "proofing" the yeast in warm liquid. I just can't seem to get the yeast to "proof"-liquid is usually too hot or too cold. So by using hot liquid to all dry, my bread hasn't failed.
There is a great recipe for "Arab" pocket breads (aka: Armenian) that I use and stuff with tuna or chicken salad or sausage, scrambled eggs & cheese for breakfast on the go, or whatever you have on hand (leftovers, etc). Family loves em. If made smaller is great for kids.

Currently, I don't have a machine but have used them mostly in the summer when it's too hot to bake or short of time and still want fresh bread. When it's colder, I am up to my elbows in dough with flour everywhere. I love the feel of the dough in my hands, you can just tell when it's going to be a great loaf vs good loaf.

 

[Farmfresh]

Bath water warm is the right temperature for yeast.

When I worked with the at risk middle schoolers we used to make home made yeast rolls. I would tell them a little story about the "rise of the single celled organisms".

We always started our story and our recipe with the "primordial sea"... the warm salty water. Then the single celled organism shows up - I never went into exactly how that happened. The organism needed some sugar for energy and some protein to enable it to grow. I add an egg at this point. Then I feed the yeast some flour and we give it time. They are usually very excited when the little bubbles begin to form in the dough! It is ALIVE!!!

Then it is time to add more flour and have the fun of kneading. They loved the experience.

 

[Dace]

Old Fashioned...think of testing a baby bottle on your wrist or feeling a baby's bath water. It should not be much warmer than body temp.

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Dixie,

I realize this is an old thread, but in case you check back...

1) Best way to start making bread is to have someone who knows how show you. Like any type of craft or skilled labor, books only take you so far. A friend showed me many years ago, and I took it from there.

2) If you don't know anyone who can show you, try some online sites. I especially like thekneadforbread . They offer step-by-step instructions with photos.

3) I don't agree that you have to start with white bread. It's not nutritious; why bother. It is true that whole grains are a little trickier, especially if you started on white (like I did.) But I think if you start out with whole grains, perhaps with a little white to help it along, you'll do fine.

Here is a recipe for a nutritious wheat bread with squash from kneadforbread that I made recently. It was easy and delicious.

4) Don't bother with a bread machine. I had one once. But successful bread depends on so many factors, including the humidity that day. So it's impossible to put an exact recipe into a machine and expect it to come out well each time. If you knead by hand you get a feel for the proper texture, etc, and can add what you need as you go along.

In addition, the machine doesn't always shape the loaf properly. Half the time I found myself removing the dough, shaping it into a nice loaf, and putting it back into the machine. I began to ask myself why I was bothering with a machine.

When you're first learning to make bread, as with any skill, you're kind of slow, and it seems like a machine is a good idea to speed things along. Once you become proficient, the machine doesn't save you any time, and turns out an inferior loaf anyway.

I love to bake bread and do it every week. People think I've gone to some great trouble and time, but really it's easy. Most of the time involved is just letting the dough rest and rise. Doesn't require work from me at all!

Good luck, and happy baking! This post is 2 months after your original post - you're probably a pro by now!

 

[Beekissed]

Welcome to the forum, Wisconsin!

I'm with you....I make whole wheat by hand and couldn't imagine bread any other way. My mother gave me a new bread machine once that someone had given her ($100)....she tried it once, became quite disgusted and passed it on to me. I never even tried it....gave it away to a fund raising yard sale.

Our recipe is pretty basic and only uses yeast, oil, honey or brown sugar, flax seed, whole wheat and a little white flour, salt.

I used to watch mother make bread for years and it all seems so involved and complicated (she never measured ), so I avoided it for years. Then, one day, I realized that the bread from the store was so unhealthy and expensive that I needed to get in the swing of making my own. It was so easy and so soothing that I never looked back. Been doing it ever since and it always makes me think of my mother. I used to call her every time I was making bread because it made me feel close to her.

 

[Farmfresh]

Hi Wisconsin! Glad you joined us!

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Thanks for the welcome, Beekissed and Farmfresh!

Your recipe sounds great, Beekissed. That's a wonderful memory about your mother. When I was first married (decades ago!) we moved overseas and I was so homesick for my large family. I'd cook things mom used to cook to fill the apt with those aromas and make me feel a little closer to them. Cooking (and baking) is about so much more than just making something edible, isn't it?

BTW, re your name, do you keep bees? That's my next skill I want to learn...


Katherine

 

[freemotion]

Dixie,


2Here is a recipe for a nutritious wheat bread with squash from kneadforbread that I made recently. It was easy and delicious.

Great site, tons of ww recipes to try!!! Thanks! And