Home Bread Making

[marcusarelus]

4 minutes ago, steve73 said:

What - No sugar?  I always add a teaspoon of sugar which is much easier for the yeast to digest than relying on it "eating" the starch in the flour.  For a multi-kneaded bread you might even want to add a little more for the last 2 kneads.

But if you're saying it didn't rise at all (or hardly at all), it could be if you're using tap water (which can have too much chlorine here).  Always fresh use bottled water.

If you've only just started, check your yeast supply.. it could be a old batch, that's not as active as fresh stuff.. or it's been poorly stored before you bought it.  Even the freeze-dried stuff can get damaged if its stored for a short period at too hot a temperature.  I had problems occasionally with the small bottles that I used when I started making bread.  Now I use the 500mg packs from Makro and once opened keep them in a jar in the fridge..  usually lasts around 6 months before getting a bit "lazy".  

You can "test" your yeast by mixing it with water and sugar in a bottle and make sure it froths up in an hour or so.. (then add some ginger, and make your own ginger beer!!!)

 

I think it is against the law in France to use sugar to bake bread. 

[KittenKong]

13 minutes ago, steve73 said:

What - No sugar?  I always add a teaspoon of sugar which is much easier for the yeast to digest than relying on it "eating" the starch in the flour. 

I used to put sugar in but I dont any more. It works fine without when I use my recipe.

 

 

[adammike]

6 hours ago, wgdanson said:

No sorry, 4 times. But there are some recipes which say leave for 24 hours without kneading. Very confusing.

I am a beginner at this bread making lark. ! Obviously.

No knead bread with a long rise time may be the way to go in Thailand as the dough is put in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours,I think the ambient temperature must mean a long learning curve to get it right.the only additive allowed in France is ascorbic acid=vitamin c.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, adammike said:

No knead bread with a long rise time may be the way to go in Thailand as the dough is put in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours,I think the ambient temperature must mean a long learning curve to get it right.the only additive allowed in France is ascorbic acid=vitamin c.

My Morries breadmaker makes a perfect loaf every time.

You chuck everything in, turn it on, 3hrs 20mins later you remove the finished loaf.

[BritManToo]

On 1/5/2019 at 10:05 AM, Justin Side said:

Same here but not really a problem.

Morries distributor just got back to me (only took them 3 weeks to reply).

Hold + and - at the same time to turn the light on/off.

Who would have guessed that 'secret' instruction?

[vogie]

1 minute ago, marcusarelus said:

Best bread in the world comes from France and the best beer from Germany.  No sugar.  I don't care about French law either but as far as cooking goes the rest of the world is centuries behind the French.  French hand made butter is great also. 

The French know how to cook crap food, the food in France is very poor quality and very expensive, any country that thinks a cows head is a delicasy is very suspect to say the least. Best beer is from Belgium, French bread is ok, but doesn't last two minutes, bread is personal taste, so to suggest that french bread is the best in the world is total crass, I prefer Italian bread.

[melvinmelvin]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

My Morries breadmaker makes a perfect loaf every time.

You chuck everything in, turn it on, 3hrs 20mins later you remove the finished loaf.

 

I assume those are mostly white lightweight loaves?

 

You couldn't use such a machine for "heavy duty" bread?

Mostly coarse spelt, some oat, some sunflower, some rye, some whole grains, or could you?

 

am not a fan of dry yeast,

can not find fresh yeast in BKK

 

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

I assume those are mostly white lightweight loaves?

1/3 wholewheat normally, sometimes I use 1/3 rye, and I've done Muesli bread and Malt loaves.

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, vogie said:

The French know how to cook crap food, the food in France is very poor quality and very expensive, any country that thinks a cows head is a delicasy is very suspect to say the least.

They may know how to cook crap food also, but most food in France is both good quality and good value. What wouldn't I give for French supermarket here selling food at French prices?

 

[KittenKong]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

My Morries breadmaker makes a perfect loaf every time.

You chuck everything in, turn it on, 3hrs 20mins later you remove the finished loaf.

Bread machines do work. The drawback is that you are limited to one particular shape of loaf, and I've yet to see one that can produce something like this:

 

 

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, vogie said:

But as I said earlier that the french bread goes stale very quickly, but in France that is not usually a problem as they bake bread all day,

Factory bread lasts for weeks only because it is full of anti-oxidants and preservatives. But French-style crusty loaves are not designed to be kept: they are designed to be consumed on the same day or the next day. That's how the French like it and I can see why. My home-baked bread (not French-style) has only the same four basic ingredients in and it does last for several days.

But it isnt illegal to sell factory bread in French supermarkets, and there is a small market for it with people who want something they can keep for a long time. It just isnt very popular and by law it cant be sold in a proper baker's shop (boulangerie).

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies about brewing beer have been removed, this topic is about Home Bread Making. 

[chickenslegs]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

Bread machines do work. The drawback is that you are limited to one particular shape of loaf, and I've yet to see one that can produce something like this:

 

 

You shouldn't post pictures like this without a recipe.

[pagan1]

I bought a bread machine a few years back. I was not overly impressed with the loaves produced and failed to shed a tear when the bloody thing launched itself off the worktop. 

Give me an electric oven every time and let me be creative.

Today was baking day and time to stock the freezer with a few fruit cakes, crumbles (Apple & Blackberry). Quiche and some soft burger buns.

Happy days ..............but getting to the stage where I need a bigger freezer

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

You shouldn't post pictures like this without a recipe.

That was a picture I found, but the recipe I have quoted a couple of times on this thread will produce a loaf like that if it is baked in an oven with additional steam or a Dutch oven. I've done them in my own oven in a Pyrex bowl with a lid.

The problem with a bread machine is that you simply cant make a loaf like that in one, regardless of what recipe you follow.

[chickenslegs]

2 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

That was a picture I found, but the recipe I have quoted a couple of times on this thread will produce a loaf like that if it is baked in an oven with additional steam or a Dutch oven. I've done them in my own oven in a Pyrex bowl with a lid.

The problem with a bread machine is that you simply cant make a loaf like that in one, regardless of what recipe you follow.

I have been using a cast iron pot in the oven with some success. I haven't tried pyrex but I do have a few different shapes and sizes that I can try.

 

Just yesterday, I made some nice bread rolls by just using two deep aluminium baking trays from Makro (one inverted on top of the other, and secured with a couple of bulldog clips). The results were far better than just normal oven baking, even though I used the exact same recipe.

 

The other thing that has improved my baking recently is buying an oven thermometer. I found that my oven was incorrect by about 10-15 degrees C (too cool). Since making some adjustments I found that my bread and, especially, my pastry and Yorkshire pudding has improved a lot.

[pagan1]

Like the idea of using the two trays and will give it a try,

With regards to temperature the values are no longer visible on my oven. However i have learnt roughly where the values are but I do have a hot spot at the front of the oven. The two trays idea might minimise the hot spot problem. 

[stoutfella]

Regarding the Morries Breadmaker, does it have a removable paddle which can be removed before the baking period starts?

[hugocnx]

On 1/29/2019 at 8:00 AM, wgdanson said:

Thanks for advice. I used a French recipe, 500 flour, 300 room temp water, 1 tsp each yeast & salt. Mix, leave 45 mins then knead a bit, leave 45 mins and knead again ...4 times. Shape and bake. Will try again tomorrow when I have struggled thru eating the tough ones!

My take: First of all you use a French recipe. I guess this is not a recipe for fluffy rolls but more for crispy ones or baguettes. You do not knead the dough as you state, but you stretch and fold the dough. So you should do that and not knead the dough, you destroy the sponteneous gluten that develop during those waiting times. Do you use bread flour?
Use ice cold water 2 degr. C.; you are not in France but in this climate; A little more water can do as you have 60% to the flour and that's ok for whole loaves but not for this use.

Best is if you have all your ingredients cooled. The end goal for the dough is at least lower than 28 C.

 

If you didn't use a pre dough like a poolish, i guess the yeast is way to low. You use 3 grams of yeast to half a kilo flour. That's only 0.6%!! Totally insufficient!! You will be much better of with at least double that weight.

 

But, I have a feeling that you are using a method that you are not familiar with. Am I right?

 

Hope this helps.

 

BTW, mixing the yeast with the salt is more of a fairy tale. Ok, don't just mix them up as such, but in a 1 kilo dough it doesn't make much sense. Once the dough is mixed/kneaded, salt and yeast are still at least another 2 hours in the dough while rising. Debunked.

You don't put salt in a pre dough as that sits normally overnight to develop.

 

 

 

[Justin Side]

On 1/30/2019 at 11:04 AM, stoutfella said:

Regarding the Morries Breadmaker, does it have a removable paddle which can be removed before the baking period starts?

Yes it does.

As long as you can work out the correct moment to do it.

[KittenKong]

On 2/4/2019 at 6:57 PM, hugocnx said:

TW, mixing the yeast with the salt is more of a fairy tale. Ok, don't just mix them up as such, but in a 1 kilo dough it doesn't make much sense. Once the dough is mixed/kneaded, salt and yeast are still at least another 2 hours in the dough while rising. Debunked.

Salt on yeast will kill it stone dead. The "fairy tale" is all about not letting concentrated salt get into contact with the yeast. So all you need to do is to mix the salt well with the flour before it is put in contact with the yeast, or at least spread the salt and the flour about well in the bowl and mix immediately. Bread machines usually recommend putting the yeast on one side and the salt on the other for this reason.

 

Either way, it is not a myth.

[hugocnx]

18 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Salt on yeast will kill it stone dead. The "fairy tale" is all about not letting concentrated salt get into contact with the yeast. So all you need to do is to mix the salt well with the flour before it is put in contact with the yeast, or at least spread the salt and the flour about well in the bowl and mix immediately. Bread machines usually recommend putting the yeast on one side and the salt on the other for this reason.

 

Either way, it is not a myth.

Did I say anything different?

[stoutfella]

Justin Side,  many thanks for that information. It looks like I will have some experimenting to do.

 

I was unable to reply to you directly as I can't see a way to do that.

[KittenKong]

On 2/6/2019 at 4:03 PM, hugocnx said:

Did I say anything different?

To me you appeared to be saying the opposite.

[billd766]

When I make bread I use a stand mixer.

 

I chuck the bread flour and rye or wholewheat flour in the bowl, sprinkle the yeast, sugar, bread improver powder and salt, put it on the mixer straight away and mix t for 2 or 3 minutes.

 

Take it off the mixer, add olive oil and warm water, change to the dough hook then set the mixer off again for a few minutes and check the consistency of the dough using more water or flour as required. 

 

When it is ready I put it in a plastic bowl for a hour or so to let the first rise take place. When that is done I take it out of the bowl, cut it into 2 for loaves and put it in a couple of loaf tins, or cut each half into 6 and make a dozen bread rolls. Let it rise again for a hour or so.

 

Then bake the rolls 6 at a time 160c (fan oven) for 40 minutes or the loaves for 50 minutes to an hour.

[hugocnx]

7 hours ago, KittenKong said:

To me you appeared to be saying the opposite.

I said >don't just mix them up as such<

Maybe that wasn't perfect English, but it meant that you do not put them on top of each other in your kneading bowl. Anyways, 10 seconds later salt and yeast are in bed together whether they like it or not.

[KittenKong]

55 minutes ago, hugocnx said:

Maybe that wasn't perfect English, but it meant that you do not put them on top of each other in your kneading bowl.

I see. I thought you were saying the opposite. Yes, as long as you dont put one right on top of the other then it will be fine. All bread recipes I have seen say to avoid putting them together in concentrated form.

[vogie]

Just done three large bread cakes, is there a name for this type of bread, can't find anything like them on the internet.

I just use my basic recipe, but have started adding two eggs which gives the crust a lovely brown colour.

[billd766]

58 minutes ago, vogie said:

Just done three large bread cakes, is there a name for this type of bread, can't find anything like them on the internet.

I just use my basic recipe, but have started adding two eggs which gives the crust a lovely brown colour.

I haven't put eggs in my bread dough for a long time. I might give that a try sometime.

[hugocnx]

On 2/9/2019 at 4:18 PM, vogie said:

Just done three large bread cakes, is there a name for this type of bread, can't find anything like them on the internet.

I just use my basic recipe, but have started adding two eggs which gives the crust a lovely brown colour.

English Mega Rolls. English stands for the faint color.