Bread

[HelenD123]

I cannot begin to describe what my kitchen smells like now.


Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Photo shortly

I have bready smells wafting around the house as well.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Agree, breadmakers are fab and worth every penny.
Flour-wise, Canadian Red Springs wheat flour from Waitrose is as good as it gets at 15% protein. Many so called strong flours may have 13 ore less percent protein and that may not be enough. We've tried several other varieties, but nothing works anything lijke as well. You need the protein level to hold the gas from the fermentation and give structure to the bread.

 

[Speicher]

Fab Foodie, the salt is part of that process, is it? So you cannot reduce the salt, just because you think it would taste better? or can you?

 

[Piemaster]

I can do the bready smells ok, it's just making it edible.... Having said that it actually wasn't too bad with tonights curry, Caribbean curry with sweet potato. Incidentally thanks to whoever posted that recipe initially - it's now a regular on the menu, though I use beef as Mrs. Pm isn't keen on lamb.
I shall have another go tomorrow at the bread, thanks for the tips.
What shall I do while waiting for the dough to rise though? Just can't think of anything

 

[summerdays]

Fab Foodie, the salt is part of that process, is it? So you cannot reduce the salt, just because you think it would taste better? or can you?

I don't know technically whether you can reduce the salt ... but I do it all the time - I would only use half to 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt to 500g of flour - and it seems to work. Every now and again I get a bad batch ... and I never manage to work out if its the flour or the yeast... - by the time I have conducted my analysis I have usually used up both.

I make sure my water is tepid - and I often use olive oil instead of butter (mainly as there are some dairy allergy's in my wider family).

And I'm going to take Fab Foodies' tip and try that flour.

And I've had my Panasonic Bread maker for 5-10 years now - love it, though I rarely use it to bake the bread but I get it to do all the mixing and kneading before baking in the oven.

 

[HelenD123]

Here's my effort:

 

[ComedyPilot]

Mmmmmmm I just love the smell of fresh bread.

View attachment 4333

 

[HelenD123]

How's that for timing!

 

[ComedyPilot]

I can do the bready smells ok, it's just making it edible.... Having said that it actually wasn't too bad with tonights curry, Caribbean curry with sweet potato. Incidentally thanks to whoever posted that recipe initially - it's now a regular on the menu, though I use beef as Mrs. Pm isn't keen on lamb.
I shall have another go tomorrow at the bread, thanks for the tips.
What shall I do while waiting for the dough to rise though? Just can't think of anything

That was me!!

 

[ComedyPilot]

How's that for timing!

Timed to perfection

 

[XmisterIS]

I have one word. Just one.

"Breadmaker".

Or should that be "Bread Maker"?

Which is two words.

What if I hyphenate it?

"Bread-Maker".

Is that one and a half words?

Hang on ...

 

[al78]

I've been trying to bake my own bread. This is the 3rd attempt:
View attachment 4324
The first 2 attempts were actually worse.
What am I doing wrong? Looks like bread, tastes (sort of) like bread, but it isn't rising much.
Recipe I'm using, from back of yeast sachet packets; 500g strong bread flour, 25g butter, 1 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tsp yeast, 300ml lukewarm water.
Mix up dry ingredients, bung in water, knead (with kenwood chef type mixer).
Leave it to rise for 1 hour in the warmth, then bung in oven, 210 deg for about 30min.
Flour, water, yeast. Do recipes get any simpler? So why isn't it working?

You could try leaving it for a little longer to rise.

BTW that oven temperature looks too low. You need it at least 230 C.

Bear in mind that home made bread will always have a much more dense composition than shop bought bread.

 

[srw]

I've been trying to bake my own bread. This is the 3rd attempt:
View attachment 4324
The first 2 attempts were actually worse.
What am I doing wrong?

I'm going purely on looks, but it looks as if the dough's a bit soggy. Try reducing the amount of water. Flour is a natural product, so the amount of water you need will vary. You might also need to knead a bit longer - I'd go for five minutes at least with hands or a food processor, probably more if you haven't got a dough attachment. Kneaded dough should be springy and firm - it should pop back into shape when you push it. And do knock it back after it's risen, then shape it and let it rise again. That will improve flavour as well as texture.

As others have said, try adding sugar or honey, and reduce the amount of salt. I'd also be inclined to use a dollop of oil rather than butter.

The other thing that comes across from the picture is that it is far too pale. Give it an extra 5 or 10 minutes, or whack the oven up a bit. You can get very good results with a pan of water in the bottom of an over set to the hottest it will go.

Flour-wise, Canadian Red Springs wheat flour from Waitrose is as good as it gets at 15% protein. Many so called strong flours may have 13 ore less percent protein and that may not be enough. We've tried several other varieties, but nothing works anything lijke as well. You need the protein level to hold the gas from the fermentation and give structure to the bread.

With all due respect to your expertise, I can't agree. Canadian wheat is good only for shape, which is the last thing I care about in bread. For flavour you need something better. I use either Waitrose own brand organic strong white or else one of the branded organic strong whites. Organic food production tends to give a much better flavour, and that really comes across in wheat.

 

[wafflycat]

The nicest tasing bread I've made is when I use a wholegrain Kamut flour. It is *delicious*

 

[Twenty Inch]

that's not kneading

Kneading is giving it a really good bashing. Try making bread after you've been out on the bike and someones tried to run you over. That'll get you kneading the bread properly.

What polly says. I hand-knead for 15 mins, and my bread always rises beautifully. Kneading releases the gluten, which traps the CO2 that the yeast produces. You're just tickling it.