yummy bread

[b_cos_1_can]

i tried to make bread today :(

should have asked for a reciepe before trying but im impatient and impulsive.

so now that my loaf is thick and yucky i thought id ask for help!

anybody have any tips and measurements that cant go wrong?

(and i dont have a bread maker either....well i do....its me) (i need my plug cutting off) :wink:

kat

[AnnaB]

b_cos_1_can
Its strange that you posted this - I was going to start a thread about 'gadgets'
We bought a bread maker 3 years ago and it is the best investment ever (I thought it would be used once and put to the back of the cupboard).
I have not bought a loaf since and I make it without salt.
Yes a loaf takes 4-5 hours (you don't have to be there) but it is proven correctly and with a bit of experimentation we get perfect loaves and the pizza dough is fantastic.
I'm sure Mo bakes and am sure she will post.

[wendy]

Hi Kat,
I too have a bread maker...lovely. But don't eat a great deal of bread. So it is not used that often.
Wendy

[b_cos_1_can]

i get through two loaves a week cos of packed lunches!
will have to look into bread maker me thinks.

[Emma]

we don't have a bread maker either and to be honest, whatever the recipe, it always seems to come out best when i kneed it for ages.

I find it a bit of boring job, but last time I had Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds on and that helpd!

[b_cos_1_can]

thanks emma
how long would you recommend i knead it for?

[Emma]

At least 10 minutes.


Using the war of the worlds model:

The Eve of War (track 1) is 9 minutes to weigh ingredients and mix in the bowl.

Horsell common and the heat ray (track 2) is 11, when I kneed.

Then leaving around 45 minutes for the yeast to do it's stuff gets me to The Red weed part 2, during which I give it a quick 2nd kneed and bung it in the oven.

And after the album has finished I have about 10 minutes before my bread is ready.

:wink:

It's all dads fault, he'd play the album we cooked, ate and lounged about after dinner when I was young. It's like a pavolian response: war of the worlds> bake.

[Mo]

I tried my daughters bread-maker, when she lived here.
It came out better (maybe) than my make. But it had a big crust on the bottom, and was a bit strange where the spike had been.
And white bread came out heavier than shop bread, but I prefer wholemeal, and that comes out like a brick (can't remember what it was like when I tried to do it by hand - same I suspect)

[AnnaB]

We have a panasonic sd253 - I'm not advertising. In near daily use for 3 years and as I posted earlier the bread is fantastic. I always use extra vit C powder and also a little more butter and the results are really good. It does have a slit in the bottom of the loaf where the paddle is but purely cosmetic as no-one looks at this end! It takes 3-4 mins to weigh the ingredients and then you leave it to itself. The pizza dough is so good but you have to do the 2nd prove yourself.
I have read that a lot of people these days suffer from wheat allergies, that bought bread is so hastily processed - how has it time to prove properly?

[smallholderwannabe]

We've got the same model of Panasonic breadmaker as you. We also find that it is great and have very rarely had a "duff" loaf and then only when the yeast is getting to its use-by date. It is brilliant. Waking up to the smell of fresh baked bread for breakfast - yum

I used to make all our bread by hand but find that we get consistently good results with this model of breadmaker. I'm beginning to sound like an advert for Panasonic!

[heebiejeebie]

I don't have a breadmaker but yesterday I discovered the value of doughhooks on my magimix!

[seahorse]

I had my bread maker for my birthday and it has been a godsend. My hubby worked for the local bakery up til xmas, and knowing what the factory is like inside and the things they get away with put me off ever buying their products...yuk!
I usually get Wrights bread mixes, either multigrain , white or sunflower seed and they all come out great. The only thing I do extra is to put in more water than they say, like 50ml extra and the wholemeal and multigrain come out beautifully soft. I also add nuts and grains sometimes and the colonel approves. Any bits that go dry or a bit stale(if theres any left at all) make lovely bread puddings...yumm. Annie

[b_cos_1_can]

im trying it again
its out in the garden rising as i type this
i used half measurements this time so if it goes wrong its not so much of a waste and i can try yet again! kneaded it for alot longer too but it was very sticky so had to add more flour!
keep your fingers crossed for me!!
kat x

[ged]

:mrgreen: Hi Kat,
a recipe I use is as follows
1lb strong white bread flour
11 oz of tepid water
1 sachet dried yeast
pinch of salt

add dry ingredients to mixing bowl
add yeast to tepid water
mix together flour and water till dough comes away from edge of bowl.
knead for 5 mins on floured surface,placein bread tin,allow to rise untill double its size,bake in warm oven for 30 mins
makes a 2lb loaf! can be addedtowith herbs,onion,cheese etc!
good luck!Saves the cost of a breadmaker!
atb
ged

[PK]

I would like to add my voice in support of breadmakers. For more than a year I was trying to make bread by hand and could never get it quite right. I made numerous attempts - enough to build a retaining wall at least. It was nevertheless gradually moving towards being edible (by me, if not the rest of the family). I always thought the idea of breadmakers was somehow 'cheating'.

Anyway, last christmas my wife and children, without any prior consultation, and spending far more on a present for me than is customary, bought me a breadmaker. This might have been any act of mercy or even self-interest on their part. But I have not eaten shop-bought bread since. I have a perfect loaf each time made from organic flour, locally produced. As AnnaB points out, it is very quick and easy to prepare.

It is, unusually, a new electirical appliance that is used regularly and not relegated to the back of the cupboard (along with the sandwich toaster). Its a Kenwood, by the way. Even though I don't feel guilty, I might still try handmaking bread again - there is that wall still to finish afterall :wink: