Bread Making

[Nessie]

Well both of our loaves of yesterday were ok but heavy. Turns out that the yeast we were using likes proving for an hour and a half... Whigger made a white loaf this evening doing the longer prove time and it's perfect! Only trouble with all this bread making and tasting is that I'm gonna be the size of a house if I'm not careful!

[TPeers]

Only trouble with all this bread making and tasting is that I'm gonna be the size of a house if I'm not careful!

I resemble that remark!

[Bren In Pots]

Nessie I use fresh yeast and if its not as fresh as it should be the dough takes longer to prove than usual. So long as it more or less doubles in size you should be OK next time.

Thanks 'todayIwillbemostly' for the Focaccia bread link off to watch it now.

[kentish girl]

I love my panasonic machine & use it all the time, I do cheat & use the Wrights packet mixes for speed they make a great loaf in 2 hrs but it only takes the kids 20 mins to eat it

I did make some hot cross buns today in the kenwood & they are fine but took a long time to rise, me thinks the kitchen was too cold

[TPeers]

Having finally dug out the book......

From 'Bread Machine' by Jennie Shapter

Ciabatta

For the Biga (Sour dough starter)
200ml/7floz water
175g/6oz unbleached white bread flour
2.5ml/ 1/2 tsp easy blend dried yeast

For the Ciabatta Dough
200ml/7 floz water
30ml/2tbsp Milk
30ml/2tbsp olive oil
325g/11 1/2 oz unbleached white bread flour
7.5ml/ 1 1/2 tsp salt
2.5ml/ 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1.5ml/ 1/4tsp easy blend dried yeast

Put the ingredients for the biga into the bread pan in the order advised by your machine, mix for 5 minutes on dough setting then switch off. Leave the biga in the bread machine or place in a large mixing bowl covered with lightly oiled clear film, overnight or for at least 12 hours, until the dough has risen and is just starting to colapse.

Return the biga to the pan if necessary. Add water, milk and oil for the ciabatta dough. sprinkle over the flour add the salt and sugar in seperate corners place the yeast in an indent in the middle of the flour.

Mix on a basic dough setting removing after the mixing and BEFORE the proving! Transfer dough to a bowl and cover with oiled film. Leave to rise for about an hour until the dough has tripled in size. Sprinkle two baking sheets with flour. Using a dough scrapper or spoon divide the dough into two portions. Carefully tip one portion of the dough onto one of the prepared sheets, trying to avoid knocking the air out! Using well floured hands shape the dough - carefully - into a rectangular loaf (slipper) about 2.5cm/1" thick, pulling and stretching as necessary.

Repeat with remaining piece of dough.

Sprinkle both loaves with flour. Leave them, uncovered, in a warm place for about 20-30 mins. The dough will spread and rise. Preheat the oven to 220 deg C/ 425 deg F/ gas 7.
Bake the ciabatta for 25-30 mins or until both loaves have risen, are light golden in colour and sound hollow when tapped on the base.

Ok.....

For myself I use semolina flour for dusting the baking sheets and the loaves - I find this gives a more authentic crust. Be careful to use large baking sheets for the dough - it really does spread! Oh yes... don't cook while on a diet!

Terry

[Birdie Wife]

I haven't got a bread maker and I love making bread by hand, but I know some people love to wake up to freshly baked bread in the mornings, which is perfectly possible if you have a machine with a timer.

The recipe I turn to over again is very simple - 500g flour with a knob of butter rubbed in, 300ml warm water with a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon and a half of dried yeast mixed in. This makes a large loaf. You can mess around with this recipe as much as you like - all plain flour for a white loaf, or maybe 50:50 with wholemeal or spelt wheat. Rye flour is nice too but don't go more than a third of the total amount because it doesn't rise as well as strong white flour (neither does spelt or wholemeal for that matter). Seeds are brilliant, linseeds, poppy, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame. I generally let the dough rise to double the volume and knock it back - then rise again - knock back - and then knead into shape for the bread tin. By letting it rise three times, it seems to greatly improve the texture, and it goes lovely and fluffy, just like a loaf from the bakery!

[allotmentlady]

Yum, some great recipes to try! I too have a breadmaker but have not used it in ages and now this thread has sent my mind wandering.........so Off I go baking bread,.....

[kallista2]

Mine is a panasonic too and it is fab. It is always reliable and comes with a recipe book. I am just doing a loaf now. I can't be without it and am taking it with me on my caravan trip this week. I can't eat shop bread after making my own. Good luck with your bread making - really recommended Jen

[barney]

Nobody has mentioned the use of vitamin c (ascorbic acid) to aid the rising process especially when using granary and wholemeal flour. Can be a little difficult to find the tablets- don't use the flavoured fizzy vitamin c tablet -although that could give an interesting flavour!! The local chemist orders in the tablets just for me!
A 500mg tablet is about right for a one and a half pound loaf and add it with all the ingredients at the beginning. Happy baking!

[shirley]

Nobody has mentioned the use of vitamin c (ascorbic acid) to aid the rising process especially when using granary and wholemeal flour. Can be a little difficult to find the tablets- don't use the flavoured fizzy vitamin c tablet -although that could give an interesting flavour!! The local chemist orders in the tablets just for me!
A 500mg tablet is about right for a one and a half pound loaf and add it with all the ingredients at the beginning. Happy baking!

Interesting....I have read about using Vit C ....do you find it gives a better texture to the wholemeal bread?

[Alison]

You don't need to use vit C in a 50 / 50 wholemeal loaf or for a standard granary loaf, or that's what I've found. However, if you go to a higher percentage of wholemeal flour then it does help I'm told but I also find the bread a bit dry so stick to the lighter mix.

[allotmentlady]

yummy

Made my bread and it was yummy..........OH is on about me growing wheat on the plot????

[Cutecumber]

I made two 50:50 loaves yesterday - completely by hand *very proud*. I don't make bread regularly but do try and make my own pizza bases when I can.

I've got a fascinating book about bread by Andrew Whitely - it's about the chemistry and physics of bread making, and it takes a big swipe at the commercial bakers. It's thicker than the bible, but if you like knowing exactly why things happen, this book is great.

Anyway, I have adopted his mantra...

"the wetter the better"

So, I struggled with sticky hands to make a huge lump of, what I would previously have called "far too wet" dough. It wasn't quite as gluey as I think some breads need to be - like ciabatta - but rather ridiculous even so. Big mess made.

Anyway, it was easy to knead and rose well, and I've ended up with two lovely loaves - nice crust and chewy, light texture. The best loaf I've ever made. Fabulous for toast as the edges go crunchy.

The recipe was extremely simple:

600g flour - use whatever combination you like
400g water - this was FAR TOO MUCH for a 50:50 loaf, I will use less next time
5g sea salt
8g FRESH yeast - which works out about 2.4g instant easy doodah according to his conversions. Roughly a level teaspoon and a bit.

Did the usual - mixed it up, kneaded it, rose it, knocked it back and let it prove. Whacked it in a hot oven for half an hour and, well, it's worked out beautifully.

I'd still like a breadmaker, but perhaps I'll try a food processor with dough hooks instead

[chillie girl]

I make our bread every week by hand, at least I know what we are eating. I use an electric propagator for proving I find this really useful.

[Eyren]

OH has been saying for years what good bread he makes, but then hasn't made any, so I got fed up one day and bought a machine! (We both work full time, so making it by hand would eat up a lot of precious spare time - we cook most meals from scratch already.)

I chose the Panasonic with the seed thingy - haven't used that feature yet, but this is the only model that comes with a rye setting (I like to make a 50% wholemeal spelt bread with mixed seeds).

However I find the white bread it makes rather too light and dry - after reading cutecumber's post, I'm thinking I should experiment with using a bit more water, at least with my current brand of flour (an organic strong white flour from our local wholefood cooperative). As it is, using a fresh pack of Dove's Farm quick yeast, I can only make a 400g loaf as it rises so much!