Grow Your Own Magazine

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!

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Dwell simply ~ love richly

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,.....

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

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?

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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.

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

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

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.

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!

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Small Plot? No Problem! - my blog about growing organic veg

Breadmakers require a quite different approach to bread by hand, so be careful with the amount of water - I don't want to cause an electrical fire!!

LOL sez, didn't post here cos i didn't know this thread was here!! nearly right: its 1 and a 1/4 pounds white to 3/4 pound of wholemeal with extra bran, seeds and stuff added. Link's here. and yep, last time i worked it out it was between 40 and 50p a loaf, it may be a little more now with recent food price rises but still well under the nearest commercial equivalent which i suppose would be something like Warburton's Seeded loaves. oh and i make mine by hand every 2/3 days. Don't buy commercial bread unless its one of those ones that just don't work in a home oven, like good french bread, or i'm poorly.

HTH

keth
xx

We have been making bread nearly every day. I am now on a DIET! Just to say another huge thank u for all the help and advice. Lidl have bread flour for 58p a bag at the mo, so well worth stocking up.
(Also strawberry plants £1.49 for 6, although very leggy and poorly... bought 2 boxes and they have really perked up after a bath in the sink. Fruit bushes - gooseberry and redcurrant too for £1.60).

Hey!!! I did in my post no 3.

It does add a certain lushness; I just had an old pot of vit c and zinc tabs; so use them.

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What weight are these bags of flour from Lidls? is it just white or do they have wholemeal and/or granary too?

A 25 kilo sack of Doves farm Organic unbleached strong white is about £23 this year ...About £18 last year!!!

We have had a Panasonic for about five or six years, (A hopeless Kenwood for a while before that) It is used every day and the tin is so knackered the paddle actually rarely sticks in the loaf!! still have to stand there like a cocktail barman trying to shake the thing out but hey...usually better if you leave it for 20 mins to cool first.

Have tried quite a few fancy recipes over the years.

Sometimes I use a percentage milk instead of water which I find softens it a bit and makes it save better.... and granary for interest, but most of the time Mrs P just churns out a standard 90% white loaf. Feeds the family and this means we don't have to go into town very often at all. Frankly it is just a chore but certainly saves money for us and keeps us out of the supermarkets. If we want a treat I'll just go to the bakers and buy a special loaf...that's what they are good at eh.

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Paul

The Lidl bags are 1.5 kg. They were 48p not 58p so even better. They only had the white in.

I bought some oatmeal bread flour a few weeks ago, but haven't used it as I don't have a recipe. If anyone has one for the bread maker I'd be grateful.

Hello,

I have recently attended The Bertinet Kitchen in Bath, a bread workshop where french chef and artisan baker Richard Bertinet makes the most wonderful bread, by hand. His technique is quite different to the usual kneading and you do get lovely bread. If you get the chance have a look at his website The Bertinet Kitchen | Cookery Classes in Bath | Bread Making, he also has two great books; Crust and Dough. It is quite a quick process (the kneading) once you get the hang of it and has a nice therapeutic rhythm. He is a great believer in "real bread" and has no time for stuff that comes in plastic bags "it is not bread".

If you need yeast Tesco's and Sainsbury fresh bread counters have it. I think you can get small amounts free from Tesco but Sainsbury's sell it, it's very cheap and with bread the price it is, I'm sure it's worth making it and you know what's in it. There looks to be some good recipes on here and good luck with your breadmaking.

Dorsetfoodie

Dorsetfoodie just looked at the link thanks, after reading some of the customer feedback it looks like he keeps the dough wet and kneads then cooks it on a granite block without using tins. All sounds interesting.

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Bren

Supporter of the Binley Knows Best Club

heya, does anyone else when ever they make bread, in a BM or oven thet the result is nice warm, but quite yeast-y and sugary tasting ?

I use 1oz of fresh yeast to 3lb flour never had any problems, but then I don't add sugar.
Here's a photo of my last loaves

Attached Thumbnails

 

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Bren

Supporter of the Binley Knows Best Club

Hi all, just to say i have just made my own bread for the first time, and its turned out pretty good, hubby cant leave it alone,god im so chuffed about it.

I did do a google earlier for oatmeal bread, I'll see if I can find the link again and edit this post if I can.

Oat Flour - You can make it yourself by grinding rolled oats in a food processor or blender. Oat flour adds lovely flavor to breads and because of certain natural preservative in the oats themselves, it improves their shelf life. Oats contain no gluten, which is needed for bread to rise, so it must be mixed with a gluten-containing flour such as wheat. Substitute 1 of every 5 parts of wheat flour with oat flour. If your recipe is for a quick bread, no addition of other flours is necessary. - found this nugget of info on an oat site, hope it is helpfulOatmeal Bread Recipe - Bread Machine Recipe

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I have a Panasonic breadmaker - recommended by a friend and believe me I have never looked back. Shop bought bread disagrees with me and so I make it all the time and it can be made to suite your lifestyle. As I work full time that is invaluable.

Where do you get it from?

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Walking Hadrians Wall in May in aid of Bone Cancer Research Trust.
http://www.justgiving.com/skeletontrek
Brad's story, and our inspiration for the Skeleton Trek
http://www.bonecancerresearch.org.uk...leymills.shtml

Kirsty I buy mine from the same corn merchant I get my flour from its only 8 pence an ounce so much cheaper than the dried sort. I've heard some supermarkets give it away if you ask them for it.

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Bren

Supporter of the Binley Knows Best Club

I read somewhere that you use half the quantity of fesh yeast that you would dried. Have I remembered that right? Also, does fresh yeast need to mixed with water to activate or do you just use it straight away?

Sorry if these questions are a bit basic, but I've freecycled my breadmaker (the loaves were too small and would only last about 5 minutes) and now make it by hand, still a novice and at the 'hit and miss' stage!

I would like to get the hang of it properly so I can make more bread than I buy so we know more about whats going into our food.

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Walking Hadrians Wall in May in aid of Bone Cancer Research Trust.
http://www.justgiving.com/skeletontrek
Brad's story, and our inspiration for the Skeleton Trek
http://www.bonecancerresearch.org.uk...leymills.shtml

Kirsty I add 1oz of fresh yeast to a pint and half of warm water give it a bit of a stir then tip in 3lb of bread flour, 1 oz of white fat and nearly a table spoon of salt. Never used dried so can't help there sorry.

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Bren

Supporter of the Binley Knows Best Club

Bren, where do you get your flour from?

I recently sorted through my storecupboard and amongst other things found some amaranth and millet grain, it needs using so I've added it to some seeds and chuck in a handful when I'm making bread - it gives it a nice crunch.

Jenny I buy mine from the local corn merchant, he doesn't do mail order though.
I've only been baking 'everyday bread' so never tried adding grains to mine but might have to give it a go now after reading this thread.

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Bren

Supporter of the Binley Knows Best Club

Shame, I'll have to look into what we have locally. You must try adding seeds and stuff - lovely

Yay!! Success!
Used Birdie Wife's recipe, but subbed dried yeast for fresh, let it rise 3 times before baking and presto - it is the best textured loaf I have made to date.
Can't wait to make some more!

This thread is wonderful.

__________________
Walking Hadrians Wall in May in aid of Bone Cancer Research Trust.
http://www.justgiving.com/skeletontrek
Brad's story, and our inspiration for the Skeleton Trek
http://www.bonecancerresearch.org.uk...leymills.shtml

I get my fresh yeast from the larger Sainsbury's stores. If you go to the bakery counter and ask for a block of fresh yeast, you will get a 750g block for 99p.

It is much cheaper than buying by the ounce/gram. It lasts quite a long time, and can even be frozen in small quantities.

If I can't get fresh yeast, I would prefer to use the easyblend type rather than dried.

valmarg

I've just tried my Morphy Richards breadmaker for the 2nd time and again I can't get the bread out Last time I made some the same thing happened and I had to destroy the loaf to get it out. Any suggestions?

Humm.....

Did you grease the pole the paddle sits on? I know nothing is mentioned in the book but it can help.

Was the problem that the whole loaf stuck - or just the paddle?

If it is the whole loaf I'm tempted to think it wasn't cooked properly - try dark crust setting?