Home made bread

I must admit that I don't handmake the bread but use a breadmaker, after 3 different breadmakers I finally treated myself to a Panasonic last September and make 3 loaves or more a week in it. It's amazing, never had a duff loaf, guaranteed results and also use it to make the dough too. I've even started using fresh yeast (which Tesco will give you for free from the bakery counter). Made some brioche the other day, it was so scrummy. I need to experiment with the other recipes. My normal loaf is now 1/4 wholemeal, 1/4 spelt, 1/2 white flour, I use maldon salt, unsalted butter, malt extract to give the yeast something to eat and the fresh yeast. I did get the model with the nut dispenser too, it's much nicer as I don't need to listen for the beep.
I admire you making from hand and do have a Kenwood chef which is very strong and has an excellent bread hook, but I have to get too involved as I am a busy working mum who also has a large organic veg plot to look after too. We haven't bought bread since September. I just need to master some lovely soft rolls suitable for burgers and hot dogs, do you have any tips?

Hi, we too are busy, both work full time, 2 kids, 2 dogs, one cat, an allotment and a front garden full of fruit and veg. So making bread is great but time is critical. I've had 2 bread makers and hated both, small and hard 1lb loafs, salty and took ages, mind you that was a few years ago.

I have a kenwood type mixer to do the kneading. Saves loads of time, set on medium speed for 10 mins.

My recipe for loafs and rolls is

500g flour Allinson strong bread flour (£1.72 for 3kg from morrisons)
300ml tepid water
7-10g Allinson dried yeast, bring to life in tepid water with sugar 15 mins before mixing with flour. (buy the tins of yeast not the sachets, they are way too expensive)
1 tsp sugar
1.5-1 tsp salt
10g bread improver for a loaf, found on ebay
20-25g bread improver for rolls (softer)

For rolls divide dough into 12 70g dough balls, they look quite small but don't worry they will rise. I put mine in the oven with a bowl of hot water to make them rise. I've heard of people putting them in the dishwasher (after a cycle) but i've not tried that yet.

Roughly speaking we get a 2lb loaf for around 40p and make 2 at a time. Oh yeah i forgot to add, I don't preheat the oven either. I put them in a cold oven, set the temp to around 200 degrees at a rough guess, wait 20 mins then turn the loafs around ( we have a c***p uneven electric oven) bake for a further 10 mins until golden and thats it.

I don't do a second rise, i've never found it beneficial and it takes too long. I only let my bread rise once and it takes 60 to 90 minutes depending on ambient temp.

My problem is i can't mixe 1.6kg or 4lb of dough in one go, so i get one loaf slightly smaller than the other. What i'm after is an affordable dough mixer that can handle at a minimum 2Kg of dough.

I too got let down by the so called 3lb flour capacity. I would love to buy the larger Kitchenaid but they are only distributed in the US where the electricity supply is different than here. I have to be satisfied with mixing the initial 3lb flour dough kneeding for a few minutes until the mixer begins to groan then split into two for the final kneed. If you find what you are looking for please let me know.

Yeah i certainly will. I think it's going to be difficult. The Kenwood KM020 can cope with 2.4kg of dough which is enough for 2 2lb loafs but there are reviews that it struggles with this.

This is the only one that i can find for the uk, but it's a bit on the large size.

Dough Mixers

Certainly too big for me too. I would need a bigger kitchen

I hand make bread every week but do it completely manually and not quite of the quantities you mention. I dont really find it take so long to knead it by hand, timewise I work nearly full time....

All that sounds too complicated for me.
When I worked full time, I mixed the dough (Kenwood or by hand) before going to work, using COLD water, and left it (well covered) in the pantry for the day. Home from work, shape the dough and put in tins, ut it somewhere warm (we had an airing cupboard) while I got the evening meal ready, then it went in the oven while we sat down to watch TV after supper.
Recipe was
1 x 1.5Kg bag flour (actually I used 3lb, I saved the rest of the bag for flouring the work surfaces)
1½ pint water
3 level tsp salt
2tblspns oil (usually sunflower)
about 1oz fresh yeast, or a generous tsp dried
1 good tsp sugar
Combine water, sugar and yeast, leave to stand until it 'froths' (won't do much in cold water, but should show some signs of life)
mix salt into flour, place in bowl and make a 'well' in the centre
pour yeast liquid and oil into flour, mix and knead until 'springy' (about 5 mins by Kenwood Chef, 10-12 by hand)
Cover bowl with damp cloth and leave in cool place for HOURS! (while you go to work)
Shape, and place somewhere warm while you are doing something else.
Bake in HOT oven!

This is the third time I've been in here without asking my question, 'cause it sounds a bit lame and I suppose I should be able to work it out, but here goes. I work full time and it's years since I made my own bread. Hilary's method sounds brilliant, but unless I start getting up before the birds, I don't have time to mix the dough in the morning. Is there any way that I can make the dough in the evening (while I'm preparing the evening meal) and cook it the following evening?

I would second the recommendation for the Panasonic bread maker - I used to make all my bread by hand and never thought I'd change, but we were given this breadmaker as a wedding present and make on average a loaf every other day. I can't rate it highly enough. Seriously! It comes with a timer too so you can chuck everything in the tin in the evening and have lovely fresh baked bread in the morning.

I used to have a breadmaker, but I gave it away years ago - we didn't like the hole in the bottom of the loaf. Does that still happen?

Yes you can FF. Just make up the dough as Hilary says but leave it in the fridge. That slows the yeast down. Only thing to remember is that when you knock it back to mould into shape, put in tins and prove for the 2nd time it will take longer as it will be proving from a very low temp. May take twice as long. Bread usually proves best at 27C/80F which is the optimum temp for yeast (one of the small bits of info I remember from bakery college in the 70s!!)

Otherwise there are various recipes around on the 'net for bread that doesn't need to be kneaded. Spelt is really good for this. The dough is a bit sloppier than usual and the crust is a bit "bumpy" but makes a reasonable loaf. I just make up the dough put it straight into the bread tin, let it rise somewhere warm for about an hour or so and then bake. Great if you like a rustic wholemeal loaf. There is white spelt flour out there but I've never tried it.

I'm the same, make it by hand and find the kneading really relaxing. I make a batch up on Saturday or Sunday and freeze it.

I had the same problem with rolls, I tried using half water and half plain yoghurt and they were beautiful, freeze really well too. Husband was really impressed!!

Best flour to use for soft rolls is standard plain white flour, NOT bread flour. Ordinary flour is made from soft wheat which is good for cakes and things like chelsea buns. Bread flour is made from strong wheat which has much more gluten in it which it needs for breadmaking.

Also put them in a shallow tin. I use a oblong roasting tin about 1" deep. I roll about 60g/2oz dough into a sausage shape and put them close enough together so that they stick to each other when proved/baked. Then you can pull them apart when cool to get the soft edges like finger rolls.

You can also use milk instead of water to make a softer dough or milk powder and water.

For burger buns use the same type of dough, roll out the dough into circles and again put close together on the tray. Give it a try and let us know how you get on.