Bread Help

[Hilary B]

That's a lot of loaves Bren! I understand you bake every week, but how long does the bread stay fresh for? I thought home-made bread didn't keep as well as the supermarket sliced stuff (preservatives, improvers and the like in them)?

There are some homely 'additives' that will improve the keeping qualities of bread
1) salt! Not too much because it also slows the yeast down, but on the plus side, it encourages the gluten
2) oil, especially olive oil (although that may just be me, because I like the flavour). Oil also needs adding in moderation, because it weakens the gluten a bit
I THINK making the bread keep better is one of the advantages of adding a tiny 'dose' of vitamin C, but it is a good number of years since I read about that trick, so I may be mistaken.

[Hilary B]

Wow what a fab response, thank you all.

I have to confess that the outlaw mil to be is not too awful, but I'm sure my pesky neighbour's barking dog will provide enough to get me kneeding hard !

Am I right to think that in the resting stage, the t-towel needs to be wet / damp?

The stromboli sounds fab, if I master the basic then I may have to pinch that idea !

Following on from Lemon (and at the risk of making myself sounds like a complete plumb), am I right to think that the sliced hombaked loaf is ok to freeze ?

The reason for covering with a damp cloth is to stop the dough drying out on the surface. If it rises after drying, it tends to crack, and if you knead it again after it has got dry, you get nasty hard bits in the finished loaf (so yes, it needs to be damp, or cover with a poly-bag oiled on the 'down' side) It is best covered while rising just before baking for similar reasons, although sometimes you can get away with that one.

Once sliced, home-made bread will freeze fine, but it only keeps a week or so. Whole loaves can be frozen too, but once defrosted they keep about half as long as they would have in never frozen at all. Either way, be patient about defrosting, because there is no way of hurrying the process that doesn't make it go stale even faster! (well you can toast slices from frozen......)

[Bagpuss]

Thanks Hilary. I'll report back on the first attempt. Wish me luck !

[Bren In Pots]

That's a lot of loaves Bren! I understand you bake every week, but how long does the bread stay fresh for? I thought home-made bread didn't keep as well as the supermarket sliced stuff (preservatives, improvers and the like in them)?

I freeze the loaves then get one out at a time leaving it to defrost overnight, they're small so we tend to use one a day. With the rolls we get a couple out at a time when we need them then defrost them in the m/wave. Seems to work out OK.

Hilary I know what you mean about those yucky hard bits I learnt early on that's its best to cover the dough whilst its proving.

Bagpuss good luck with your bead, it does get addictive and you probably wont want to buy a loaf again.