Any other Home Bakers?
- Thread starter Mad Mike
- Start date
We bake quite a bit, I want to get into it more though. I really want to set up a mud oven and play outside with baking 
No idea about Hovis flours. I stick to organic ones for the most part.
I usually bake traditional Irish soda bread (flour, soda, salt, buttermilk - nothing else - though others are nice it's not "traditional" so while I'd make it, it's not the same stuff) though I've been known to make normal (yeast) loaves and the likes too. I love the change in feel to the dough as you knead bread like that.
I tend not to pay a blind bit of attention to most things, flour being one of them, but maybe it was so cheap because they wanted the shelf space for something else.
I might be getting a bread maker soon. I'm likely to just knead it myself and bung it in the oven anyway but it will be nice to have the option.
I usually bake traditional Irish soda bread (flour, soda, salt, buttermilk - nothing else - though others are nice it's not "traditional" so while I'd make it, it's not the same stuff) though I've been known to make normal (yeast) loaves and the likes too. I love the change in feel to the dough as you knead bread like that.
I tend not to pay a blind bit of attention to most things, flour being one of them, but maybe it was so cheap because they wanted the shelf space for something else.
I might be getting a bread maker soon. I'm likely to just knead it myself and bung it in the oven anyway but it will be nice to have the option.
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
25p a bag is give away. Having said that I don't shop in Tesco and have a sack of organic wholemeal in so not for me. For anyone that fancies a go at breadbaking a few bags of that would be a good way to give it a try.
I think that bread making is one of those things that needed practice, you can do great bread and then naff bread then great bread etc, after a while though it starts coming together and becoming more natural. Now and then we do it all by hand, often the dough for rolls and pizza is done in the maker and then finished off in the oven.
I think we need to get into a routine with making it regularly and then we might stick at it. Saying that I make unleavened breads from scratch quite a bit, Nan, Chapati, Paratha, tortillas and the like, a bit easier though
I think we need to get into a routine with making it regularly and then we might stick at it. Saying that I make unleavened breads from scratch quite a bit, Nan, Chapati, Paratha, tortillas and the like, a bit easier though
Yeah, i agree on the taste but I do think you save time as you can walk away from the maker... Saying that we're trying to get more into just making by hand, getting used to it and knowing when we can leave it for a bit, when to worry and not etc...
We got the river cottage bread making book which seems to be quite good, i saw an episode of the last series as well that was all about bread, that was good to watch.
We got the river cottage bread making book which seems to be quite good, i saw an episode of the last series as well that was all about bread, that was good to watch.
I would forget breadmakers & learn to do it the proper way by hand. The nice thing about bread is you do a bit, let it stand for an hour, do a bit more, leave it another hour then bake it. It;s nice to do when you are pottering round the house doing lots of small jobs & then keep coming back to it. Nothing like a good homemade loaf.
There are really easy recipes such as the Grant Loaf. You just mix up the ingreadients, pour in a tin, leave for a bit & then bake in an oven:
http://www.woolfit.com/grantloaf.html
Good Way to get started, quick & makes a not bad loaf.
http://www.woolfit.com/grantloaf.html
Good Way to get started, quick & makes a not bad loaf.
25p each! That's cheap! I'll have to see if my local Tesco is doing the same price.
I bake bread a lot.
I have to say that I use a bread maker. I've got through several of them and some are better than others. I'd say that of the machines I've tried and looked at that the Panasonic is the best and produces a better loaf.
Okay I could do it by hand but I'm not going to get up at four in the morning to bake my morning loaf when the breadmaker can be set with a timer to have it ready for my breakfast.
For other loaves I can set the machine to do the dough bit while I do something else then I just take it out, shape it and stick it in the oven. Today I did a Focaccia with part wholemeal flour - tasty. I've also been making a few Panettone recently.
A tip for people who grow their own veges and have a glut of courgettes. Finely grate a courgette and use it as part of your liquid content. Say for example your loaf needs 300g of water, then you grate in around 70-100g of courgette and add water to make up the 300g. You can barely taste the courgette but it gives extra nutrition.
I bought two sacks of Organic (one white, one wholemeal) from a wholesaler but they can't beat 25p a sack.
Hi first post over here, am normally on SOTP. I bake regularly - both indoors and out. If anyones interested I have a bread blog at www.doughblogs.com
Same here Chris, well almost everyday. I use those bread mix packets from tesco's, crusty white bread. Much quicker than using flour and yeast etc as you dont have to leave it to rise for a couple of hours. Takes about an hour at most start to finish. Thats doing it by hand including cooking time. I don't use a bread maker. No room for one.
Similar threads
