Bread baking

[cwiseman77]

Very nice :hat:

I only managed a single granary loaf this weekend

 

[Hawks]

Looks lovely!!

Managed a couple of malt loaves and a couple of these which have become the house standard

 

[graysalchemy]

That looks really good Hawks. My Granary has become my house bread. :thumb:

 

[Hawks]

That looks really good Hawks. My Granary has become my house bread. :thumb:

Thanks, they have been improving slowly for some time, the last couple of weeks have been my best ones :thumb:
Still a lot to learn, but I enjoy it and the kids get involved in the mornings on the weekend.

 

[Vossy1]

Making me hungry, nice loaf H

 

[Jeltz]

Not had time to read through this long thread but I was wondering if people were using bakers yeast or yeast recovered from brewing.

 

[graysalchemy]

sour dough culture for me, though bakers yeast is effectively ale yeast.

 

[Hawks]

I use bakers yeast, although a sour dough starter is on the bread 'to do' list

 

[falafael]

I am thinking of coming of this forum and closing my account down.......cost me beer supplies, then a sausage maker, a bread maker, but going to buys ome tins, and do it the old fashioned way soon!
Nice granary loaf there!!
:clap: :clap:

 

[evanvine]

I am thinking of coming of this forum and closing my account down

Give you more time to do your shed Dave!

 

[falafael]

I am thinking of coming of this forum and closing my account down

Give you more time to do your shed Dave!

Once i start, yes,m not be on here much!

Got the bread maker out the loft, 2 hovis white loaf packs, and i also bought a big bag of flour and some yeast!!
Ready to go sir!

 

[graysalchemy]

Well Done :thumb:

 

[Hawks]

No need to buy tins either, just shape it well and cook on some baking paper. :thumb:

 

[morethanworts]

I do it regularly and successfully (and worked in a bakery for a few years as a student!). I wish my homebrew was as consistent as my bread, but then I haven't worked in a brewery!

Basic tasty white or brown bread (Make three 1lb or just over loaves)

1.5Kg Strong white or brown flour plus some for dusting
2 heaped tablespoons milk powder
3 sachets dried yeast (1 per loaf)
2tsp salt (I add this even if the butter is salted)
3tsp sugar
1oz butter
3-4 mugs of warm water

Mix all the dry ingredients really well in a big mixing bowl.
Melt the butter gently, only just enough for it to be runny.
Make a well in the mix, pour in 3 warm mugs of water and the butter and mix gradually from the inside outwards, adding more water (probably no more than 4 mugs in total - depending on your mug!) only as required. Remove spoon and bind together with your hands to make a dough. Try to get any last drops of water in before it forms a whole ball:the exact amount needs practice. As you kneed, the dough should end up properly STICKY to the touch - I used to make it too dry and it doesn't rise as well. Not falling-apart-soggy, but definitely sticky.

Kneed until it's a smooth dough, divide into 3 x 600-650g lumps and place in 3 greased 1lb loaf tins. Flatten out slightly so that it covers most of the base, but it doesn't need to be exact. Each tin should be no more than half full. If there's any spare, make a few rolls!

Prove in a slightly warm place (I briefly turn a second oven on and off) and leave until risen to double-size, looking the shape and size of the final loaf. DO NOT bash the oven door or knock the tins. This should take about 45-60 mins. Much less than that suggests it's gone too quick and may collapse. Pre-heat a fan oven to 210C as they get close to fully risen.

Move VERY gently and without touching the dough into the heated oven and close the door softly. Bake for around 25 mins until ...oh yes... they sound hollow when tapped underneath. Turn out and cool on a rack.

Open a bottle of homebrew and celebrate! Hope I didn't forget anything.

There is a good argument for resting and 'knocking-back' (re-kneeding) the dough before final proving, getting more flavour out of the yeast's work, but I have to say I don't often bother. This method already produces far better bread than you're likely to buy and the modern dry yeast seems to produce an excellent consistent result anyway: I don't bother with fresh baker's yeast any more.

Good luck!

 

[falafael]

Thanks for that morethanworts!

 

[graysalchemy]

The Crumpets

Ready to eat

Yum Yum

 

[BIGJIM72]

I have taken to swapping a bit of water out of my bread recipes for a bit of whatever is in the KK. Seems to improve the overall quality of my loaf.

 

[graysalchemy]

You mean another liquid? beer, milk oil?

Reducing a loafs hydration reduces oven spring and the texture of the bread.

 

[BIGJIM72]

I swap a bit of the water out for one of my beers

 

[graysalchemy]

:lol: :lol:

Great with malty bread :thumb: :thumb: