Bread for beginner?
- Thread starter Mike
- Start date
What brand of bread flour did you use, Mr Ryan??? I ask because they all seem to have different characteristics when it comes to hydration...
I also know that the weather here has an effect as well (I have had days when I have had to ask Mrs. Ranch to add additional flour because my hands were 'loaded').
I also know that the weather here has an effect as well (I have had days when I have had to ask Mrs. Ranch to add additional flour because my hands were 'loaded').
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Mr_Yan
Guest
OK so this one turned out REALLY well. Half of one loaf gone and this is with another fresh loaf in the house - I made it yesterday. Funny story this morning I woke up to my 2 year old jumping onto my bed yelling "daddy you made bread, daddy you made bread".
I am using "high gluten flour" sold in bulk from a bulk and health food store run by a Mennonite family in southern Wisconsin west of Beloit. This may hurt some of you but I buy it in 25 pound bags for 45 cents a pound.
I am using "high gluten flour" sold in bulk from a bulk and health food store run by a Mennonite family in southern Wisconsin west of Beloit. This may hurt some of you but I buy it in 25 pound bags for 45 cents a pound.
That is a good price!!! I haven't seen any bulk places in decades...
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Mr_Yan
Guest
I know this place is awesome. Whole wheat flour 44 cents a pound. High Gluten flour for 45 cents a pound. Unbleached AP flour 47 cents a pound.
the bulk spices are great too. Small deli containers of paprika (spanish, hungarian, smoked etc), cumin, cinnamon, oregano, chili powder, and most other spices for a buck each.
The down side is the store is about a 50 minute drive one way from my house. 20 to 25 minute drive one way from work. The few times a year I drive up there I buy 75 or more pounds of flour at a time.
LOL! That is a normal drive drive time here for just about anything... Grocery shopping can easily take a good half-a-day.
- Thread starter
- #32
Well I think the dough was a bit wet still but at the same time maybe the pictures made it look worse than it was? At any rate the dough was very sticky all the way up to putting it in a pan.
Before putting it in a loaf pan I floured the counter top and rolled the dough then cut it and placed it in the pan. I probably should have kneaded it more like @w_r_ranch posted in his pictures. Unfortunately I had already put mine in the oven before seeing Sam's instructions.
Here's the bread out of the oven.
The center of the bread had a good taste. The outside was pretty hard. At least still edible so I guess it wasn't a complete waste for the first time making bread. I certainly want to give it another go.
@Mr_Yan what mixer are you using?
Before putting it in a loaf pan I floured the counter top and rolled the dough then cut it and placed it in the pan. I probably should have kneaded it more like @w_r_ranch posted in his pictures. Unfortunately I had already put mine in the oven before seeing Sam's instructions.
Here's the bread out of the oven.
The center of the bread had a good taste. The outside was pretty hard. At least still edible so I guess it wasn't a complete waste for the first time making bread. I certainly want to give it another go.
@Mr_Yan what mixer are you using?
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Mr_Yan
Guest
This is a Kitchen Aid stand mixer "Ultra Power" 300 W. Amazon has it linked here
This has done the job for almost two years now. I've used it for bread about twice a week plus other mixing since Christmas 2012. If you're thinking about buying one I would err larger if you plan on actually using it but most stand mixer are just counter ornaments only to be used for Christmas cookies.
This has done the job for almost two years now. I've used it for bread about twice a week plus other mixing since Christmas 2012. If you're thinking about buying one I would err larger if you plan on actually using it but most stand mixer are just counter ornaments only to be used for Christmas cookies.
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Mr_Yan
Guest
A few weeks ago I was trying to mix / knead a stiff sour dough batch and over heated the motor. I actually had a wisp of smoke coming out of the upper housing of the mixer.
And I seem to have worn the speed detents down and now the speed select is more analog than discrete.
And I seem to have worn the speed detents down and now the speed select is more analog than discrete.
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ErnieCopp
Guest
Sailor's Bread.
It has been so long ago i do not recall the proportions,. but on ocean crossings in sailboats, i would bake bread on the stove top in a pressure cooker. Just Ocean salt water, flour and yeast is all i recall putting in it. We would mix it and let it rise in the pressure cooker then using a flame tamer, with the lid on but not the pressure weight, bake it on top of the stove. It was good simple bread but not the pretty crusts you fellows are producing,
Another bread story. Back in 1949, married with 3 babies, I got crushed between a bulldozer and a rubber tired earth mover, One year on 30 dollars a week and we were pinching pennies. Store bread cost between 12 and 15 cents a loaf, so my wife baked all of our bread because that only cost 5 cents a loaf for the ingredients.
Ernie
It has been so long ago i do not recall the proportions,. but on ocean crossings in sailboats, i would bake bread on the stove top in a pressure cooker. Just Ocean salt water, flour and yeast is all i recall putting in it. We would mix it and let it rise in the pressure cooker then using a flame tamer, with the lid on but not the pressure weight, bake it on top of the stove. It was good simple bread but not the pretty crusts you fellows are producing,
Another bread story. Back in 1949, married with 3 babies, I got crushed between a bulldozer and a rubber tired earth mover, One year on 30 dollars a week and we were pinching pennies. Store bread cost between 12 and 15 cents a loaf, so my wife baked all of our bread because that only cost 5 cents a loaf for the ingredients.
Ernie
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Mr_Yan
Guest
So @ErnieCopp, I just ran my numbers and with what I am paying I am spending about 99.74 cents a loaf. I did just find a cheaper way to buy yeast so that number will come down to 78.52 cents per loaf when I run out of this jar of yeast. This is not counting the electricity for my oven and the water.
Anyway to the seasoned bakers out there what is the difference between the different types of yeasts I see on the shelf? Instant, Bread machine, active dry, etc. I'm having trouble finding an answer in searches but that is probably do to my search strings.
Anyway to the seasoned bakers out there what is the difference between the different types of yeasts I see on the shelf? Instant, Bread machine, active dry, etc. I'm having trouble finding an answer in searches but that is probably do to my search strings.
Cake (moist) - the traditional live yeast; needs to be dissolved in water. Sadly it is virtually impossible to find at retail stores anymore due to the fact that, as a fresh product, it does not store well.
Active Dry - the traditional dry yeast; needs to be dissolved usually with a bit of sugar
Instant Dry - contains a bit of yeast enhancer (ascorbic acid, maybe some other stuff?) & is more concentrated than active dry. It does not need to be dissolved at all.
Bread Machine - exactly the same as instant, just different packaging. Adding the words "Bread Machine" to the label commands a higher price, which I find a bit silly, but welcome to the wonderful world of marketing..
Rapid Rise - like 'Bread Machine', it is exactly the same as instant, just different packaging. Again, adding the words "Rapid Rise" to the label commands a higher price, yet another way of separating a fool from their money..
I exclusively use instant dry yeast (IDY).
Active Dry - the traditional dry yeast; needs to be dissolved usually with a bit of sugar
Instant Dry - contains a bit of yeast enhancer (ascorbic acid, maybe some other stuff?) & is more concentrated than active dry. It does not need to be dissolved at all.
Bread Machine - exactly the same as instant, just different packaging. Adding the words "Bread Machine" to the label commands a higher price, which I find a bit silly, but welcome to the wonderful world of marketing..
Rapid Rise - like 'Bread Machine', it is exactly the same as instant, just different packaging. Again, adding the words "Rapid Rise" to the label commands a higher price, yet another way of separating a fool from their money..
I exclusively use instant dry yeast (IDY).
For your reading enjoyment (Fleischman's site): http://www.breadworld.com/education/FAQs
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ErnieCopp
Guest
Yan, What I find interesting when prices from the past are closely compared to current prices, they all come pretty close to showing the same rate of inflation, which with the bread ingredients, for example, like almost everything else, have gone up between 15 and 20 times over that period of time..
Most of the exceptions to this have been driven by outside forces, like housing prices have increased more because of the added environmental costs, but these higher prices for everything, including wages, do not mean we are becoming any wealthier.
Ernie
Most of the exceptions to this have been driven by outside forces, like housing prices have increased more because of the added environmental costs, but these higher prices for everything, including wages, do not mean we are becoming any wealthier.
Ernie