Any bread bakers here?
Discussion
So does anyone else here bake their own bread? What sort of stuff do you make?
For those that haven't tried, it's well worth the effort and not difficult at all.
For anyone who wants to give it a go, here's a recipe for a plain while loaf:
500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp Salt
1 sachet instant yeast granules
2 tbsp Olive oil
300ml warm water
Method
1. Put the flour, salt and yeast into a mixing bowl
2. Add the water and olive oil
3. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes a shaggy mess
4. Dust your (clean) bench and your hands with flour. Tip the mess out onto the bench and bring it together to form a lump of dough.
5. Knead for 7-10 minutes or so, until the dough goes all nice and smooth and elastic (If it's just too wet and sticky, add a bit more flour). Form it into a ball.
6. Clean out the mixing bowl, grease it with a little bit of olive oil, put the ball of dough in it and cover the bowl with some clingfilm.
7. Leave in a warm place for about 1.5 hours until it's puffed up a bit
8. Squash the air out of the dough and form it into a neat ball (or whatever shape you want it to be).
9. Place the dough on a tray, make 3-4 of slashes about 1cm deep in the top of the ball, then turn the oven on to about 220C. Smear some oil on to the bit of cling film you used in step 6 and place it oiled side down over the dough
10. After around 30-40 minutes, put your dough in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or so.
11. Remove bread from oven, allow to cool for a bit, eat.
..and here's a loaf I prepared earlier (this one is not made using the above recipe - it's a sourdough bread that takes a bit longer to do):
For those that haven't tried, it's well worth the effort and not difficult at all.
For anyone who wants to give it a go, here's a recipe for a plain while loaf:
500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tsp Salt
1 sachet instant yeast granules
2 tbsp Olive oil
300ml warm water
Method
1. Put the flour, salt and yeast into a mixing bowl
2. Add the water and olive oil
3. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes a shaggy mess
4. Dust your (clean) bench and your hands with flour. Tip the mess out onto the bench and bring it together to form a lump of dough.
5. Knead for 7-10 minutes or so, until the dough goes all nice and smooth and elastic (If it's just too wet and sticky, add a bit more flour). Form it into a ball.
6. Clean out the mixing bowl, grease it with a little bit of olive oil, put the ball of dough in it and cover the bowl with some clingfilm.
7. Leave in a warm place for about 1.5 hours until it's puffed up a bit
8. Squash the air out of the dough and form it into a neat ball (or whatever shape you want it to be).
9. Place the dough on a tray, make 3-4 of slashes about 1cm deep in the top of the ball, then turn the oven on to about 220C. Smear some oil on to the bit of cling film you used in step 6 and place it oiled side down over the dough
10. After around 30-40 minutes, put your dough in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or so.
11. Remove bread from oven, allow to cool for a bit, eat.
..and here's a loaf I prepared earlier (this one is not made using the above recipe - it's a sourdough bread that takes a bit longer to do):
Edited by uberscruff on Monday 20th August 14:26
Plotloss said:
Top bread tip.
At the bottom of the oven place a roasting tin with a small amount of water in it.
Keeps the oven humid, which leads to a softer, nicer loaf.
At the bottom of the oven place a roasting tin with a small amount of water in it.
Keeps the oven humid, which leads to a softer, nicer loaf.
The steam helps give the bread a better crust (pro bakeries have steam injected ovens). The best way of doing this is to preheat the oven to 250C with a heavy ceramic dish in the bottom, throw a small amount of water into the dish, put the bread dough in, close the door and turn the heat down to 220C for the remainder of the baking time. 
To make the sourdough, I loosely followed the method on http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=2763... Not really all that difficult once you get into it.
The starter (mother) took a few days to get going, but i've kept it alive for around 6 months now and make a loaf from it each weekend.
The starter (mother) took a few days to get going, but i've kept it alive for around 6 months now and make a loaf from it each weekend.
I tend to make a big batch of white that I can split into 4 - add dried herbs to one loaf, keep another plain, another one I'll add dried tomatoes and the final one I'll do as a sweet bread with raisins/dried fruit.
You can freeze the loaves so you have lovely bread whenever you want it.
Admittedly it's been a while since I did this..........might have to make some tonight it's making me salivate at the thought of fresh bread :P
You can freeze the loaves so you have lovely bread whenever you want it.
Admittedly it's been a while since I did this..........might have to make some tonight it's making me salivate at the thought of fresh bread :P
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