Today's Bread (2019-2022)

Do you make your own bread?


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I know that one well!

I thought I had messed up yesterday's loaf of sourdough (yeasted for the breadmaker) big time. It's a packet mix that you add yeast (provided) and water to. I started off following the directions (when I bought the box of 4 loaf packets) 1 packet, 420 ml of water and 1½ tsp of yeast (4.5g). 2nd attempt was 3g of yeast and this 3rd attempt was 2.5g of yeast. But crucially this last time the water was really hot. not warm, but hot! But it was 6am in morning after a long day and a bad night and I wasn't thinking straight when I put it on. As I had to go out because the knee scooter I had on hire for hubby had broken, I just put it on and set it going with out thinking. I should have delayed the start but didn't, so when I go have to see it hadn't risen much at all and wasn't level with the top of the loaf tin (1.5kg loaf tin!) I thought it was going to be a huge failure. Hubby cut into it and tried it, announcing that it was the best loaf yet! what did I do? Can I repeat it? Errr... No! I have no idea what temperature that 420g of hot water was at other than below 100°C and maybe above 50-60°C!
Sourdough seems to have a mind of its own
 
Another semolina flour bread with fennel seeds.. that’s definitely my fave bread

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Another (and final for the time being) yeasted sourdough. Rose a little too much again but next time I'll drop another ½g off the yeast content (needed for the breadmaker side of life)



Once life gets back to normal, aka parents return to UK and hubby returns to work somewhere around the end of March (though i suspect I'll be tied up with his physio for all of April), I'll start making proper sourdough with no added yeast again.
 
Another (and final for the time being) yeasted sourdough. Rose a little too much again but next time I'll drop another ½g off the yeast content (needed for the breadmaker side of life)
I have only made breadmaker yeasted sourdough from a kit, but I do make it by hand. The recipe states 1 g fresh yeast to 180 g leaven, but I always find I have to add 2 or 3 g of dried active yeast to get it to have a half-decent rise. The recipe also recommends using a 3 lb loaf tin but I find it looks rather flat so squeeze it into a 2 lb loaf tin to get it to look like a traditional white tin loaf.

As for the sourdough loaf I made the other day, it turned out smaller than I hoped and rather heavy but still quite nice in sandwiches. It does make good toast too! It was probably my fault anyway because I used a different recipe. I am experimenting at the moment with different recipes - I didn't realise there were so many out there.
 
I have only made breadmaker yeasted sourdough from a kit, but I do make it by hand. The recipe states 1 g fresh yeast to 180 g leaven, but I always find I have to add 2 or 3 g of dried active yeast to get it to have a half-decent rise. The recipe also recommends using a 3 lb loaf tin but I find it looks rather flat so squeeze it into a 2 lb loaf tin to get it to look like a traditional white tin loaf.

As for the sourdough loaf I made the other day, it turned out smaller than I hoped and rather heavy but still quite nice in sandwiches. It does make good toast too! It was probably my fault anyway because I used a different recipe. I am experimenting at the moment with different recipes - I didn't realise there were so many out there.
This one is weird, but it is either the manufacturer of the dough "kit" or the breadmaker itself because both the granary loaf and the sourdough loaf require less than ½ the required yeast which they provide. The granary loaf is 600g flour, 300g water (should be 360g but that wasn't right at all for this breadmaker), and only 2.0g of their yeast instead of 5.0g.

The sourdough is similar but requires 420g of water and is now down to 2.0g of their yeast as well.

Everything rises too well!
 
That is no cause for complaint!
When it escapes from the extra large tin, touches the top of the breadmaker viewing glass and carries on, I beg to differ... I'm not kidding either... it has a maximum of 1.5kg leaves, so roughly 3lb. I've only been putting 1kg loaves into it and I can't contain then with even half the yeast recommended! They look and taste great, I just don't know why they rise to very well. It makes for a very, very soft loaf that is difficult to cut, lousy for sandwiches and best for dipping or toast. Sadly I'm after a lunch sandwich loaf. Even the homemade versions rather than 'kit' loaves have had this issue. I'm at a loss really. But it is lovely soft bread, lol.
 
It makes for a very, very soft loaf that is difficult to cut, lousy for sandwiches and best for dipping or toast.
That's odd to me, because I prefer very soft breads for sandwiches. I like firm, crusty breads to eat on their own or with soup, but if I'm making a sandwich, I want bread that's like a marshmallow.
 
This one is weird, but it is either the manufacturer of the dough "kit" or the breadmaker itself because both the granary loaf and the sourdough loaf require less than ½ the required yeast which they provide. The granary loaf is 600g flour, 300g water (should be 360g but that wasn't right at all for this breadmaker), and only 2.0g of their yeast instead of 5.0g.

The sourdough is similar but requires 420g of water and is now down to 2.0g of their yeast as well.

Everything rises too well!
I'm only my second breadmaker which I still only use for kneading dough. The instructions are different from those for the old one, but I use neither set of instructions - I use the recipes on the flour packs as they are much better. Sourdough is made entirely by hand and is dependent on the temperature in my kitchen which is 60F at the moment (nearly 3 pm) and can be colder than my fridge at night.
 
I use the recipes on the flour packs as they are much better
This is following such a recipe, from off the side of the bread kit. Plus I've made it by following the breadmaker instructions as well, minus the dairy. No difference.

Sourdough is made entirely by hand
Ordinarily so is mine, but life isn't ordinary right now and I'm struggling to do even the most basic of things since the diagnosis of OA in both hips, plus hubby having had a major op and is home, non- weight bearing for 8 weeks before he even starts physio. Add to that my parents being over from the UK for 6 weeks and I'm not coping. So it is the breadmaker or shop bought bread. I know which i prefer.
 
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