Real Bread
 

Great to see this thread! I have taken a few courses from Bread Beckers in GA http://www.breadbeckers.com/. It's my passion. Amazing. They are focused on going back to Biblical grains and milling one's own grains. I have a WonderMill and have been making breads for the past month with freshly ground hard white/red wheat, buckwheat, millet, rye, etc. You can take video classes if you don't live close by. My best friend and I did a taste test. Freshly ground really does taste better.

Bread machine
 

Yes. Newest version of the Zojirushi is best. I have an old Zo, but new one browns better on top of bread loaf due to heating coils. It continuously gets best reviews for quality and longevity. http://www.breadbeckers.com/ recommend it as well. Mine has never let me down.

I'm curious to know what ingredient amounts you use. The recipes I've tried for soda bread produce loaves about 8 inches across, too much for one person to enjoy over 1 or 2 days at most, and it doesn't keep. I'm looking for a recipe with ingredient amounts for a small loaf (maybe 5 inches across) that I could make routinely without making too much and having it go to waste.

Many thanks for the detaied instructions - I have to give it a jolly good go.... as soon as I'm back at home.

Standby for photos :)


Adey

I've tried. And failed. I consider myself a well above average home chef, but just can't grasp working with dough.

I had given up on bread as well until the no-knead recipes became well known (such as the Jim Lahey one I mentioned upthread.)

Thanks op for this thread and thanks for the recipe as well. I'll give it a go sometime.

Interesting. I'll have to try this too. It sounds simple enough.

I purchased a Panasonic SD-YD250 while in the US a few months back. It's a very good machine that does a good job at making breads I like. It's slow though - most breads seem to take at least 4h if not 5h so you do need to get your timing right. You can put the machine on timer mode if you want, but I prefer not to as some of my recipes use milk instead of water and I'd rather not leave the mixture sitting in the machine for too long.

I much prefer making my own bread as I know what's going in there and I can add / delete things to suit my own tastes.

I went through a breadmaking phase a couple years ago - to rave reviews. But it's just too much of a hassle since I don't have a KitchenAid or a bread maker. Plus, bread does not assist me in fitting into my skinny jeans.

Perhaps I'll have to start again.

uk1 - do you spend all day cooking every day? It sure seems like it!

You can try powdered milk, put it on top so it doesn't get to the water until the machine kicks in. No chance of it going sour on you, and you may not be able to tell the difference in the finished product.

I also went through first period by an extended absence from bread making. But now it has all fallen into place and it is so so easy and takes no time or inconvenience. The most complicated bread I make are bagels as I missed the bagels of my youth and realised the only way is to make them . But that is well worth the effort.

Oddly I had the same yearnings for real baguettes hence my experiments there. When written it sounds complicated but in total elapsed time ie not waiting time I guess baguettes take around 20 minutes at most per day.

Yes, I suppose I spend a lot of time cooking but I use to always think of it as productive thinking time as well when working. All my best business and business ideas seems to be over preparing or eating lunch.

I got this recipe a few years ago off the TV, I think it is a Darina Allen( brilliant Irish Chef / teacher) recipe.

560g/1¼ lbs Brown wholemeal flour
560g/1¼ lbs plain white flour
2 rounded tsps of salt
2 rounded tsps of bread soda(bicarbonate of soda)
750-900ml /1¼-1½ pints of sour milk or buttermilk.

You should be able to shape this into a 6 inch round shape.
You won't have any problems with leftovers.:D
Enjoy !!

Thank you!

I use a 1996-vintage Breadman that won't die, so no, but I've been looking at the fancy dual-paddle Zojirushis, and I expect one of these days I'll get one... when the Breadman goes if not sooner.

I'm too lazy to do anything that doesn't bake in the machine, but it's still way better than anything that comes in a plastic bag, and it's more convenient than running by a bakery.

I found a set of directions that had me do a starter (I guess like the poolish?) the night before running on the dough cycle, very wet - makes quite a difference in the flavor.

My husband is a superb bread maker. He scorns a bread machine, but does have a Kitchenaid then kneads it by hand. Many years ago, he took an adult ed class from a woman who was a cancer researcher. She made bread to relax. She taught the class 6 or 7 recipes a night for a multi week course. It included traditional breaks, pita, English muffins, crackers, and more. It gave him great confidence. He will tackle any bread recipe now. I particularly like his sundried tomato/olive bread, his grandmother's potato water biscuits, and his Italian walnut raisin bread. I really really like his English muffins but that's the one recipe he won't made. It simply takes too long and is too fiddly.

Regarding the second part of your query...all of the time. If I`m near olive oil, there`s no telling how much bread I can eat.