Anyone else started baking bread for the first time?

[AudTheDeepMinded]

Hello fellow inmates! I've tried baking bread before and never had much success. I bought a bread maker last week and think I've cracked it on the second loaf today, bloody gorgeous (alright, I know it is just sticking in the right ingredients in the right order but I feel a great sense of accomplishment nonetheless!). How's yours going? and has anyone a good recipe for decent pizza dough?

You're best just finding a well rated one on Google, they're all pretty similar really. I'd advise using rye if you've got it for your starter, and then make a poolish (Google how to do it) when you start to use your starter, it's a pre ferment that gives you a much better loaf.

There is some technique and science, but it's very satisfying and gives you a much better loaf.

Also, tip for a good crust is to put boiling water in a baking tray at the bottom of your oven to create steam. I also bake on a bake-stone.

For ours we've used 4oz of flour and 4oz of water mixed together and then every day we've mixed in another 4oz of each to feed it. It had lots of little bubbles in it by day three and it has a sort of tangy, yoghurt-like smell to it, it's not an unpleasant smell. We're going to use it at the weekend to give it a few more days of feeding and fizzing.

I've always baked bread and now suddenly every fucker is doing it and I can't get any flour.

What kind of container is best to keep a sourdough starter in ?

I sincerely hope people are as we bake it every day normally and can't get any flour or yeast anywhere. I'll be so annoyed if they just grabbed it because everyone else was and never use it, such a waste. Am going to investigate sourdough for when we can actually get flour.

It's vitamin c that is added to make commercially made bread last longer. Hardly anything sinister.

I always make my own bread, I find it very therapeutic. I can't get find flour anywhere because everyone has suddenly turned into bakers.

What kind of container is best to keep a sourdough starter in ?

Anything so long as its not metal. Mine is in a plastic dish at the moment and once he's ready to move into the fridge he's got a glass jar to live in. The DC have named him Frank.

I saw a recipe the other day for making bread in a slow cooker

Also a recipe for making bread without yeast (one used lager and I can't remember the other)

Have a Google and although I'm about to log onto work, I can look this eve for recipes if people are stuck

Does anyone know if it is okay to use regular flour for a sourdough starter ?

lyricallie I did that recipe as well, first time I've made bread since school. I was amazed it was so easy and turned out pretty decent!

Also very interested if anyone has a sourdough recipe that doesn't involve a starter, if there is such a thing!

Does anyone know if it is okay to use regular flour for a sourdough starter ?

I used bog standard plain flour from a bag I found in the back of the cupboard.

There are recipes for sourdough without a starter but you will need yeast.

www.averiecooks.com/easy-sourdough-bread/

Another sourdough maker here. Stared about a year ago. After spending 4 weeks trying to coax my starter into reliable life I switched to bottled water and organic flour and it was much happier. Rye flour does help but it makes me itch so I tend not to use it any more.

Best advice is to see watch loads of youtube and find someone locally who has starter they can share. Each of my loaves starts off with only 7g of my fridge starter but it's fed twice to bring it up to 170g before being used.

I have been so disappointed with bread in my bread maker - I follow all the instructions but it comes out yeasty (I think, it's odd anyway). Nice to eat that night but not so good once it has cooled. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong?

Panticus thank you for those links - I'm going to try one of those. I loved the No Knead (NO DUTCH OVEN) Bread but judging by the photo there are more holes than bread

I'm reluctant to buy a breadmaker - already have an unused slow cooker - hate the resulting food - so just want to make a nice cob loaf.

I have a pack of strong flour and some yeast - time to stop being a wimp and trying to make something edible.

the bread I make goes stale. It has never gone mouldy

I agree! Mine has never gone mouldy either - even when I've forgotten about the end of a loaf. I've never understood why.

I really want to have a go at sourdough but I'm rather nervous about starting it.

Forgot to add - at least if I make my own it won't contain undesirables like palm oil.

We make most of our bread in a bread machine and have done for years on and off. If I can’t get more yeast soon I’ll have to resort to sourdough but that involves using up quite a lot of flour which is also getting scarce.

Recently started making my own bread by hand as I am avoiding more unwanted kitchen appliances purchases.

It tastes nice (simple wholemeal) but it has a dense weight and feel to it. Anyone know what I am doing wrong. Using dried yeast and two proofs.

I find 100% wholemeal is a bit heavy. Try 50/50 white and wholemeal.

Thanks will try the 50/50 mix next time.

We have baked our own bread for two years now as ds is allergic to soya flour found.in most shop bought stuff. Except now I'm having to be really tight with it in case we run out of flour and yeast, because everyone else has suddenly turned in to Paul Hollywood. Ffs