Who makes their own bread?

[Grumpetvoluntary]

I'm fed up of buying supermarket bread in plastic packaging. It is so packed with sugar that it never seems to go off which unnerves me!

I want to start making my own bread but don't have a huge amount of time to spend on it (I have a boisterous 2 year old and am frontline nhs and will be spending a lot of the next few months working overtime delivering COVID vaccines). Please tell me how you make yours and does it require a fancy machine?

I know this sounds trivial given current circumstances but I really am determined to be less reliant on pre-made Frankenstein products and there is no bakers nearby (we have just moved to a rural village)

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I started making bread in the last Lockdown to tide us over in between trips to the shop, and have carried on. I'm sure there are fancier recipes around but I've been using this one and its not failed yet. I've kneaded by hand, and also used a stand mixer with a dough hook and both worked equally well. No bread machine required!

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-white-bread/amp

www.melskitchencafe.com/french-bread-rolls/ These are superb, foolproof and yummy. I reduce the sugar though, by half

I don't even eat bread (am coeliac), but lockdown 1 meant we dug out our breadmaker so we weren't going out to buy bread and dh and ds are hooked. Its not that its hard to make normally, but being able to plonk everything in at night and wake up to fresh bread without any more thought really works for us. Ds who is 14 has become a connoisseur of the flours sold in our local farm shops

I have a Panasonic bread maker. It has more than paid for itself over the years. Two hours for a large loaf and so much better than supermarket loaves.

It turns out better if you use a stand mixer and bake in the oven rather than a bread maker.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-white-loaf is my go to recipe. 😁

I do have a machine but regularly don't use it. Same recipe. I am not gods gift to bread making either.

Basically 500g bread flour. 1 tsp salt. Splash of olive oil.

1 packet yeast or 1/2 block of fresh yeast.

Melt yeast in 350ml tap hot water with tsp of sugar or honey.

Mix water etc into flour etc. Mix up using dough hook for 10 mins on slow.

Plop into oiled bowl, cover with t-towel, leave somewhere warming overnight.

Put onto a baking sheet or into bread tin in the oven for 30 mins at 180.

Active prep time 15 mins, then a lot of letting it do its stuff. You can just leave it until it's risen (2 hours) and cook it.

I use this recipe pinchofyum.com/no-knead-bread

I've since adapted it to fit around my working day by making the dough first thing in the morning (takes a minute or two), leaving it to rise during the day then shaping when I get home and leaving to rise overnight in the fridge in a proving basket. Then I bake while I'm getting ready for work the following day. You can figure stick to the timings in the recipe if that works better for you. I find very strong Canadian flour works best with a very long proving time like this recipe.

Hands-on time is less than 5 minutes and it makes really fabulous sourdough-style crusty bread.

BBC good food - easy white bread recipe. DH made it the other day. Absolutely delicious, didn't require much "hands on" time and no fancy machines needed.

Yes use stand mixer to make dough then bake in oven. I prefer versatility of this e.g. using a loaf tin, making rolls etc over a bread maker,

We used a packet mix at the weekend which worked out lovely.
We're going to try making from scratch this weekend, have been recommended a Mary Berry recipe.
I haven't got a stand mixer or bread maker, so hope it's not too labour intensive!

We usually make ours with a bread maker, but only use the knead setting, and transfer it into a loaf tin. It then goes in the airing cupboard for an hour or 2, then into a preheated oven. The bread maker is capable of cooking it too, but the loaf ends up an awkward shape with a hole at the bottom.

Have made it by hand too, not too difficult just a bit more time required to knead it by hand (excellent stress relief btw!!)

I actually cant remember the exact quantities though... have made it so often that I just do it be eye now.
But the ingredients are:
Flour (best if it is STRONG!! I use a mix of white and wholemeal). (3 1/2 cups I think???)
Yeast (instant dried sachet).
Sugar (helps the yeast, and also for flavour. About 3 tbsp I think).
Salt (for flavour, too much will kill the yeast though - around 1 teaspoon).
Veg or olive Oil (about 3 tbsp I think).
Water- I cant remember exact amount. Maybe around 1 /2 cups? Whatever is needed to get the bread to a kneadable consistency. Wetter dough makes for a better texture, but too sticky is messier to handle.

My method when I do it by hand:
Mix, knead very well, then put it in a bowl and let it rise until it is doubled in size. Dough with more wholemeal flour will take longer. The warmer the temp, the faster it will rise. Some people leave it to rise overnight, I leave it in the airing cupboard for an hour or so. Dont let it rise for too long.
Then put it in an oiled, floured tin (or let it sit freeform on a baking tray if the dough is firm enough).
It will collapse a bit as you do this. Let it rise again (for not quite as long as before).
Then preheat the oven (I do it at around 180 or higher), and put it in for 30 or 40 mins depending on temp.
When it looks done, slide it out of the tin and tap the bottom - it should sound "hollow".
Do not cut into it straight out of the oven, as the middle will continue cooking for a bit after taking it out.

Make a batch and freeze some. I bake 3 loaves at a time because I have 3 loaf tins, freeze 2. I bake once a fortnight

Naan bread and pitta breads are even easier. There are some recipes on BBC good food.

I got my breadmaker from a charity shop and have used it loads in lockdown. The smell cheers me up every time too!
Soda bread is delish and involves nigh on zero time. It does make me get through obscene quantities of butter though. I like this recipe but the Jack Monroe one works too.

In the last 4 or 5 months I've been trying to go gluten free/ lower gluten consumption. GF bread is expensive so I took the plunge and made some. I bought some gluten free bread flour from Doves farm.
Its sold in Tescos and Sainsburys, so easily available. There is a recipe on the back of the packet.
I've played around with it a bit. Have cut down the amount of oil in it because of the calories!
Its so easy to make and is lovely, can make it in about 10 mins. You then leave it to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours, then bake. I bake it for less time than the recipe says.

I make sourdough, once you are in a routine it's really easy and only takes a few minutes of my time. Making the starter takes a few days but once you have that and store it in the fridge it's really easy. I use this recipe:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/white-sourdough

You definitely don't need a bread maker - I think they are a bit of a con TBH.

You just need to look for non-enriched dough - then it will only need a quick mix early on, some time to rise, and that's about it. You don't really need a mixer either - kneading bread takes a maximum of 8 minutes and it's dead easy. You could don't actually need any equipment - if you have a ball of dough, just rub it flat against your palm, roll into a ball, rub flat, and repeat, and that'll do it. You can feel when the dough is ready: take a pinch of it and pull gently, and if it breaks away it's not done. If it stretches nicely, it's ready.

Yep. Started using a panasonic breadmaker because all off the supermarket bread had palm oil. Have hardly bought any from the shops since, and very handy for lockdown.

I did over the weekend, The edge was picked at by my non fussy family Then this morning I threw it in the bin, DH joked that it may put a hole in the floor

Yes, everyday in the bread maker, although currently on sourdough instead. Cuts down shopping trips as well. DH got into sourdough first lockdown and now the kids are off school, they do it for him, he nurses the starter with great care! It may be a covid cliche but it is lovely!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crusty-baguettes
My teens call this the best bread ever. And one of them has a Saturday job in a bakery so she knows her dough.
It's the poolish stage that really makes it professional tasting. Basically let three quarters of the yeast begin to ferment with a scoop of the flour and enough lukewarm water to make a runny paste. When it's bubbling add the remaining flour yeast salt and water. I use the bread hook on a food mixer but you can knead by hand. Just knead once and let it rise. If you double knead ( knocking it back in between) it'll be even lighter. If you want a crispy crust put a roasting pan with a cm of boiling water in the bottom of the oven.
Another way to bake is in s Dutch oven or any oven proof lidded casserole. Scrunch up grease proof paper and leave the dough to rise ( use a big casserole). Bake with the lid on. Perfect cottage loaf shape with crust ( won't dry out with lid on)

I also started making bread on the last lockdown - my bread maker decided to stop working on the first loaf though so I made them by hand. Then I decided that I would continue making them, so I bought a stand mixer from Lidl (£50) and it’s awesome - not too different from hand kneaded, just a lot less effort, and much more versatile than the bread maker.

This is my go-to recipe but I occasionally experiment with others - focaccias are a firm favourite for lunchtime here.

I do, but haven't since before Christmas. Must get back to doing it, but we did tend to eat a lot of it as it's so nice.
I use this recipe after having a disaster with my usual one that worked every time. That and my trusty 1970s Kenwood died, and I didn't really like hand kneading, but this recipe is brilliant. There are other videos you can watch where he explains things really well.
www.bakewithjack.co.uk/blog-1/simple-loaf-recipe

We bought a bread maker first lockdown. I fucking hate it. Leaves a hole where the paddle has been and is just a PITA. It's a white elephant. Don't waste your money on a machine. Do in the oven if you want home made.

I do!

I use a bbc recipe. It is not actually that time consuming, as you can just mix it together, go off and leave it to prove, come back, knock it back and shape it, leave it again and then bake. The actual work is not time consuming and since a lot of us are in the house all the time anyway at the moment, the leaving to prove isn't difficult, as we are in anyway!