Making bread without food processor

[tomorrowalready]

Can anyone advice me about this? I bought this: McDougalls - White Bread & Roll Mix - 3.5Kg from a discount website as it said just add water to mix and bake. When the parcel arrived the instructions on the package said to mix and use a processor dough hook for 6 minutes to mix. I do not have a food processor, I checked the company website and it said the same thing. I bought the mix as I am hard up and thought it would be useful when I can't get out to shop. Obviously I do not want to invest in a procesor just for this but would like to use the mix. So any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Just knead with your hands - does that same job as a dough hook. Will probably need 10 -15 mins though, keep going until it's smooth then leave to prove as per instructions.

Just knead it with your fists until the dough is really smooth and doesn't feel at all flaky or dry. It's a good upper body work out. You knead for about 10-15 mins.

Just knead it like others have said. You’ll feel it lol. Your arms will be aching.

Thanks @IsThisNameTaken and @lunarlandscape, I admit i suspected that would be the answer. it's 40 years since I tried to make bread the old-fashioned way and was not too good at it. Well my arms could do with a work out. thanks again.

@Skyll

Just knead it like others have said. You’ll feel it lol. Your arms will be aching.

Thanks also @ Skyll, I will have to wait till Im feeling strong.

Dan lepard has a good no knead method for bread making. You essentially just give the bread a very short (a minute or so) knead every thirty mins for a while and then leave it to prove.

Might be worth looking up if kneading for a long time is likely to be tough for you.

To autolyse just add the water the night before and mix and leave it in the fridge, it saves ages on kneading time.

Do you have a hand mixer with dough hooks?

Wilma55, no I don't have any kind of mixer. Purpledaisies, this sounds like it might be my best option if and when I get round to it. Shedmistress, sounds like a good idea, had to look up autolyse and while I appreciate there is a lot of learning in the baking world, it does remind me why I decided homemade bread was not for me long ago in a a different life.

Just a note to say, I will not be bothering tonight as I have filled up on Italian rosemary Crostini crackers also from my food parcel... If such depraved laziness is mentionable here.

Well I di it as the weather here got even more snowy and icy cold. did everything wrong or not quite right, with not enough equipment, had to use a glass pyrex dish to mix and bake which was too small even for 500g of flour. it baked surprisingly quickly in my halogen oven in a cottage loaf shape. I ut off a crust to try, not very tasty, may be better tomorrow, inside is a bit claggy as P. Hollywood might say, is it the crumb is too close? Due to under proving? Willpost a photo if anyone is bothered to comment.

Doesn't look cooked enough to me so I'd recommend toasting👍 I make bread all the time, it's surprisingly easy, cheap and works even without lengthy kneading, I rarely last more than 2 minutes. Much cheaper to just buy strong bread flour and easy mix yeast (just over 50p for each in aldi) recipe on the back but I don't even weigh anything. About half bag flour, sachet of yeast, spoonful of oil or melted butter, salt and water. You can keep some of the raw dough covered in the fridge for days, I just pull some off and make fresh rolls (leave to rise for an hour on the baking tray before baking) or good for homemade pizzas.😋

Check out You tube for shaping as well. If you do it right you don't have to use a tin because the tension helps it keep its shape.

There are some really good tutorials out there.

Yes I was thinking of toasting it , Mossstich. That's a good tip about keeping the dough in the fridge, I wanted to make rolls but felt I should use all the dough at once which is why it is undercooked. I think baking in a halogen oven is tricky as things get cooked/burnt on top before the lower parts are cooked if you are not careful. The suggestion of using it for pizza is good, I always end up loading shop bought ones with loads of extras anyway so it would be good to start with my own flavourings. I saw a lovely recipe for flat breads on YouTube. I can see I might get back into baking this way, problem is there is usually only me to eat it.

Thanks, Unescorted, the shaping was a problem as i knew the dough was still too wet despite adding extra flour, and I used a glass pyrex dish as I did not want the same mess in the cooker as I ended up with on my work surfaces/tea towels! I sound like a real beginner but I used to bake a lot with very basic equipment, though I never really got into bread as my house shareres did.

Don't know where you are in the country, but I've (weirdly) found that the amount of water needed alters according to where I am. Same recipe, same bread machine (yes, I'm the weirdo who takes a break machine on holiday), but the interplay between the water and the flour makes a difference. I try to excitement and keep a test then buy the same stuff every time (not all strong white flours are the same!).

Keep with it - it'll revolutionise your life once you've cracked it

Just as long as you are not crossing any borders equipped for baking, Crepusularshadows! i wasn't using a machine though i have looked at them in the Black Friday sales. I have to say it would never be worth it for me as I live alone and rarely cook for anyone else. I would never usually run out of bread and I do mean every crumb, I usually have some in the freezer but last week I used every last pitta and nan bread and not even a stale malt loaf was to be found. for various reasons I did not get out to local shops where I usually buy a basic sliced wholemeal and anthing reduced that looks tasty for the freezer and then, as we know, it snowed and snowed again. Oh I meant to ask, some of the advertisements I saw mentioned jam making in a bread machine. Do you do that? Can you make anything else? I used to make my own jam too from our own garden fruit in a life long ago and somewhere else. I wouldn't do it now as I would never eat it all. Or even tomorrow.

My machine can do jam but I do it on the hob (old fashioned). Depending on the machine you can do dough for pizzas, rolls etc; fancy loaves with olives and seeds and things of that ilk; French white; day loaf in three hours (wholemeal) or under two (white). I've got a Panasonic. Wasn't cheap but I run it every day or two and it's lasted 11 years.

It's worth it if you get the use out of it. I am also doing my yearly thinking/research on should I get a tumble dryer but tha's another question. I just had some of my bread with scrambled eggs - I have to say I prefer shop bought. however it saved me going out in the freezing cold and inspired me to get rid of the blender I never use via Freegle. I got it out the back of the cupboard to check if it would be any help in the bread making which of course it was not. But at least it will be of use to someone.

Tumble dryers are very expensive to run.

Yes of course , Duckrace, hence my yearly consideration of the options. I am fortunate in sharing a large garden with plenty of drying space ( just put out a load) but also Friday's washing has only just got dry inside due to the weather. My flat does have a significant problem with damp for which I am currently running a dehimidifier which is another expense. Sorry bit if an off food tangent but related to discussing what machinery is economic to buy especially when you live alone. As opposed to just buying ready made as I normally do. And I must go out and hunter-gather my ready sliced now.