Nothing To Do, Try making bread

[fish_fishburn]

I know my way around the kitchen, I cook a lot and really enjoy it. I recently ran out of things to do around here so I figured I would make some bread. Picked up the goodies at the store and ready to go.

Now one of the reasons I am trying this is because I like Sourdough bread and have a hard time finding it here so I will make my own. First off if your going to make Sourdough you need to make a starter, equel amounts of flour and water and feed twice a day for about a week till you have a bubbling bowl or jar of naturally wild fermented yeast, Made my first loaf and it looked nice but had the density of a brick, it went to the compost pile. Next day I tried again, Loaf number two was better but I burnt the bottom again.  Something not right, Get a oven thermometer for third loaf to verify oven temp, Now I know I have a hot oven but never thought it would be off by 50 degrees F, I cut up the second loaf and fed the birds and the third loaf I processed into bread crumbs, Next day I try again and BOOM the nicest loaf ever, so tasty and a nice sourdough taste, I have made the Artisan style in my dutch oven in the oven and it works perfect as well. I have made raisin and cinnamon bread for my Dad as well as regular white bread, Im done buying crappy bread fot 3,50 a loaf at the grocery store, My next experiment is a loaf of jalepeno chedder, It was a bit of a rough start but I was determined to figure this out, What about you guys, any of you make your own bread,

[porkpie]

Yep, nothing fancy but I've made many a loaf of no-knead bread.  Check out artisan bread with Steve on YouTube.  Lots of tasty stuff!

[bigugli]

I get to make some traditional breads every winter.  Finnish pulla for Christmas, and a few batches of oat, brown and unleavened flat bread.

[dave524]

I always cheated, used a bread machine on dough cycle, but I always baked in bread pans and did an extra raise as I hated the paddle tearout and the non traditional shape. Bulk store is your friend for neat stuff to add to the dough. 

[fish_fishburn]

Oh for sure, No Knead is the only way to go. So easy and no mess.

[AKRISONER]

jesus send some this way....sourdough is the bombbbb

[captpierre]

Nothing better than fresh bread. But lots of new evidence that sugar and refined carbs like flour and rice  are the main culprits in our obesity, diabetes and heart disease problems.  Trying to cut back.  If I ever perfected home bread baking that would be a problem  ?

 

[jimmer]

38 minutes ago, captpierre said:

Nothing better than fresh bread. But lots of new evidence that sugar and refined carbs like flour and rice  are the main culprits in our obesity, diabetes and heart disease problems.  Trying to cut back.  If I ever perfected home bread baking that would be a problem  ?

 

Yeah, I rarely eat bread anymore and try to stay away from it as much as possible. Lost some much need weight by doing so.

[dave524]

6 hours ago, jimmer said:

Yeah, I rarely eat bread anymore and try to stay away from it as much as possible. Lost some much need weight by doing so.

Same here, I've lost 60 and my wife 70 in the past year, we do Weight Watchers, it is pretty easy to follow and still eat till satisfied but carbs are not your friend in its programme. 

[fish_fishburn]

A loaf lasts me about 8 to 10 days I am not a big bread eater. The thing is my bread has no sugar or oil or lard. Just water flour salt and starter. As healthy as it gets when talking about bread,

[crappieperchhunter]

Yep....been making no knead bread for a numbers of years now. Our favourite is a loaf with sliced kalamati olives baked into it. Betcha can't have just one slice.

[misfish]

8 hours ago, captpierre said:

Nothing better than fresh bread. But lots of new evidence that sugar and refined carbs like flour and rice  are the main culprits in our obesity, diabetes and heart disease problems.  Trying to cut back.  If I ever perfected home bread baking that would be a problem  ?

 

Warm home made bread, spread a big smack of butter and add a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar..  I,ll bet you cant eat only one as well. Option is to smother with molasses.   LOL

[crappieperchhunter]

47 minutes ago, misfish said:

Warm home made bread, spread a big smack of butter and add a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar..  I,ll bet you cant eat only one as well. Option is to smother with molasses.   LOL

Awesome the next morning for french toast to Brian!!!!

[bigugli]

20 minutes ago, crappieperchhunter said:

Awesome the next morning for french toast to Brian!!!!

I'd be taking that bread when stale and drying it into rusks for dipping in coffee. We do the same with stale pulla.

[DRIFTER_016]

The closest I get is making bannock when out camping.

I make other stuff with yeast. 

[Old Ironmaker]

Good for you Mr. Fishburn. I'm jealous. If there is such a thing as giving yourself Type 2 Diabetes I think I may have. We won a bread maker at a Christmas party years ago and I was whacking out a loaf a day with butter. 25 or more pounds that winter later we gave it away. That same year I was diagnosed with Type 2. No more bread making for me. A loaf now may turn green before we eat it. A treat now is a few good Portuguese buns fresh from the bakery on James. St. North in Hamilton. Maybe once a month. It is at James and Robert St. north of the Armories, wonderful place full of baked treats, I highly recommend it if anyone gets down to that part of Hamilton.

[SirCranksalot]

I'm a borderline diabetic. I still eat some bread---everything in moderation, I guess. I rarely eat white bread. My understanding is that the goal is to limit carb intake at any one time, whether that's bread, potato or whatever. Fiber also has a buffering effect. 

[crappieperchhunter]

On 12/15/2017 at 7:41 AM, fish_fishburn said:

 Loaf number two was better but I burnt the bottom again. 

I never noticed this the first time through or I would have commented then.  When I do my no knead bread in the cast iron pot in the  oven the bottom of the loaf would get over done a little. If you have totally corrected this with changing your oven temps then you have no need to read further. However if your still playing with it I would suggest putting an empty baking sheet on the rack under the rack your loaf is on. This has worked really well for me to solve the overcooked bottom of the loaf.  

Edited December 16, 2017 by crappieperchhunter
SP

[bigugli]

3 hours ago, crappieperchhunter said:

I never noticed this the first time through or I would have commented then.  When I do my no knead bread in the cast iron pot in the  oven the bottom of the loaf would get over done a little. If you have totally corrected this with changing your oven temps then you have no need to read further. However if your still playing with it I would suggest putting an empty baking sheet on the rack under the rack your loaf is on. This has worked really well for me to solve the overcooked bottom of the loaf.  

Another alternative is a steam tray on a rack under the loaf

[Old Ironmaker]

12 hours ago, SirCranksalot said:

I'm a borderline diabetic. I still eat some bread---everything in moderation, I guess. I rarely eat white bread. My understanding is that the goal is to limit carb intake at any one time, whether that's bread, potato or whatever. Fiber also has a buffering effect. 

Don't eat any foods that starts out or ends up white. Don't eat anything that grows underground. Stick to those simple rules and you might be fine. Get a chart of foods with high and low glycemic response and eat those foods with low glycemic response. Long strands of spaghetti is much better then short pastas like Penne or elbows. A small serving of carrots or beets can be worse than a nice big juicy steak. I went from 235 to 185 following some simple rules. 2 pieces of breaded Walleye or similar size anything can be equal to 1/3 a loaf or more of bread.  No need to starve. Educate yourself. Knowledge is power.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[crappieperchhunter]

11 hours ago, bigugli said:

Another alternative is a steam tray on a rack under the loaf

Interesting Bruce. But to my understanding a steam pan should only be used during the first 10 minutes or so of baking...so do you remove the pan after that time or only add enough ice cubes or water so they evaporate in 10 minutes? Also my understanding is that when I'm baking in my cast iron pot with the lid left on during most of the baking time the lid serves the same purpose as a steam tray....trapping in the moisture to help make an awesome crust. 

[bigugli]

Yes I only use a shallow steam pan for about 15 minutes, but it does help deflect the heat that goes to the bottom of the loaf. The cast pot has different requirements from open loaf baking