Trying to cut back on the cost of grocery, I bought some cheap breads. Those air-filled breads were terrible and full of ingredients I can't pronounce. After reading and watching shows about bread making, I baked a loaf of bread. It wasn't hard and it's a lot better than the most breads I buy at a grocery store. The cost? A lot cheaper and taste better than buying cheap breads. Ingredients? Flour, yeast, water, and salt. That's it! I don't think I'll ever buy breads again.
Home Made Breads
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My wife makes all our bread. It takes time, but when you get the hang of it, it's the best in the world.
Thumbs up to you
Thumbs up to you
I have been learning bread baking for past 6 month with much success. One advantage you can do is make bread the night before then put it in the fridge over night to slow down the final proofing. Let it that and finish proof and bake. It will develop complex flavors by having the yeast slow down and take their time. A great reference for breads is Peter Reinhardt's Bakers Apprentice. It has master recipe's for most favorite breads today. Also, using instant yeast makes life a lot easier.
I am no fan of store bread....I have been baking my own for 2 years in a top of the line,king arthur flour recommended, zojirushi bread machine...I finally became too afraid to use it after the cheap teflon coatings started to rapidly disintegrate and go into my loaves,a shame,considering everything else about the machine was superb...now I'm in the market for a book or two on home oven bread baking...nothing like that yeasty loaf aroma at the finale...
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Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. This book has pretty good recipes and techniques in making breads. It's almost fool proof.
Mine are always heavy and have no shelf life. Still, they always have good texture. Is it worth getting a cheap bread machine or will that not have that right & proper bread texture? I really have no trouble getting good bread around here.
My wife makes all our bread. It takes time, but when you get the hang of it, it's the best in the world.
Thumbs up to you
Seriously. I don't know the last time we bought store bread. It was hard at first, but got steadily easier and easier. Mine has white whole wheat flour, bread flour, yeast, milk, sugar, salt, oil, and a bit of ginger to help with the rising.
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Love home made bread but tend to eat three times as much of it 'because it cuts so thick'. Well, that's my excuse.
@ Steve
Had to Google what C8H10N4O2 is. This caused me to loose my B&B connection. Now I know what it is I doubt whether I will be dropping it into everyday conversation. Apart from the fact that seeateaitchtenenohtoo is not only difficult to pronounce it also sounds like a backwoods place name. Not that I have anything against backwoods places (or their names for that matter).
Had to Google what C8H10N4O2 is. This caused me to loose my B&B connection. Now I know what it is I doubt whether I will be dropping it into everyday conversation. Apart from the fact that seeateaitchtenenohtoo is not only difficult to pronounce it also sounds like a backwoods place name. Not that I have anything against backwoods places (or their names for that matter).
Caffeinated bread? I want the recipe.
In Australia we have a cake/pastry called a 'Coffee Scroll'. Will that suffice?
Its a bun like, rolled up thing, with currants in it and a dollop of latte coloured icing on the top. Grand children eat the icing and discard the doughy bit. I don't know if it is peculiar to the antipodes (along with the Lamington - now there's a cake)
Its a bun like, rolled up thing, with currants in it and a dollop of latte coloured icing on the top. Grand children eat the icing and discard the doughy bit. I don't know if it is peculiar to the antipodes (along with the Lamington - now there's a cake)
Ahh I love getting up early for a shave, then going into the kitchen and working out my ongoing recipe. It's a nice dense whole wheat, whole grain bread it isn't quite perfect yet but it's getting there. I call it playing, no recipe card or cookbook. If I plan on eventually writing a cookbook I better be able to adlib in the kitchen with the best of them.
My wife makes most of our bread. It's not that much work, tastes the best and is cheap.
I have been making bread for many years. If you want to do it for economic reasons, the key to success is finding good, affordable yeast.
Apart from yeast, the cost per loaf is something like this:
2 c flour ~ 30¢
water, salt, oil < 5¢
Now, the yeast... if you buy those envelopes or the small jar in the grocery story, it'll run you about 60¢ for a loaf. More than all other ingredients combined.
My recommendation is the 1-lb. vacuum packed bag of instant yeast (same as bread machine yeast) available at the warehouse stores for about $2. This brings the cost per loaf to a couple cents.
Note: instant yeast is NOT the same thing as rapid yeast, or active dry yeast.
Apart from yeast, the cost per loaf is something like this:
2 c flour ~ 30¢
water, salt, oil < 5¢
Now, the yeast... if you buy those envelopes or the small jar in the grocery story, it'll run you about 60¢ for a loaf. More than all other ingredients combined.
My recommendation is the 1-lb. vacuum packed bag of instant yeast (same as bread machine yeast) available at the warehouse stores for about $2. This brings the cost per loaf to a couple cents.
Note: instant yeast is NOT the same thing as rapid yeast, or active dry yeast.
Tried baking about 5 loaves, but they never turned out that great. 
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- #16
I make this white bread.
3 to 3 1/2 cup flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup milk
3 to 4 tble butter
pinch or dash of salt
1 tbl honey
bake at 425 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes
viola! classic white bread for toasts and sandwitches
3 to 3 1/2 cup flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup milk
3 to 4 tble butter
pinch or dash of salt
1 tbl honey
bake at 425 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes
viola! classic white bread for toasts and sandwitches
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Cheers, will give it a try.
+1. I borrowed this book from the library and was able to make some delicious artesian bread rounds and I can't bake worth a toot! Enjoy.
The recipe I use makes 3 loaves at a time, and even though we go through that in a week, it goes bad before we use it all. So, I wrap each loaf in plastic wrap (wrapped well), put 2 in the freezer and leave one out. Ta da!
Speaking of bread, I saw an episode of Baking with Julia this morning and they made baguettes. I think I'll be making that Monday. I made pizza today, made coffee cake tonight, making sandwich bread tomorrow, and was asked to make garlic knots for a teacher appreciation lunch for Thursday. How long will it take before I'm sick of my kitchen? Place your bets.
