Does anyone bake their own bread?

andy700 said:
You do a lot of running Jonathan, so does much of your carbs come from pasta, rice and potatoes?
Click to expand...

Not really. I don't often eat those things either..... Come to think of it, it's a bit of a mystery where I do get carbs from. I guess vegetables are chock full of them :)

My "ritual" in the week before a marathon is to bake some bread and then eat a loaf gradually starting from Wednesday. It seems to give me enough extra carbs. During the race I'll be guzzling sugar and afterwards a quick blast of protein, carbs and cake :D

Nice recipe. Personally I'd use fast acting yeast. Then you can skip the sugar and the first bit where you froth it up. Mr Hollywood off of the telly says this gives you a more reliable rise than the live yeast + sugar bit.

Oh and 220C? My rule of thumb is that if you're not scared to open the oven door it isn't hot enough :D
 
simon ess said:
I use a bread making machine. Does that count?

I follow the recipe for Rustic French Loaf.

It's fabulous.
Click to expand...

We've got a machine too. Great aren't they? Fill it with the ingredients last thing at night, bung it on delay timer and wake up to a lovely fresh loaf in the morning. Result. Nom nom!

We usually do half strong white/ half strong wholemeal flour and it turns out really nice bread. My wife did a pannetone (sp?) last week and that was pretty good too.
 
I managed to buy a couple of 3kg bags of Allinsons strong white bread flour today from Asda - £2 each! That is good for between 24 and 32 baguettes, or 8 decent sized ciabatta per bag of flour.
 
jonbeeza said:
I like keeping things simple, fruit cake and thats it lol
Click to expand...


I suppose that isn't too complicated, because the cake mix is fairly wet and you just pour it into the right sized cake tin don't you?
The nearest I get to using fruit is date and walnut bread, which my OH says is pretty yummy.
 
I'm lucky enough to be the son of a Baker who's run his own bakery for 35 years. Fresh bread and rolls every day will never tire.
 
Due to a busy life I only get to bake bread once or twice a month. Paul holywoods book is excellent. I do often just make a standard white cob or whole meal rolls but do make his pecan loaf which I add walnuts to (it contains rye flour and treacle which makes it dark and great with cheese) and also like using spelt flour too.

Cannot explain how great homemade bread is. I don't like bead makers and prefer it done by hand. Normally either use a wooden basket to shape or just hand form it. Tip, I have a double oven and use the top oven which is smaller. On max heat I also put boiling water in the tray when putting the loaf in. Never open for at least 15 mins and don't be afraid to cook it longer, early on I used to take out too early.
 
I might start making my own Bread soon, just been offered a Bread making machine by a friend :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top