In my family, and maybe in bigger circles, we would always say "but I bet she/he makes good bread", after saying something bad, or not so kind about someone. It might be from a movie or something... I don't know. And so I though it would be a great title today. No I am not gossiping, and don't have anything too terrible to say about someone, but I did make some pretty good bread last night!So, here is my first official attempt at making bread. It turned out a little sticky/ doughy in texture, but it really tastes alright. I though for sure it would flop because I have heard horror stories about learning the art of bread-making. BUT, I do have a few questions for seasoned bread makers, if there are any of you out there that read this blog....
1) What is the correct way to make yeast active? I know that you put it in a bowl of warm/hot water, but do you mix it to dissolve the tiny yeast pebble things, or do they just sit and do their thing without any help?
2) I need a serious lesson on kneading bread. Sure I have watched my mom do it for years, watched the demo at the bread class a month or two ago, but, man, I can't figure it out. David had to come in and after literally laughing at my technique, showed my how he thought I should do it.... and his way worked a lot better then mine. =) Maybe I need a face to face lesson on it. At least it turned out okay.
3) So the recipe says "form into loaves and place in pan", so I split my nice kneaded chuck of dough into 4 sections, and then, because I didn't exactly know what to do to "form into a loaf", I kinda just made a giant snake shaped thing, like working with play-do.... I formed it to fit into the bread pan. Is that right?
Maybe I should get a lesson or two before tackling bread-making....We can call it beginners luck. =)
6 comments:
Your bread looks great. I too am a begginer at bread making. I have made some that turned out pretty good. I think the key is, is to practice. The more you make it the better it gets and then you will have it down to a science. Good luck.
I think your bread looks good. I agree with Marcie. Practice makes perfect. Now I love making bread, I just hate cleaning up after it.
I am not a bread maker but I sure want to be. You give me inspiration!
Here's what I do to get the yeast active... put the water, yeast, sugar and 4cups white flour in and let it sit for an hour, or if you don't have that kind of time put it in a mixer for 10 min. As for kneading, if you're going to make bread all the time GET A BOSCH! I could work that dough forever and it never turns out as well as when the bosch does the work.
I'm not a great bread maker, but for my yeast, I just put it in a bowl with a little water and a little sugar on top, and I just let it sit until I have the other ingredients mixed together (except the flour).
And I use a Bosch too. My mom gave it to me, and she says that you only have to let the dough rise once if you use a Bosch because it mixes air into the dough or something.
But at the same time, I think there's something to be said for knowing how to knead the right way (whatever that is!). Just for preparedness or something.
Good job! The bread does look good. :)
I don't mind long comments at all. I love to hear your thoughts. And as you can see, I'm often a long comment leaver too!
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