[CZARCAR (OP)]

nothing necessarily healthy..............thanx

[neilep]

nothing necessarily healthy..............thanx

here's a whole bunch of recipes just for ewe. Clicky on me

[Don_1]

Eeee by gum! You can't beat fresh baked plain and simple bread. No old muck in it, just strong white flour (450gms), water, (275ml), a level teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of yeast. Mix it all together, leave it to prove in a large bowl covered with a damp cloth, knead it, leave it to prove (as before), knead it, stick it a loaf tin, leave it to prove, then bake it.

When cool, slice and smother with REAL butter........ yum yum.....

[rosy]

Not sure how much it depends on the breadmaker. We've got a Morphy Richards one, in which this works really well.

We make brown bread, and use:
3 tbsp brown sugar
1.5 tsp salt
13 fl oz water
a slosh of oil (maybe 2 tbsp? not sure exactly)
4 cups (4 x 240 mL) bread flour (we use a 2:1 mixture of wholemeal flour with brown flour)
Sometimes we add a handful of sunflower seeds or poppy seeds.
1.5 tsp fast-action dried yeast (the really fine stuff, not the sort that comes in little balls in a tin)

Always add the flour after the water, else sometimes it doesn't all mix in properly. Which doesn't work nearly so well. And if you're going to use a delay timer, put the yeast on top of the flour so that the yeast doesn't make contact with the water until the cycle starts.

We use a 3 hour baking cycle (the first one in the menu of our breadmaker...). But I've no idea what it does beyond that.

[CZARCAR (OP)]

Not sure how much it depends on the breadmaker. We've got a Morphy Richards one, in which this works really well.

We make brown bread, and use:
3 tbsp brown sugar
1.5 tsp salt
13 fl oz water
a slosh of oil (maybe 2 tbsp? not sure exactly)
4 cups (4 x 240 mL) bread flour (we use a 2:1 mixture of wholemeal flour with brown flour)
Sometimes we add a handful of sunflower seeds or poppy seeds.
1.5 tsp fast-action dried yeast (the really fine stuff, not the sort that comes in little balls in a tin)

Always add the flour after the water, else sometimes it doesn't all mix in properly. Which doesn't work nearly so well. And if you're going to use a delay timer, put the yeast on top of the flour so that the yeast doesn't make contact with the water until the cycle starts.

We use a 3 hour baking cycle (the first one in the menu of our breadmaker...). But I've no idea what it does beyond that.

thanx, recipe is similar to mine which uses 1/4 tsp baking soda which helps it rise [i forgot last loaf] How do I work an egg into the mix? Breadmaker is BETTY CROCKER & goes thru a bunch of weird cycles

[Geezer]

If you want consistent results, always weigh the flour. The density of flour is anything but constant.

[CZARCAR (OP)]

If you want consistent results, always weigh the flour. The density of flour is anything but constant.

makes sense but too much hassle! Need an eggy recipe or a chemical analysis of how the added egg would affect the results.....thanx

[rosy]

We bake lots of bread, so get through about 3 bags of flour/week (total of 5 adults living in our house, and we almost never buy bread). So we pre-mix our bread flour for the recipe described above in a big tub. That greatly reduces the variability of the flour's density as we're not scooping it straight out of the bag where it has been more or less compressed, but instead it's always been given a good shake, fairly recently, and then left to stand. The bread we get is pretty consistent.

[Mazurka]

If you want consistent results, always weigh the flour. The density of flour is anything but constant.

In the same way, if volumes of water are critical in a recipe weigh it! measuring jugs are not terribly accurate

[CZARCAR (OP)]

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Golden-Egg-Bread    i did find this...........thanx

[Skytte]

Hi Czarcar

I bake quite regularly too and the method I've found that delivers the tastiest bread is what's called the 'no-knead method'. I first heard about it through NY-Times's foodie, Mark Bittman. Look it up online.

First of all, it will be the easiest bread you'll ever make. It requires a minimum of effort, but the result is incredible. Basically what you need to do is mix 4 cups of plain flour with 2 cups of lukewarm water, add 1 1/4 tsp. of table salt and 1/4 tsp of dry yeast. How big is a cup? Doesn't really matter as long as the ratio stays 2:1. Add more if you want a bigger bread. Now, just mix it all quickly (no kneading, hence the name) and set it aside covered for 18 hours at room temperature.

Yes, 18 hours! The trick here is that the little amount of yeast is enough to set off the leavening process but is also sufficiently small to make the dough raise really slowly. The gluten will develop through this slow raise whereas normally made bread gets it gluten from the kneading process. I'm sure some food chemist can explain it better than I can. But the added bonus is that slow raise also makes the dough develop more flavour.

Finally after about 18 hours you will have a rather sticky but very elastic dough. Put plenty of flour on your kitchen table. Stretch the dough and fold it over itself twice. Sprinkle plenty of flour on it (as I said, it's quite sticky) and let it rest in a bowl for another 2 hours. Heat your oven up to very high and place an oven proof metal pot with a lid, preferably a cast iron dutch oven, in the oven. When the temperature is at around 230º, quickly open the pot, "pour" your dough inside. Make sure there is plenty of flour on the dough or it will stick. Put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. The lid-method traps the steam and creates the ideal humidity level for the bread to raise. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake a further 15 minutes approximately or until golden brown. Remove from the pot (if it sticks to the sides, use a knife) and leave it to rest for about 30 minutes before cutting it. OK, you need a day to prepare it, but the effort is minimal and I promise you it's worth it.

I've added a link to my blog where I make a wholewheat sourdough version of it. But you can see photos of the method and result: newbielink:http://skytteskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/05/semi-wholewheat-sourdough-no-knead.html [nonactive]