Bread advice

Thnaks shysal, I added sugar - wasn't sure. but glad I did. Liking the shower cap idea - today the first rise went above the rim of the bowl and stuck to the tea-towel - bit of a mess!

Professional ... hmmm ... I am happily settling for edible results at the moment tee hee.

I know you are talking about making bread properly but I can't resist this picture. Just out of the breadmaker.

After making several good loaves with our nearly new Panasonic breadmaker I had two disastrous wholemeal loaves.

But my bread making Mojo has come back. I think I had put too little water in the last two.

Your room temperature might be quite low when it is this cold outside.

I never use all wholemeal. Always going to be heavy. A third w/meal and two thirds strong white is good.

Well done Nelliemoser - looks great!

Jingle In the 550grams of wholemeal flour for the large loaf I put a half teaspoon of vitamin C as sold for bread making and two tablespoons of standard dried milk powder. The vitamin c is a "flour improver" and the milk powder softens the crust.

Certainly in the Panasonic bread maker the crust and texture is excellent and it takes 5 hrs. My old less sophisticated Morphy Richards Model did tend to give a much dryer loaf.

A small amount of rye flour makes a different flavour - about 100 - 150g for instance, or up to half-and-half rye with the white or wholemeal. Any more than that makes a rather heavy dough which the beaters in a breadmaker struggle with. I have added granary flour too, for a change.

Mine's a Panasonic Nelliem. The best I think. I like the quick recipe too. Takes 1hr 55 mins.

The bread from the breadmaker has been very 'tight', so I took it out before the second rise and then baked it in the main oven.
The trouble is that our oven is very hot indeed and the top crust is burnt very dark. However, it has risen twice as much as in the breadmaker.

I put the small oven on very low (50C) then turned it off and put the bread in there to prove with the door slightly ajar. When the main oven went on to heat up, the heat from that rose up to the small oven and the dough rose well.

Jalima Which brand of bread maker do you have.? A friend of mine brought some tomato focaccia bread from her Panasonic breadmaker to our our groups Christmas meal.

I was so impressed by the texture of that bread I bought a pre owned Panasonic bread machine on Ebay to convince myself that it was that much better.
The Vitamin C added really makes a difference to the rise.

I usually prepare the dough in the breadmaker then take it out, let it rise for about 20 mins then bake in the oven. Wrights breadmix (I know it's cheating) is great. DH loves the sundried tomato and parmesan also the ciabatta. If using the breadmaker recipe to put all ingredients in the night before and set the timer for fresh bread in the morning it is handy to make up little packets of the dried ingredients so you don't have to weigh them each time.

Before I got my bread maker I would put boiling water in my slow cooker then set it to low and put a baking tray over it. Covered dough with damp T Towel and left to rise

Nelliemoser where do you get your vitamin C from please?

Thanks for that tip MTD, I will try that. Yesterday's offerings can't have gone down too badly - himself made up several rolls to take to work today'

Oh, why do I always think of putting the bread maker on when it's just too late for lunchtime, even on the rapid prog?! (I know I should set it at bedtime )

I think you can get citric acid (Vit.C) from Boots.
The white flour I use has it added, which is probably why my white loaves rise so well.

I have always made my own bread but not being able to stand now have a small Lakeland bread maker. Years ago I used to buy a pound of fresh yeast, divide it into one ounce pieces and freeze it. Slow second rising is best. I now make dough and make either six rolls or two small loaves. Only have a mini oven so to save the tops getting too crisp after a few minutes put a sheet of foil over the top. Lately have been making mixed fruit loaves. Don't put the fruit in until after twenty minutes. Sometimes make up the amount of water with an egg as advised by the instruction book.

You do well to make your own bread Bijou. I think you're older than most of us.
What do you mean by putting the fruit in after 20 minutes? Is that during the first rise? Or is the machine still kneading?

As a young mum, still at home with the children, I made all my own bread. I 'invented' my own granary loaves by adding cracked wheat and a tablespoonful of malt. Great with strong cheddar, which a supermarket in Nottingham's Victoria Centre used as a 'loss leader'.

If you put the fruit in too soon during kneading it gets chopped up.

My husband and elder daughter have been making sourdough using a starter but no yeast. It is delicious - we've had rye flour, spelt and wholemeal added to it, as well as egg to make a challah. There is only one problem - we are eating too much bread! It is okay for DD who has a family - there are only two of us!

Nelliemoser I have an old Morphy Richards breadmaker.
Baked in the oven after kneading in the breadmaker resulted in a loaf which seemed to last longer as well.

Now I just need a recipe for a nice gluten free loaf; they are all below par whether bought or made at home in the breadmaker or oven.

If you want lighter more spongy bread I would recommend using 'extra strong' flours, rather than the normal 'strong'. They cost more but really do have more rise in them, something to do with the gluten content I think. I use Allinson and Tesco brands, both good. I sometimes add a proportion of extra strong white flour when making wholemeal loaves, which prevents them from being too heavy.

I used the extra strong Allinson for the one I started in the breadmaker but baked in the oven. It did give good results (apart from the burnt crust.

However, gluten free doesn't give great results for that reason.