January 22, 2011 - 2:52pm
New member here
About me. Almost as old as dirt. Started baking simple plain bread when I first married in 1958 and have continued ever since. The last ten I have expanded my range to include several rustic loaves. I have made some terrible loaves but my brothers thought that they were good and they ate them which I guess says that even bad homemade bread is better than store bread.
Share
We've all made terrible breads at some time. Comes with the territory.
I do agree that the failures taste better than the chemical fluff on the store shelves.
Explore the site - you'll find lots of tempting formulas and techniques!
My breakthrough came when I learned about bakers percentages. I felt like I had learned to fly.
Ah ha! You did!
Even better yet, we now know you scale your ingredients. ;-)
One of the wonderful things I have learned is the effect that a long ferment has of changing a recipe.
I am very fond of an everyday bread with 25 percent whole wheat flour If I am in a hurry I just mix the flours and throw a bunch of yeast at it and make bread. BUT if I plan ahead I mix my whole wheat flour 50/50 with water and add a pinch of yeast the morning before i will make the bread the next day. Same flour same water same yeast different bread. I count the preferment as part of the total flour and water.
Soon I will save a few ounces and use it to inoculate a new batch. I haven't done that yet.