The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

New to the forum from eastern Iowa

bear4221's picture
bear4221

New to the forum from eastern Iowa

Hi, i am new to this site...  Frankly i suck as baking breads, but i make great hockey pucks. LOL   I am  hoping to find much help to improve my ability. 

 

Thank, Adam

pmccool's picture
pmccool

you'll be entirely hooked.  Of course, once you move beyond bricks to loaves, the addiction gets even worse.  ;-)

Welcome, Adam.  Have fun here at TFL.

Paul

richkaimd's picture
richkaimd

You're in luck!  You read, have already made mistakes, and are still interested in improving.  Persistence is good.

I recommend the following:

1.)  Buy a beginner's textbook of bread baking.  Don't work from a bread cookbook.  Texts take you from the beginning, teaching you from the bottom up.  Many of us, myself included, learned in a helter-skelter fashion, then, when we finally get around to reading a text, wonder why we waited so long to learn in an organized way.  I strongly recommend DiMuzio's Bread Baking.  It's cheap and full of graded exercises which take you from an ignoramus to a wise baker over time.  (No offense meant here to Floyd and his book, The Fresh Loaf Pocket Book of Bread Baking.  It might be just as good; I've just never used it.)

2.)  Read this website often.  Compare what you read to what DiMuzio says.

3.)  Watch the videos on this website, all of them, right away.  Then look at them again when something you're doing seems to relate.  There are tons of other videos on the web.  Try Youtube.

4.)  If you're able, show us your results, good or bad and request comments.  Then compare the comments to DiMuzio.

5.)  Practice, practice, practice.