The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Just saying hi!

Tedm's picture
Tedm

Just saying hi!

Thought I'd better open my account with  a 'Hi' from me

*waves*

I'm in the UK and a complete noob at bread making.  A couple of years ago I used my dad's old bread machine to make a couple of very so-so loaves which the family were not too keen on so I left it.  Then 12 months ago I was bought a half day course at a local cooker school which was great and I then carried on making a bit of bread by hand but again the family weren't too impressed which what was really not very good.

Then 4 weeks ago I tried some bread that my sister had made and was quite impressed so decided to have another go.  Initially the loaves were a bit heavy and not risen properly but then I realised that my yeast should have been kept in the fridge, so I bought some more and now it's taken off!

I started using my mums 40 year old Kenwood Chef, which helped with the initial mix but the dough would just wrap itself around the hook and spin.  I tried the higher speed trick with a little success but the poor machine throws itself around the work surface and I'll kill it if I continue :(

Sooo I treated myself to a xmas present of a used Hobart N50 which I'm waiting to arrive....... it can't come quick enough!  It was on eBay and less than half the price of a new KA.  I'm reasonably handy with mechanics so if it needs any work I think I'll be OK (first job is to replace the grease) - especially as there seems to be quite a bit of knowledge on here.

Most of my bread is simple white or granary/malted cobs at the moment and 90% of the family love them - even friends are well impressed.  My next step is into the world of sourdough bread about which I know nothing!!  I'm looking forward to the journey even if my waistline isn't.

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

and by the time your new machine arrives it'll be ready.

 

Best of luck and welcome on board.

drogon's picture
drogon

Knead by hand. It's not hard - takes 10 minutes. Cheaper than a machine (although I appreciate that you've already bought one, but you'll need to knead while you refurbish it, if it needs it!)

Are you using fresh yeast or instant dried yeast? Use instant dried yeast to start with - the stuff you buy in the local shops (look for the word 'instant' and/or something to suggest it should be added into the dry ingredients, or suitable for a bread maker). It doesn't need to be kept in the fridge - just cool and dry.

I'm sure your course has done you well, but also search youtube for kneading and shaping videos - Look at Bertienets stuff for the traditional french happy slappy way, or the Hobbs house or Hollywoods stuff for more traditional ways. Find a way that suits you - I think it's more pleasing to tell folks you've made it all by hand (however I have a Hobart A200 for the bigger batches I do!)

Now is also the time to start thinking about quantities too - Learn bakers percentages - a bit different from school book stuff, but all you need to know is that the flour is 100% and all other ingredients are expressed as a percentage of that. Much easier to scale up/down a recipe. So a basic loaf might be:

flour: 100%, water: 60%, salt 1.5%, yeast 2%

Put some quantities into that and: flour 500g, water: 300g (60% of 500g), salt: 8g, yeast 10g (which in practice a 7 or 9g sachet if you buy yeast that way works just fine). That will give you a good basic loaf. Be aware of pre-mixed granary type mixes - they seem to have 10-15% less flour in them, so you might end up with a very wet and sticky dough without realising it!

Welcome to the world of bread! Seems to be a few more UK folks on here now. I'm in Devon.

-Gordon

Tedm's picture
Tedm

HI Gordon,

Thanks for the info.... all good stuff, especially the %.  Although I have the Kenwood at the moment I'm really only using it for the initial mixing and then I'm kneading by hand which is fun but I love having machines do stuff for me!

I bought my wife a Paul Hollywood book last year and that's serving me very well at the moment, although it was actually a pre-mix that my sister showed me that got me going again. I'm now only using 'raw' materials and the last pre-mix I used I altered anyway :)

Arjon's picture
Arjon

I tried making a couple of bread machine loaves a few years back. They were edible but didn't inspire me to continue. A couple of months ago, I tried making a no-knead loaf using the Lahey recipe, and have been baking at least a couple per week since then. You might want to try this or one of the similar recipes, especially if you own a covered dutch oven, which is the preferred vessel to use.  

For me, this opened up a world of seemingly endless possibilities. I'm barely starting to explore different flours and mixes of flours, different liquids, adding seeds and grains to the dough, variations in rising and proofing, pre-ferments, etc. - and I haven't even gotten to sourdough yet. 

I've found my local library to be very helpful in that it has many books on breadmaking. And TFL has been great for getting feedback from bakers far more experienced and knowledgeable than I'll ever be. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

new bread makers to learn to make a loaf from scratch by hand using slap and folds and or stretch and folds.  Knowing what the dough should feel like at various stages is a wonderful thing to learn and bread made by hand is not only rewarding but better in my book too.  I gave up using a machine for bread for several reasons besides the quality.  I only make a loaf an week so no heavy lifting for multiple loaves required, I don't want to clean the machine.  They are really expensive and not needed to make bread for me at all.  I do use the KA for panettone for New Year's and for some other highly enriched breads - but only because I am too lazy to do 20 minutes of slap and folds - twice:-)

Now if you are baking multiple loaves at one time what ever reason,  for a large family or small business, then a machine is the way to go for sure - if it is made for making bread.  I'm not familiar with a Hobart but the KA's are a little on the weak, puny side and pone break easily when making breads in decent sized batches regularly.

I second the notion of getting the SD starter going since it takes a couple of weeks to get it where it can raise a loaf of bread well.

 
Happy Baking and Welcome