The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

A starting point for new bakers in this time of plague?

Colin2's picture
Colin2

A starting point for new bakers in this time of plague?

There have been great replies to recent questions from folks wanting to make bread in trying times.  Some questions note shortages of yeast.  There is lots already on this forum if you know the search terms, but maybe someone wiser than me could pull them into one place.  Starting from the simplest problem of someone who has a bit of flour in a cupboard and would like to make something edible out of it, my list would be something like:

1. Crackers: if you have an oven and some oil or fat, crackers might be the easiest way to turn flour into food. 

2. Soda breads: flour and fat, and then some sort of acid/base leavening, whether baking powder or baking soda plus something acidic.

3. Yeast-leavened pancakes -- I have really fond memories of Elizabeth David's Welsh oatmeal pancakes and may revive them.  In any case pancakes can be leavened in a number of ways and don't need an oven.  

4. Simple yeasted breads -- "Your First Loaf" on this site. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/yourfirstloaf

5. Natural yeasts -- perhaps pull into one place the least-scary guidance on starting these!  (There are some really nice recipes in these forums for sourdough pancakes, which might be a good way for neophytes to edge into natural yeasts.)

6. Maybe even a word on noodles and dumplings, even though that's not really baking...

sarafina's picture
sarafina

I had this exact problem, out of bread, out of yeast, none in the stores; what to do?

I posted on a neighbourhood forum (Nextdoor) asking if anyone had a starter they could share. By that evening I had my own starter bubbling away in my kitchen. Reach out (digitally) and ask for some help. We made a clean handoff and I am on my second loaf.