Hello from Southern California
Hello Everyone,
I returned to baking my own bread about 6weeks ago after having not baked bread in about 35yrs. I tried it a few times when I was a teenager but didn't continue. Then lately it occurred to me that there's a problem with the quality of our bread so I started looking into making my own. I use a KA stand mixer to mix and knead my bread and a digital scale to weigh all ingredients directly into the bowl. It works out just fine with the stand mixer so if anyone has problems making bread with a stand mixer I would be glad to help. Generally I'm following Reinharts "Bread Bakers apprentice" -it's coming along quite well. I make his "light wheat loaf" and French bread (w/pre-ferment) right now; lately I've been experimenting with baking it on a stone. Very delicious. I don't have too much time for making bread so I'm always on the lookout for ways to make my bread-making more efficient. My wife is an excellent cook but she doesn't do yeast bread -at least for now. That's just fine with me, I enjoy doing it myself; she likes my bread. I'm a buckwheat person so I mix in a little buckwheat flour into my bread when possible. I use King Arthur flours mostly; Unbleached Bread Flour, White whole wheat, traditional whole wheat, unbleached all-purpose. And for shortening, I like to use a good olive oil. Well that ought to be enough for now ...looking forward to some good interaction with other home bakers on this list.
Patrick