March 22, 2010 - 7:17pm
Baking all the family's bread
Hello,
One of my goal has always been of baking the entire family's (5 kids) portefolio of breads. I am now pretty far from that, and generally speaking the kids are somewhat fussy about this, so we still buy a large proportion of commercial bread of various kinds.
This leads me to a few questions:
-Does anybody bakes all their family's bread?
-If so, how do you manage? Is there a way to schedule things in such a way as to bake during a workday (I haven't found it... The no-knead?)?
-Any suggestions for kid's favorites (I am partial to WW and SD, but not absolutely a purist)?
Thanks,
Jocelyn
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I'm currently baking about 8/10ths of my families bread, but I only have two children not five. Still, I think that hat you are attempting is possible.
I think the key is having a repertoire of recipes in rotation that fit into your schedule. I resisted no knead for a long time, but have added to my rotation because it fits so well into my schedule. I mix it before bed and bake it after the kids have dinner the next day.
I also try to double up all my pan loaf recipes and freeze them pre-sliced.
The fussiness sounds familiar. My oldest complains about the crust on hearth breads, go figure, but she really likes whole wheat pan loaves with honey, maple syrup or both. She also eats homemade pancakes from the freezer like there's no tomorrow.
Ed.
I've been baking all our bread, baked goods and treats for about 6 months now. (two of us)I also give bread to my parents, about 3-4 loaves a month. If they lived closer I'd bake all their bread or enlist my mother so that we could bake together. My little brother is back home with them temporarily.
Although I don't work full-time, I still have a somewhat busy schedule. I try to schedule my bakes for the week and figure out how I can get one rye sourdough and one wheat sourdough done each week. Then, if I have time and the inclination, I might throw in a treat sometime during the week. I also usually will make pizza, naan or some other flatbread, maybe english muffins so my breads don't stop with the loaf breads.
One thing that helped me when I started this adventure was a schedule written by Mike on Sourdough Home (www. sourdoughhome.com) where he talks about baking sourdough bread for the family on a working person's schedule. He actually gives examples of how to do it and shows how it can be done with a timeline of mixing, rising, proofing, baking, everything while getting ready for work and taking care of the family!
Sourdough is also more forgiving than yeast bread. If you miss the time by 30 minutes to an hour it's not going to fall to the floor. So, if you don't have time to hover over your bread I'd suggest sourdough. If, however, you want bread in a hurry, make the yeast version.
Have fun and don't stress. Nobody ever starved by going a few days without bread. They just appreciated it more when they finally got it! I'm out right now because we were out of town last week and I failed to put my leftovers in the freezer. We've been craving bread the last couple of days but I've suffered from bronchitis and just haven't worked up the energy. Baking today and can't wait to taste that fresh baked bread after going a week without!
I have made all, well 99.9% of all the breads eaten in this house for the past 53 years, both when I still lived in England and now I live in Canada.
There is the odd time when I think I would like a change and go shop bought, but it really isn't worth it.. My husband moans about it , say's it is nowhere near as good as home made.
You can make so many variations in home made, qahtan