Milky Bread Overnight

Hahaha

exact measurements? me? hehe 

Umm no, sorry - but thank you very much for your enthusiasm!

I'll try to remember what I did.

1 egg

strong flour 

plain flour (cos I didn't want to waste my good flour)

full fat milk

demerera sugar

salt

dry yeast 

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I go on sight and feel when I make bread, I experiment and I'm yet to make the loaf I want but this one is good for my standards.

I got a big plastic bowl

I put about half a table spoon of yeast in, with about a table spoon and a half of the sugar, I put about the size of a 20p piece of salt in too - salt inhibits yeast so I put more sugar in to feed the yeast, but a small amount of salt in to restrict the gluten strands which can collapse - I believe - if the yeast feeds too much.

I heated the milk up in a pan, medium heat - to get it to being just a bit warmer than my body temperature, so I could put my finger in the pan and it wasn't cold and didn't burn me (please be very careful if you decide to do this, and obviously do it sooner rather than later, n dip your finger in quickly at first - please don't burn yourself on account of my dumb ass).

I then poured about ummmmmmmm I don't know, an inch or something of milk on the bottom of the ten inch diameter bowl, and I used a whisk to mix all the powders together.

I mixed it for a minute or so - and sprinkled in a bit of strong flour, still mixing with the whisk.

I did this until the consistency of adding the flour, more and more and more, was about the consistency of mixed plaster :) or chicken soup at the chinese :D

Then covered the bowl with a tea towel.

My kitchen was cold so I put it on top of a hot water bottle (with hot water in, obviously haha).

The mix rose up fantastically, after a while I put it in the fridge to sit over night.

The next day it had all settled down again, and I was under the impression this is what people call "poolish"?

I added about another half a teaspoon of yeast.

I then got more strong flour and kept whisking it in, but the mix was so wet I decided to use normal plain flour because I didn't want to waste the good stuff :)

It would maybe have been better to use half the mix!

I added enough flour to make it kneadable, and then after ten minutes or so of kneading, I covered the bowl again and left it beside the boiler.

It rose up massively, out the bowl!! I poured this bloody monster on to baking paper on a baking tray, and hoped it wouldn't end up being a perfect mold of the inside of the oven.

It came out about 40 minutes later, after being cooked on 200.

I thought it could do with more time, after cutting in to it, so I put it back in again for a few minutes.

It's still nice a few days later, I had some last night.

I think next time though, I'll use less - and I'll try to cook it the same night, just for my next experiment, 'cos I still don't know what I'm doing haha

I hope this helps you in some way, if it's even to make you laugh 

:) 

Have a go and let me know :D

Thanks

Craig

And I covered it with a tea towel when it came out, to soften the crust!

:) 

I tried something the other day and it failed miserably.

I was so dissapointed that I couldn't make bread again for about a week, it actually hurt my feelings haha

The way I cook and bake, is to try and try, and remember what was good, and remember what I wanted to change the next time: I think it's my extremely stubborn streak. 

I think the bread I tried, died because there was too much salt, inhibiting the yeast, and also I could feel it was cold in the kitchen, also I'd tried to hurry heating up the milk, instead of letting it really warm through.

So with this one, I thought, right - more yeast, less salt, make sure he's nice and snug and warm, and it worked.

This monster is still nice now, we had some toasted this morning, with jam, very nice.

Next time I'm going to do exactly the same, but cook it the same night, the initial rise was excellent.

Oh I forgot to say I'd put some vegetable oil in, the next day when I was mixing in more yeast - and I had the bowl on a hot water bottle, to heat up the mix along with a little bit of warm water to activate the 2nd lot of yeast that I put in - yeast wont work in the cold. Sorry I forgot that bit in my first reply to you.

I hope it works for you, I'd love to see it :) 

I think you can be a baker who bakes by feel, I do estimate a lot, but I'm not clever, I just maybe have measured it once upon a time, and thought well that's about right - and there is a large scope for quantities - a teaspoon of yeast isn't going to really destroy a mix that someone said put 1.5 teaspoons in - you know?

Put out things approximately from recommended quantities, and experiment, then remember what happened - it's problem solving, not a gift.

If it doesn't work, ok start the line of questioning - what happened? 

It rose then fell - ok so it can't be too little yeast cos it rose - and it can't be the room temp or water temp cos it rose - so maybe too much yeast - or not enough salt.......

You know? one thing depends on the other.

A problem is nothing but an upside down answer :D

Let me know what happens if you try it :D