Food Bread

Two things: banana bread isn't technically a bread--it's in loaf shape, yes, but it uses the muffin method, wherein development of gluten is mild. And if you're serious about baking bread, get a thermometer. It makes baking so much easier. Why? It will tell you that your water is the right temperature for proofing your yeast, if you're using active dry yeast. It will also tell you when your loaf is finished. A scale will come later, when you move into using recipes with weights and/or baker's percentages.

Start off easy. The recipe Ace posted is a good beginner's recipe. You can move on to more complicated flours--like rye--as you get going, and eventually you'll want to learn how to use a sponge/starter, like a poolish or a biga. Making bread isn't very different from making pizza dough. In fact, the basic recipe I use for pizza dough is also one I use for bread. It's roughly about the same hydration as the recipe Ace posted, but with less yeast. I don't know why that recipe calls for so much yeast. You really only need about a packet to make that much flour rise.

If you don't have it yet, streak, you should consider purchasing a copy of the Joy of Cooking. It's the big bad ol' grandma of cookbooks, and its bread recipes are 1) foolproof and 2) easy. I especially love the milk bread recipe. I use it to make dinner rolls. It's also full of other valuable recipes that have stood the test of time.

 

I have this book. It's a great standard book to have in your kitchen. I've heard the recipes in there can be hit and miss, but I tend only to use it for the non-recipe reference material. For example, I used it to figure out how to quarter a chicken. I use it to find out guidelines on cooking. That sort of thing.

However, I do want to consider baking my own bread. Maybe I will look into the book to see what it offers.

I recently looked through a cookbook that had bread recipes for slow cookers. They were basically things like soda bread and the like, but I like the idea of being able to get some kind of bread product made without having to fire up the oven.

I once made a loaf of bread just to see what it was like. I really enjoyed the process. It made me feel all artisany. I think I'll do it again now that the autumn is here. I've been meaning to get back to the basics with cooking, now that we're trying to eat healthier and I'm migrating towards veganism.

I think I'll be looking into some heavy grainy breads though.

 

You'll get there, with the heavy grainy breads, but it is wise to start with a regular recipe. If you have the Joy, their regular quick-rising bread adjusted fro wheat flour is very good. As you get into baking, you can then experiment with heavier flours, amounts of yeast, and using adjuncts to perfect that whole-grain loaf. I'd also really recommend using seeds--it's an easy way to improve the health of a loaf without compromising the rise or creating a brick. Also, if you can find spent grain from a homebrewer, try rolling that into the loaf. Delicious.

 

I've gotten so far into baking bread since 4 years ago that now I'm even buying large quantities of special yeast. I've used other specialty yeasts in smaller quantities, but SAF Gold apparently only comes in a 1 lb. package. I need it for these Hawaiian Buns - Flourish - King Arthur Flour Additionally, I make a fair number of sweeter breads, so the SAF Gold is supposed to be good for that. When I told my husband I was ordering a pound of specialty yeast, he was a little irritated, but realistically, now is the best time to buy this kind of yeast, since most holiday breads are sweeter than normal breads.

 

He's irritated by a normal household expenditure of less than $8 for a staple that will last a long time? The price of a couple of drinks at his favorite bar? And he benefits from it, including not only the purchase, but the significant value added by your skills in breadbaking? He needs to lighten up.

Dr. Lindy prescribes one of @Borla's pulled pork sandwiches, which have been clinically shown to improve one's disposition and reduce tendencies toward micromanagement.

 

*cough* He's vegetarian. He's also not really a micromanager; rather, he's a intermittent whiner about stupid stuff, hence why he was a "little" irritated. Once I explained the real purpose of said yeast, he was fine.
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Give me your challah recipe when you get a chance! I love baking and braiding a good challah. I also love saying it correctly.