I have a bread maker, although it rarely sees the light of day and lives in the kitchen in a rather over crowded cupboard. Before Christmas you may remember I wrote about a programme called The Big Bread Experiment. Inspired by the programme, I made a conscious effort to make some bread using the said machine.
I limped around Sainsburys and purchased some yeast and a few bags of strong white flour. Then one day while Stuart was working, I decided to make some bread. Now, I am not able to stand or sit for huge periods of time due to my sciatica. The bread maker was the perfect assistant. It took about 10 minutes to read the recipe, gather the ingredients and a further 10 minutes to add the ingredients to the machine and set the timer.
After a couple of hours I heard the timer and descended the stairs, excited to see the bread. Well, all I will say is that England could have used the bread for the next test match. It was absolutely and completely rock hard. I checked the recipe. All was OK there. I then spotted the bread flour, recently purchased for the event completely unopened. What had I used? I checked the cupboard and finally the bin and there spotted an empty bag of flour that I have meant to throw away, as I had had it a few years. I checked the expiry date. I am embarrassed to confess the expiry was August 2000. As you may deduce, I don't make much bread.
I have not baked any bread since, but have stumbled across a couple of eBooks via Amazon on baking bread.
- Old Fashion bread recipes by Philip Holbrook - A small book with about 10 recipes in of different breads. Written for the American market going by the terminology - "A cake of yeast?" The book focuses on traditional bread making methods
- 30 Easy Flavoured bread popular recipes by Tellme More - Contains both recipes for traditional methods of baking and using a bread maker. Included a Gluten Free sun dried tomato bread. Each recipe presented in an easy to read format - indicating level of making difficulty, preparation and cooking time, ingredient, method in a detailed step by step format, Tip for recipe.
- Easy, fabulous bread making - A Collection of quick, no knead home made bread recipes by Barbara Mack - This is my favourite book out of the three. It is clear to follow, easily presented and some very interesting bread recipes. All made with a minimum of fuss!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by BethFishReads
These all look interesting. I'm going to have to check them out. Can't have too many bread books!
ReplyDeleteThe bread machine: The big trick to using the bread machine is this. Let the machine mix the ingredients for about 5 minutes. Then open the lid (yes, open the lid) and (carefully) touch the dough. It should be a bit tacky without being sticky and not too dry. Add liquid or more four until the dough comes together and is smooth. Granted it takes some experience to know when the dough is the right consistency, but once you do, then your machine becomes your friend.
Thanks Beth for the tip. It was shocking. Even Alfie our Border Terrier was unimpressed! I have used the machine before, but not for a long time. Fingers crossed for my next experiment!
ReplyDeleteOops! I have thought about a bread maker but been ambivalent. YEARS ago I used to hnd knead the dough and leave it out to rise. Would I have the courage now?
ReplyDelete