So I just made my first ever loaf of homemade bread....

DAMN it was good!

I expected to end up with something suitable for building fortifications out of. It turned out quite well-- I am gonna have to go to my parent's house and make some bread for mom- she always said she couldn't do it, it was too difficult.

Problem: I flushed about 15% of the dough down the drain, owing to not being able to get it off my hands- the dough was very sticky. I followed the recipe except I had pre-proofed the yeast (recipe called for adding it dry), and I used milk instead of dry milk. So I'm thinking I may have had too much "wet" in there.

Any tips to avoid getting the dough stuck all over my fingers in great quantities?

Put Pam or flour on your hands before handling the yeast. Ever since I was a kid, just last week, lol, my Ma made the best homemade bread. No shortcuts, no dinking with the recipe. Her bread is known far and wide as the best there is to be had. She takes her time and does it right. Flour or Pam and you'll be the man. You can also use margarine.

The Mrs. uses flour also.

Absolutely flour your hands, the surface you're working on, the bowl...everything. Not too much flour, but you need them to be dry. Also, you probably did have too much wet. Baking is science, you can't screw with it or bad things can happen.

Listen to Felix; she knows how to make magic in the kitchen.

Indeed, which is why I almost PM'd her about it. OK, actually, I almost called her about it.

But didn't want to interrupt her and the boy.

Him: Who's that?
Her: some redneck idiot from South Carolina
Him: What'd he want?
Her: for me to tell him how to keep from making a brick instead of bread



Seriously, though. Mom always said that she'd never make bread because it was too difficult. So I always figured it would be. But of late I got to thinking how hard can it be, since it's been made for thousands of years in the most primitive of cultures.

Made French Toast with it this morning. Yum-may.

Although my recipe for that needs some additions. I used:

1tspn Vanilla
2 eggs
a cup of milk
a tspn sugar

Should have put some cinnamon in there. Also should only have used one egg. Maybe a pinch more vanilla.

Also, next time I need to put a pan of water in the oven when I bake the bread to promote crust formation.

i use the same scrambled mix for french toast

1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla , because more doesn't do much and may make it bitter
milk , maby 1/8th cup

and i use milk in my bread , sometimes honey also
my mom never had powdered milk.

Pap-

post your bread recipe please? In this thread?

Same to anyone else, please?

2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast (2.5 teaspoons each)
2 1/2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
8-8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (all-purpose)
Directions
1in a lg mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in milk.
2add honey, butter, salt and 5c flour; beat until smooth.
3stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.
4turn onto lightly floured surface and kneed until smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes)
5place in greased bowl and turn once to coat. cover with tea-towel.
6let rise for 1 hour (or until doubled)
7punch down and divide dough in half.
8shape each of the sections into loaves and place in 2 greased 9-in.x5-in.x3in. loaf pans. cover and let rise for 30 minuets. (or until doubled) ( to shape into loaves, roll dough sections into rectangles and beginning at the short end roll each rectangle firmly {but not too loose/tight} and pinch seam on top and sides.).
9bake at 375 for 30-35 minuets or until golden brown. ( cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly).
10after baking remove from pans immediately and cool on a wire rack.

and i use an electric mixer till its to stiff , turn it out and work in the flour till its rite

Thanks Pap.

Wouldn't have a sourdough recipe would ya?

i can look in a bit , my mom gave me a card box many years ago with all the stuff i like.

get yourself a card box and write all your favs down

I was doing that in an index card folder kept in the cabinet in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, you know, because that's where you @#%#$^%$ cook food...

Well, the wife, genius that she is, moved the goddamn thing to my office. Without telling me. Haven't seen it since.

I am REALLY getting tired of that woman moving shite without telling me.

3/4 cup (6 ounces) warm water (95-105° F)
3/4 teaspoon (0.1 ounce) fresh yeast
1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) Sourdough Starter
1 1/2 cups (7.3 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups (6 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon (0.5 ounce) salt

combine the warm water and fresh yeast in the bowl of a hand mixer. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the Sourdough Starter, flours and salt , starter must be at room temp.

(correction=i use a hand mixer , electric , till its to stiff for it and add the rest by hand)

add the rest of your flour by hand kneading

put this in a mixing bowl coated with olive oil and turn once to coat.

cover and put in refig for 14-16 hours , (longer makes it stronger)

now remove the bowl and leave on the counter for 6 hours.

Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves on the counter or in greased pans for 3 hours

your oven should be preheated to 400 when this is is ready

score the tops with an X and mist good with water.

bake for 30-40 min till deep golden brown , remove fron pans to a wire rack

I cannot find the reciepe for the starter but most any will do

this is time consumeing but most all the time is waiting.

VERY GOOD if i rembember. I made it a few times when i was married

Oh.My.God. I just spewed water all over the desk, scared the cat, and damn near fell out of my chair.

I have told you he's from Alabama, right? And that his nickname is Hillbilly, right? Also that he cooks, too, right? Woulda been ok.

Or, you know, if we were busy, I'd have ignored the phone.

I've got an oldschool starter that's been brewing on the counter for about a week now. Basically mix flour, water, and sugar, and wait for the li'l yeasties to fly in on the air and work their magic.

Hope to try it in a few days when I've eaten this loaf.

OK, how do ya'll (yes, that's a word where I'm from) keep your bread from drying out?

I expect a loaf of bread will last me about a week, less than that if I can get the kid to eat it. Plenty of time to dry out and not be quite aas good.

How do you guys store your bread, and how do you manage to cut it thin enough for sandwiches without getting it all squished?

i think you better look on the net for a starter , that don't sound rite as if i rem you may need some buttermilk

and i slice my bread on a meat sclirer i bought many years ago

here in FL most of us slice it and freeze it.

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/recipes/sourdough.html

but i have read just flour and water , and it can be kept and refreshed many years in the fridg.

one thing i forgot to mention if you donlt have bread flour you can put 1 tsp of lemon juice in the mix to caus it to rise better.
i have done this with bread flour also.

apparently there's several ways to make starter. This way (actually, there's some sugar involved) is the original way that leavened bread was discovered.

There's a starter that's been kept going since the 1870s on the OregonTrail I sent a SASE for. Meantime I'll give this one a go.

Thanks for all the info, Pap. As always, you're a font of knowledge...

well you got me going , if i can get my back fixed again i'm goint to start bakeing .
spent the day in tampa VA and it looks promising , gota get a pacemaker first

I leave my bread in the loaf pan and cover it with plastic wrap. Also, I only slice how much I need at a time. Never have a problem with it getting dried out (but that wouldn't be a big deal...sometimes I let it dry out on purpose so I can make bread pudding ).

Slicing it thinly...I don't like thin bread. I slice mine 1/2-inch thick at minimum (usually 3/4" or 1") using my regular serrated bread knife. As long as you don't use too much downward pressure and kinda saw at it instead, it doesn't squish too much when cutting.

My Mom covers the bread while it is rising with close weave clean tea towels.

There are two foods that make the saliva squirt into my mouth immediately: the smell of dill pickles and my Mother's homemade bread fresh from the oven.
I also slice homemade bread in the middle and then cut one piece alternating from each side so that when the bread is stored the outside/end pieces are always the "heel" of the loave and therefore hopefully the bread stays fresh for longer.

ah, neat idea!

Can't wait to get home and have some of my bread with a little marmalade on it.

Even the kid liked it.

Gonna have to make another loaf tonight. I should do much better this go-round

Round 2 of this breadmaking biz is going in the oven in about a half hour.

Last loaf was rather dense. I think I overproofed the yeast (added proofed yeast instead of dry) and the dough was way too sticky. This time I had a nice, manageable bit of dough which kneaded and pressed out well without sticking everywhere.

Next time I must remember to oil the bowl before getting down to the mixing. I am slowly remembering the lessons learned when i used to make bread dough (for pizza crusts) at Little Caesars.

I also have a pan of water in the oven while it preheats, so it'll be nice and humid in there from the moment the breadpan goes in, hopefully resulting in a nice crust this go-round.

Had a sandwich earlier with store-bought bread. Talk about disappointment!