Post by haecklers on Oct 1, 2012 7:11:49 GMT -5
There are a lot of myths out there making people think it's hard to make bread. It's not. Thought I'd share my bread-making routine.
Wake up. Boil water for tea, with extra for the bread. Wash last night's dishes while I wait for the water to boil (and maybe the pot to boil it in and the bowl I'll use for mixing it!).
When it has come to a boil, I make my tea and pour about 3/4 cup of water in the bread making bowl. I add milk - about 1/2 cup but could be more or less depending on what I'll be doing with the bread that day (if it were raw milk I'd wait 'till the water was cooler but we have store milk now). While I wait for the water to cool down to around 90F I drink my tea, check email, make shopping lists and To Do lists, etc.
When the water is cool enough to be comfortable to touch, I add the yeast, sugar, salt, and flour. If the yeast is old and I don't trust it, I'll just add the yeast and sugar and wait to see if it gets foamy in a couple hours. I add about a teaspoon of yeast. You can add more if you're in a hurry but I'm not and too much yeast can make it use up all the nutrients too fast if you get busy and forget you're making bread for a couple of hours. So I add about a teaspoon of yeast, a tablespoon of sugar (it feeds the yeast if you let it go long enough!) and around 1/2 - 1 tsp of salt (more if it's for pizza dough, less if it's for something like cinnamon rolls).
I stir in enough flour to get it to kind of hold together in a ball, but not a dry ball - a wet, sticky ball. I use whole wheat flour and you have to let it absorb the moisture for at least 15 min. or the bread can get too dry. During that 15 min. I may finish up with my email/To Do list/shopping list or I may go feed the pigs and let the chickens and goats out. It can be more or less time, just depends on what else happens.
Here's a big trick/secret: if you let the dough just sit, the gluten starts to develop without any kneading at all! It gets nice and stretchy all on its own! You absolutely DO NOT need to knead your bread dough for 20 min!!!
After it has rested, I stir in more flour until I can turn it out to knead on my floured cutting board. It will still be slightly sticky at first. I fold it in half then smash it flatter so I can turn it and fold it again, for a total of about a minute. Just to mix any dry bits into any pockets of wet dough. You know it's ready to stop kneading when it goes back into a ball on its own instead of staying flattened out.
I put it back in the bowl with a clean towel over it and go on with my day (set the timer if it's busy so I don't forget it! LOL!). Sometime in the next hour or two I can bake it or put it in the refrigerator to keep until I'm ready to bake it for lunch or supper.
With the dough, I can make:
Cinnamon rolls (after it has risen, flatten it out, spread it with melted butter, brown sugar, and lots of cinnamon - roll it and cut it up; bake it at 400 for 20 min.)
Pizza: flatten it out, put it on a greased cookie sheet, spread with Pizza Quick Sauce, shredded mozzarella, and other toppings, bake at 400 for 15-20 min.
"Pizza Bread" - flatten it out, spread sauce, cheese, pepperoni down the middle, use a pizza cutter to cut the remainder into strips and fold them over the center, top with garlic, parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of salt, bake at 400 for 20 min. - dessert variation - fill it with cream cheese mixed with jelly (jalapeno jelly works well), a nut-sugar-cinnamon mixture that's been ground in a coffee grinder or blender to crumbs, chocolate chips and butter, or any other ideas you have. Slice to serve
Garlic bread strips - flatten it out, cut into strips with pizza cutter, arrange in an 8 X 13 glass pan that has melted butter in the bottom, sprinkle with garlic, parmesan and salt, and bake at 400 for 15 min or until browned. If you want to use real garlic, cut the top off of a bulb of garlic, drizzle olive oil on it so it goes into the cloves, and bake it for 45 min or until it starts to brown (I do this when I'm baking something else anyway). Then when it's cool enough to touch remove the cloves from the skins and smash them into some butter; use that for the garlic bread sticks. If they got dried out I'll put them in my Magic Bullet with the butter and some olive oil and salt and puree them all to make a garlic spread.
For dinner rolls I use more sugar (1/4 cup) and melted butter to the dough as I mix it.
Focaccia - flatten it in a round pan generously oiled with olive oil. Brush more oil on the top then put in very thinly sliced tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, whatever you like, then add chopped basil, oregano, chives or crushed garlic. Sprinkle with some salt, parmesan cheese, and a little pepper if you like. Bake at 400 for 20 min.
You can use it right out of the refrigerator, where it will last a day or two if necessary (as long as you cover it to keep the moisture in!). I just use it cold, and except for the bread I don't usually wait longer for it to rise a second time than it takes for my oven to heat up.
Wake up. Boil water for tea, with extra for the bread. Wash last night's dishes while I wait for the water to boil (and maybe the pot to boil it in and the bowl I'll use for mixing it!).
When it has come to a boil, I make my tea and pour about 3/4 cup of water in the bread making bowl. I add milk - about 1/2 cup but could be more or less depending on what I'll be doing with the bread that day (if it were raw milk I'd wait 'till the water was cooler but we have store milk now). While I wait for the water to cool down to around 90F I drink my tea, check email, make shopping lists and To Do lists, etc.
When the water is cool enough to be comfortable to touch, I add the yeast, sugar, salt, and flour. If the yeast is old and I don't trust it, I'll just add the yeast and sugar and wait to see if it gets foamy in a couple hours. I add about a teaspoon of yeast. You can add more if you're in a hurry but I'm not and too much yeast can make it use up all the nutrients too fast if you get busy and forget you're making bread for a couple of hours. So I add about a teaspoon of yeast, a tablespoon of sugar (it feeds the yeast if you let it go long enough!) and around 1/2 - 1 tsp of salt (more if it's for pizza dough, less if it's for something like cinnamon rolls).
I stir in enough flour to get it to kind of hold together in a ball, but not a dry ball - a wet, sticky ball. I use whole wheat flour and you have to let it absorb the moisture for at least 15 min. or the bread can get too dry. During that 15 min. I may finish up with my email/To Do list/shopping list or I may go feed the pigs and let the chickens and goats out. It can be more or less time, just depends on what else happens.
Here's a big trick/secret: if you let the dough just sit, the gluten starts to develop without any kneading at all! It gets nice and stretchy all on its own! You absolutely DO NOT need to knead your bread dough for 20 min!!!
After it has rested, I stir in more flour until I can turn it out to knead on my floured cutting board. It will still be slightly sticky at first. I fold it in half then smash it flatter so I can turn it and fold it again, for a total of about a minute. Just to mix any dry bits into any pockets of wet dough. You know it's ready to stop kneading when it goes back into a ball on its own instead of staying flattened out.
I put it back in the bowl with a clean towel over it and go on with my day (set the timer if it's busy so I don't forget it! LOL!). Sometime in the next hour or two I can bake it or put it in the refrigerator to keep until I'm ready to bake it for lunch or supper.
With the dough, I can make:
Cinnamon rolls (after it has risen, flatten it out, spread it with melted butter, brown sugar, and lots of cinnamon - roll it and cut it up; bake it at 400 for 20 min.)
Pizza: flatten it out, put it on a greased cookie sheet, spread with Pizza Quick Sauce, shredded mozzarella, and other toppings, bake at 400 for 15-20 min.
"Pizza Bread" - flatten it out, spread sauce, cheese, pepperoni down the middle, use a pizza cutter to cut the remainder into strips and fold them over the center, top with garlic, parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of salt, bake at 400 for 20 min. - dessert variation - fill it with cream cheese mixed with jelly (jalapeno jelly works well), a nut-sugar-cinnamon mixture that's been ground in a coffee grinder or blender to crumbs, chocolate chips and butter, or any other ideas you have. Slice to serve
Garlic bread strips - flatten it out, cut into strips with pizza cutter, arrange in an 8 X 13 glass pan that has melted butter in the bottom, sprinkle with garlic, parmesan and salt, and bake at 400 for 15 min or until browned. If you want to use real garlic, cut the top off of a bulb of garlic, drizzle olive oil on it so it goes into the cloves, and bake it for 45 min or until it starts to brown (I do this when I'm baking something else anyway). Then when it's cool enough to touch remove the cloves from the skins and smash them into some butter; use that for the garlic bread sticks. If they got dried out I'll put them in my Magic Bullet with the butter and some olive oil and salt and puree them all to make a garlic spread.
For dinner rolls I use more sugar (1/4 cup) and melted butter to the dough as I mix it.
Focaccia - flatten it in a round pan generously oiled with olive oil. Brush more oil on the top then put in very thinly sliced tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, whatever you like, then add chopped basil, oregano, chives or crushed garlic. Sprinkle with some salt, parmesan cheese, and a little pepper if you like. Bake at 400 for 20 min.
You can use it right out of the refrigerator, where it will last a day or two if necessary (as long as you cover it to keep the moisture in!). I just use it cold, and except for the bread I don't usually wait longer for it to rise a second time than it takes for my oven to heat up.