The bread dilema

TX123

I consider myself to be a very good cook. i have been cooking for over 8 yrs now and have won many competitions and have been presented with certificates etc etc but The one biggest problem i have is that for the life of me i cannot seem to cook bread. I have followed so many recipes to a T and still it comes out horrible. My mind must just reject the idiea of making bread, so i was wondering if anyone had a fool proof recipe on how to make bread from scratch without using a machine. All your help will be much appreciated.

county

brown or white bread?

TX123

white

The Sweeper

It shouldn't be much more than white flour, warm water, oil, salt and yeast. When you say "horrible", what happens?

I find my bread comes out "cakey" and I wonder if I'm over or under-kneading it. What's the problem with yours?

daiixi

argh! my bread hasn't turned out too well either.. ahh well here's hoping next time it works out better next time!

TX123

it has horrible texture, wierd shape and never looks like a loaf should do

county

ok,my advice use fresh yeast,the dried stuff is muck.knead well for a good 5 mins(by hand)next leave to rest in a warm place untill the dough doubles in size(covered with cling)next knock back and shape and put in a bread tin.leave again to prove untill doubling in size,bake at 170C for 25-30 mins

utopian

TX123 wrote:

I consider myself to be a very good cook. i have been cooking for over 8 yrs now and have won many competitions and have been presented with certificates etc etc but The one biggest problem i have is that for the life of me i cannot seem to cook bread. I have followed so many recipes to a T and still it comes out horrible. My mind must just reject the idiea of making bread, so i was wondering if anyone had a fool proof recipe on how to make bread from scratch without using a machine. All your help will be much appreciated.

If you really want to make good bread, try and get a copy of "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart. It is a really excellent book - it first explains the chemistry of bread making, then the techniques, and finally contains "formulas" for all sorts of breads, from quick-to-make enriched white breads to French, Italian, wild yeast, bagels, celebration breads etc.

JohnK

That books sounds good. I've just ordered it from Amazon so hopefully I'll have some tasty bread in about 2 weeks