oldcoot
Senior Cook
Well, I’ve been trying my hand at baking bread for a few months now –and, while I don’t begin to think of myself as an expert – not even close, I have found out a few things. At least as far as my efforts are concerned.
First of all, all basic white bread recipes are the same: wheat flour, salt, yeast, water. Snd the proportions don’t vary much, for rather obvious reasons.
But the methods go all over the place, yet in the final easting, seem to make little or no difference in either flavor or texture. In all cases, you must first dissolve the yeast in 100-120° F water. In some, add sugar and/or flour and let “proof” for from 10 minutes to several hours, in the latter case forming a “sponge.”. Then there’s the kneading thing: knead the dough to develop the gluten, then let it rise, “punch” it down and let it rise again, always until “doubled in bulk”. In a warm place. Then form into a loaf shape and let it rise again. And so on – a real long, involved, time consuming chore. No wonder folks don’t bake much bread at home.
Today I decided to try something: Just toss everything together, mix it, knead it, let it rise, and bake it. Period. Here’s the result:
.
This is all that's needed - plus a mixxer with dough hok or a wooden spoon an a few extra minutes. Next throw it all together and mix it to a ball stage, then form the dough into a ball on any ol' baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal.
Let it rise until "doubled in bulk" ('bout an hour or so), paint it with egg/water slurry, sprinkle on sesame seed (or shatever), cut an "X" with a sharp knife 1/2 in. deep, and put it in a cold oven. Set the temp for 350 and the time for 45 minutes, and go read a book
Here's the result. BW says it's just like the other bread I've made.
Pretty darned simple and esy, don't you think? While it took 2 hours and 15 minutes from beginning to end, 2 hours were spent doing other stuff whill it was rising or baking. In other words, it took about 15 minutes.
So now what's your excuse for not having some fun baking bread?
.]
First of all, all basic white bread recipes are the same: wheat flour, salt, yeast, water. Snd the proportions don’t vary much, for rather obvious reasons.
But the methods go all over the place, yet in the final easting, seem to make little or no difference in either flavor or texture. In all cases, you must first dissolve the yeast in 100-120° F water. In some, add sugar and/or flour and let “proof” for from 10 minutes to several hours, in the latter case forming a “sponge.”. Then there’s the kneading thing: knead the dough to develop the gluten, then let it rise, “punch” it down and let it rise again, always until “doubled in bulk”. In a warm place. Then form into a loaf shape and let it rise again. And so on – a real long, involved, time consuming chore. No wonder folks don’t bake much bread at home.
Today I decided to try something: Just toss everything together, mix it, knead it, let it rise, and bake it. Period. Here’s the result:
This is all that's needed - plus a mixxer with dough hok or a wooden spoon an a few extra minutes. Next throw it all together and mix it to a ball stage, then form the dough into a ball on any ol' baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal.
Let it rise until "doubled in bulk" ('bout an hour or so), paint it with egg/water slurry, sprinkle on sesame seed (or shatever), cut an "X" with a sharp knife 1/2 in. deep, and put it in a cold oven. Set the temp for 350 and the time for 45 minutes, and go read a book
Here's the result. BW says it's just like the other bread I've made.
Pretty darned simple and esy, don't you think? While it took 2 hours and 15 minutes from beginning to end, 2 hours were spent doing other stuff whill it was rising or baking. In other words, it took about 15 minutes.
So now what's your excuse for not having some fun baking bread?
.]
