Just plain bread?

[cmarchibald]

I know this will sound like a stupid question but here goes!

In my continuing quest to make more foods from scratch and have to buy less "processed" or prepared goods from the store, I want to have a go at making some bread. Nothing special, just ordinary ol' sandwich-type bread. I would prefer to make wheat bread but can't get wheat flour here, so....I'll give it a go with white bread.

Problem is when I look up "bread" in my mother's catalogued electronic recipe book or search AllRecipes.com or anything similar I get all kinds of suggestions for specialty breads. Seriously, do a search on AllRecipes and you'll see everything from pistachio bread to gumdrop bread! I just wanna make BREAD bread!

So.... *ahem*

Can one of you kind people please assist me with a recipe?

Thanks in advance!

 

[joesfolk]

Google "white bread recipe" without the parentheses. You'll get lots of them.

 

[cmarchibald]

Google "white bread recipe" without the parentheses. You'll get lots of them.

Not necessarily....

I did a search for "White Bread" on AllRecipes and got these results:

Allrecipes - Recipe Search

White Bread for Bread Machine (don't have one)
White Chocolate Bread (not what I'm looking for)
Buttermilk White Bread (can't buy buttermilk here)
White Bread I (also calls for bread machine, don't have one)

etc etc etc

 

[cmarchibald]

Okay after some digging I found this one and will give it a try.

Grandma VanDoren's White Bread Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Just thought I'd ask if anyone here has any tried-n-true recipes since it's always a bit of a gamble to pluck one off the net. Any special advice for bread baking in high humidity environments would be appreciated as well.

 

[garlicjosh]

I have a super simple bread recipe that I use all the time.
If you would like, I can type it up for you...I need to either way to posting it on my blog one of these days.

can you get your hands on bread flour?
while AP flour will work just fine, bread flour will produce something much more like what you buy

 

[cmarchibald]

I have a super simple bread recipe that I use all the time.
If you would like, I can type it up for you...I need to either way to posting it on my blog one of these days.

can you get your hands on bread flour?
while AP flour will work just fine, bread flour will produce something much more like what you buy

Not sure if I can get bread flour, I haven't noticed it in the places I usually shop but next time I'm in Manila I may hit one of the specialty shops there to look for that. In the meantime I only have all purpose flour and rice flour to work with. Wish I could get wheat flour, I love baking with it.

And if you would be willing to share I'd love to have your recipe!

In the meantime I'm trying the recipe I posted above. I have another dumb question....

I've run into this before when baking cinnamon buns from scratch (anything to do with yeast)....the recipe always says something like "allow it to rise until doubled". I swear I could leave it there for 3 days and it would never actually double in size. I mean if I put it in a bowl and it occupies the bottom half of the bowl, does that mean it's supposed to fill the bowl up by the time it's done rising? Or am I reading this too literally?

 

[garlicjosh]

it should litterally double in size and be very airy.

if it doesnt then your yeast is dead.
yeast will die if your liquid is to hot. the target temperature is about is about 120 F.- 135
For my first rise, I set mine in the fridge over night to rise. My 2nd rise, I stash the dough in my oven.
I'll try to get that typed up for you as soon as I can.

 

[cmarchibald]

it should litterally double in size and be very airy.

if it doesnt then your yeast is dead.
yeast will die if your liquid is to hot. the target temperature is about is about 120 F.- 135
For my first rise, I set mine in the fridge over night to rise. My 2nd rise, I stash the dough in my oven.
I'll try to get that typed up for you as soon as I can.

Good to know....I might've killed it then, let me get a thermometer and test the heat of the liquid I used. We have a filtered water dispenser that I use for drinking and cooking, and it has a button for "hot water". So it should be easy to test. If I did kill it I guess I should toss that and start over? I'd only lose 4 cups of flour at this point.

 

[cmarchibald]

Yeah my water was 160 degrees....should I start over or can this be saved? Thanks for the advice!

 

[garlicjosh]

I highly doubt you'll get a rise from it. I've had my yeast still do their work after getting up to 145 once but I try not to push it.
you could leave it and see if it will rise...but i'd probably start over.
also, if you really want to know that it doubled other then being able to see how much air is in it, use a narrow container..just make sure to lube it up a little so the dough comes out.
and not a problem...it's part of the reason i am here.

 

[cmarchibald]

I highly doubt you'll get a rise from it. I've had my yeast still do their work after getting up to 145 once but I try not to push it.
you could leave it and see if it will rise...but i'd probably start over.
also, if you really want to know that it doubled other then being able to see how much air is in it, use a narrow container..just make sure to lube it up a little so the dough comes out.
and not a problem...it's part of the reason i am here.

I have a great set of glass mixing bowls I use for all my baking stuff, really tall and narrow...so that should be easy to spot. Alright then, I'm off to scrape out the bowl, wash it and start over.

 

[cmarchibald]

Whoa! Nevermind! While I was in my home office posting those responses and chatting with my mom the dough in the bowl rose about half the amount it's supposed to rise. Looks like it's still going strong so I'm gonna leave it and see how it comes out.

 

[garlicjosh]

Whoa! Nevermind! While I was in my home office posting those responses and chatting with my mom the dough in the bowl rose about half the amount it's supposed to rise. Looks like it's still going strong so I'm gonna leave it and see how it comes out.

Good stuff.
Like I said, it is possible that it will do it. those temps are only the recommended ones that I have picked up from my books here and there.

 

[cmarchibald]

By the way, garlicjosh, the recipe I'm using actually has 3 rises instead of the 2 you mentioned, so I realized a few hours ago that what you were calling your 1st rise (where you put it in the fridge overnight) was the 2nd rise in my recipe. I took that advice and stuck it in the fridge and it's still rising! Nearly doubled.

It's 10pm here now so I have a choice....

Do I stay up late and try to finish it tonight (I still have one more rise to go)? Or will it be okay to leave it in the fridge overnight even though it's more than 3/4 through the 2nd rise? Is there a danger it will rise too much?

On the whole it seems like my first attempt at baking with yeast in a tropical environment is on track to be MUCH more successful than attempting the same in a desert climate.

 

[pacanis]

You know, I just read that yesterday when I was reading up on baking bread. The answer is yes, you can let it rise to much. Something about it can collapse from all the gasses built up in it. At least that's what one place on the internet said.

 

[joesfolk]

Not necessarily....

I did a search for "White Bread" on AllRecipes and got these results:

Allrecipes - Recipe Search

White Bread for Bread Machine (don't have one)
White Chocolate Bread (not what I'm looking for)
Buttermilk White Bread (can't buy buttermilk here)
White Bread I (also calls for bread machine, don't have one)

etc etc etc

I did a google search of white bread recipes and got lots of recipes including a lovely ciabatta bread recipe. Perhaps you don't want to limit yourself to Allrecipes. But I'm sure with so many folks snowed in today you will get lots of tried and true recipes here.

 

[garlicjosh]

You know, I just read that yesterday when I was reading up on baking bread. The answer is yes, you can let it rise to much. Something about it can collapse from all the gasses built up in it. At least that's what one place on the internet said.

yeah, the yeast will just burn itself out and you wont have anything left and it all falls down like a bridge with a bunch of c4 attached to it.
and if the yeast manage to live through that..you will have a bread that tastes..more yeasty then bread like.

 

[joesfolk]

yeah, the yeast will just burn itself out and you wont have anything left and it all falls down like a bridge with a bunch of c4 attached to it.
and if the yeast manage to live through that..you will have a bread that tastes..more yeasty then bread like.

I once set a loaf of bread to rise in a porch room in Phoenix, Az. when I went out to get it it had literally exploded all over the place. So yes, it can rise too much.
As for that yeasty flavor...oh, yummmm.

 

[cmarchibald]

yeah, the yeast will just burn itself out and you wont have anything left and it all falls down like a bridge with a bunch of c4 attached to it.
and if the yeast manage to live through that..you will have a bread that tastes..more yeasty then bread like.

Okie dokie then....looks like I'm staying up late. *pours another cocktail*

So I have it all situated and working on the final rise now. Hope it works!

 

[cmarchibald]

I once set a loaf of bread to rise in a porch room in Phoenix, Az. when I went out to get it it had literally exploded all over the place. So yes, it can rise too much.
As for that yeasty flavor...oh, yummmm.

Oh my....

My bigger problem is keeping my cats and my dog from trying to eat it.