Who can make BREAD (real bread)?

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2

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  • SavvyGurl0528
    SavvyGurl0528 Posts: 228 Member
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    This is the best and the easiest bread I have ever made (aside from using a bread maker). If you like English Muffins, this is as good or better. My husband devours it!

    http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/english-muffin-bread-2


    I don't use the cornmeal in this recipe.
  • dazzer1975
    dazzer1975 Posts: 104 Member
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    youtube no knead bread.


    Beats the crap out of anything you can buy.
  • SmallMimi
    SmallMimi Posts: 541 Member
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    bump to check out all the bread receipes
  • lynnlc
    lynnlc Posts: 12
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    I have made my own bread for the past several years- it's a lot easier than you think! But be careful.. now I've turned into a bread snob and don't like the store-bought stuff anymore!! :)

    For cast iron bread, yes, you do want a pan with a lid on it for the best results: when you put the pot into the oven, the water in the dough turns into steam, which is trapped by the lid and creates a crisp, brown crust. You _could_ cook it without the lid, but it wouldn't be as pretty, nor as crispy (although that would be personal preference, I suppose- I love crusty bread!) [As a side note, if you don't like a crisp crust, just wait a day to eat this. It's not crispy the second day around, not that it usually lasts that long for me!]


    My favorite recipe is adapted from Alton Brown's:

    17 1/2 ounces bread flour (can use 1/2 whole wheat flour, or white whole wheat flour if you want more whole grain)
    1/4 teaspoon active-dry yeast
    2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
    12 ounces filtered water
    optional flavoring: my favorite is 1-2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary!! Any herb or spice will work, or some minced garlic.
    2 tablespoons cornmeal

    Mix flour, yeast, water, and salt in bowl (and optional flavoring) (will form a kind of shaggy looking dough). Let sit anywhere from overnight to 2 days (figured that out by accident.. HAH!)- the actual recipe says 19 hours, but I find this to be very flexible.

    After 19 hours, punch it down, empty it out onto the counter, and form it into a ball. (Original recipe has a 15 min rest here, but I don't find that necessary). In another bowl, put 2 tbsp cornmeal, put dough ball on top, and put another 2 tbsp cornmeal over it. Cover with tea towel and let rest until dough has doubled in size (usually about 2-3 hours, but can take longer if your kitchen is cold. Put it in the (unheated!) oven with the light turned on to speed that up).

    Preheat oven to 450 with pot inside (don't forget the lid!!). Carefully put dough inside pot and put the lid back on. Bake for 30 min with the lid on, remove it, and bake an additional 15 min. Let rest at least 15 min before slicing (I know, it's difficult).

    Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/knead-not-sourdough-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback


    If you're really interested in making your own bread, I wholeheartedly recommend a bread machine... Not only can you make the bread inside the machine, but you can also make the dough and bake it in the oven. I've made pizza dough, bagels, dinner rolls, baguettes, sandwich bread, and probably more stuff that I can't remember right now (all of which I have recipes for, if you're interested!)
  • Yeller_Sensation
    Yeller_Sensation Posts: 373 Member
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    I am not entirely sure what constitutes real bread but I made this two weekends ago and it was completely devoured in less than a day. Paired well with my white chicken chili.

    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-whole-wheat-quick-bread/detail.aspx

    Double all ingredients and bake in a bread pan for one hour at 350 deg F.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+make+bread+(real+bread)
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    You can google search for a lot of sites that give bread recipes with detailed instructions

    Some sites:

    allrecipes.com
    foodnetwork.com
    ehow.com
    bhg.com

    Just type in something like - how to bake bread...or bread recipes..maybe bread recipes for beginners.

    Hope this helps! :flowerforyou:
  • NikkiSixGuns
    NikkiSixGuns Posts: 630 Member
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    I make what I consider "real bread": sourdough with nothing more than starter, water, salt, and flour.

    If I think of it when I get home tonight I'll send you the recipe.
  • PAZlady
    PAZlady Posts: 59 Member
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    Here is a another quick and easy recipe that I got from my brother in law. Even I can make homemade bread and the best part you can make half today and cover the rest of the dough in the fridge for a couple of days later.

    Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day:

    Makes four 1-pound loaves
    3 cups lukewarm water (about 100º F)
    1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
    1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
    6 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour (no need to sift)
    Cornmeal for the pizza peel

    In a 5-quart bowl, mix the yeast, water and salt. Add all the flour, then use a wooden spoon to mix until all ingredients are uniformly moist. This will produce a loose and very wet dough.

    Cover with a lid (not airtight). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, about 2 hours, but no more than 5 hours. After rising, the dough can be baked immediately, or covered (non completely airtight) and refrigerated up to 14 days. The dough will be easier to work with after at least 3 hours refrigeration.

    On baking day, prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the bread from sticking when you transfer it to the oven. Uncover the dough and sprinkle the surface with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough (serrated knives are best). Store the remaining dough in the bowl and refrigerate for baking at another time.

    Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick. Create a smooth ball of dough by gently pulling the sides down around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Shaping the loaf this way should take no more than 1 minute.

    Place the dough on the pizza peel. Allow the loaf to rest for about 40 minutes. It does not need to be covered. The bread may not rise much during this time. Twenty minutes before baking, place a pizza stone on the center rack of the oven. If you don't have a baking stone, use another baking sheet. Remove any upper racks. Place a broiler pan on a rack below the pizza stone or on the floor of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 F.

    When the dough has rested for 40 minutes, dust the top liberally with flour, then use a serrated knife to slash a 1/4-inch-deep cross or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top. Slide the loaf off the peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door.

    Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Allow the bread to cool completely, preferably on a wire cooling rack.
  • OatFloats
    OatFloats Posts: 119
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    Just got a breadmaker because kneeding hurts my little hands. I am hooked on cinnamon, walnut, and sultana bread at the mo. I use 1/3rd spelt flour which makes the crust really crunchy.
  • Agate69
    Agate69 Posts: 349 Member
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    I have purchased no bread for almost 3 years I too use the recipe above,(artisanal bread in 5 min) plus several that use more whole grains and some that are gluten free. I recently have started making crackers. Easy, filling, high fiber and relatively healthy
  • meagalayne
    meagalayne Posts: 3,382 Member
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    No knead bread is great and takes all of 5 minutes to whip together.
    Use the Google. It will set you free.
  • ladymm40
    ladymm40 Posts: 31
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    Thanks everyone for sharing all the recipes and experience.....

    I think I will make bread tonight after work....yummmmmm.
  • Jaulen
    Jaulen Posts: 468 Member
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    I have a bread machine....and will use that to fully cook the bread, or just use it to mix and rise the bread, then bake it in the oven (bought a pullman loaf pan earlier this year....love it for perfectly square sandwhich style loaves).

    Just started making my own sourdough breads.

    I have the La Brea bakery cookbook, and the Bread Machine Breads Bible cookbook.

    Haven't bought a loaf of bread since around the start of the year.
    (make our own dinner rolls, caramel rolls, and english muffins too)

    And someone posted above about cutting bread 1/12-inch thick, that's very thin!
  • jazzcat55
    jazzcat55 Posts: 164 Member
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    Try Jacques Pepin's Slow and Easy Bread in a Pot:

    http://onceuponaplaterecipes.blogspot.com/2012/09/jacques-pepins-easy-one-pot-bread.html

    It really is so easy. You mix up the dough in a nonstick saucepan, let it sit at room temp for an hour, punch it down, put it in the fridge overnight, then bake the bread right in the same pot the next day. So good!
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    www.thefreshloaf.com has a lot of bread recipes and helpful advice.
  • healthykae
    healthykae Posts: 190 Member
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    careful of the yeast! I had a bad experience.
  • sharonlynnereynolds
    sharonlynnereynolds Posts: 8
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    My grandmother used to make oatmeal molasses bread by hand. I don't think she used a cast iron pan. I think she used loaf pans.

    If you want a good bread recipe at web sites, I'd recommend King Arthur's Flour or Cook's Illustrated.

    If you want some good bread recipe cookbooks, I'd recommend Fannie Farmer, James Beard, The Loaf and Ladle, etc. You can find awesome cookbooks of all kinds at library booksales, which often happen at this time of year. I've paid $2 a piece for primo cookbooks by legendary cooks and chefs. It's cheaper than printing out all those recipes from the web.
  • Bobbie8786
    Bobbie8786 Posts: 202 Member
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    Like others said, making bread is very easy, I do it all by hand (my KitchenAid broke:angry:). The only real key part is knowing when you have kneaded enough. The window pane test works great to determine when you are there (google it).

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