Making your own bread?......what is concesus here?

[GreatOldOne]

Will do.....

It seems there is some patience/technique that one must acquire and I'd guess one small error in the process could screw up the desired outcome.

You say "1 package of dry yeast".....are all packages the same weight or volume?
"1 package" (in my obvious ignorance) just doesn't seem specific enough.

Thanks again for chiming in and the good tips and hope it helps others.

A good day to all....

I think so. They are sometimes hard to find, but I did find it at Publix. I forgot to mention, once you make the starter and proceed to make the bread, you keep the starter in the fridge. Then, you can feed it again and keep on making more bread.

It is really, really good. And as Sy mentioned it can be tempting to eat a whole freaking loaf of fresh bread at once. It's really terrible for your fitness and weight loss goals lol. It's kind of hard to STOP making it, and if you keep on eating the bread you're fairly sure to gain weight because it's hard to meet your calorie goals if you eat a whole lot of bread.

It's really good for holidays, but it's probably a bad idea to have in your ordinary diet throughout the year.

[Wayne Evans]

I think so. They are sometimes hard to find, but I did find it at Publix. I forgot to mention, once you make the starter and proceed to make the bread, you keep the starter in the fridge. Then, you can feed it again and keep on making more bread.

So the refrigeration that is to be done occurs at the end of the Sour Dough Starter process?

"Sour Dough Starter
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups warm water
2 & 1/2 cups tablespoons all-purpose flour

Mix yeast with 1/2 cup water. Mix sugar with 2 cups warm water and flour. Add yeast with mixture. Let set in glass jar and cover with a cloth AND REFRIGERATE for 5 days."

I haven't pushed any steel around for several years due to spinal stenosis and arthritis in my fingers/shoulders.
It really effects my walking and guitar playing which really pisses me off.
This getting old is not for the fain of heart. (I'm 73)

I've never been overweight so I'll eat as much of that bread as my little heart desires (within some reason) at this stage.

Thanks....

[GreatOldOne]

So the refrigeration that is to be done occurs at the end of the Sour Dough Starter process?

"Sour Dough Starter
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups warm water
2 & 1/2 cups tablespoons all-purpose flour

Mix yeast with 1/2 cup water. Mix sugar with 2 cups warm water and flour. Add yeast with mixture. Let set in glass jar and cover with a cloth AND REFRIGERATE for 5 days."

I haven't pushed any steel around for several years due to spinal stenosis and arthritis in my fingers/shoulders.
It really effects my walking and guitar playing which really pisses me off.
This getting old is not for the fain of heart. (I'm 73)

I've never been overweight so I'll eat as much of that bread as my little heart desires (within some reason) at this stage.

Thanks....

Yup, exactly. It sits out at first, then you feed and keep refrigerated. I would still be making bread now except we shoved something in the fridge and knocked over the started and spilled it lol...and was too lazy to remake the starter.

I'm just healing from a herniated disc with sciatica...can only imagine spinal stenosis is quite unpleasant to say the least.

[Wayne Evans]

Yup, exactly. It sits out at first, then you feed and keep refrigerated. I would still be making bread now except we shoved something in the fridge and knocked over the started and spilled it lol...and was too lazy to remake the starter. I'm just healing from a herniated disc with sciatica...can only imagine spinal stenosis is quite unpleasant to say the least.

I presume you're just letting ts "sit out" for 10-15 minutes.....then, refrigerate as directed?
Sorry to hear of your spillage...

SS is painful and my legs just go to sleep on me periodically during the day and night.
I should be walking with a cane (pisses off my wife) but I'm unable to give in to employing that tool.....for now anyway.
I'll probably have to visit the VA very soon for some meds an follow-up evaluations.

Hope your healing continues....

[bodyhard]

Howdy....

Well....since living here in the heart land there are a few things that we miss coming from the bay area/California.
One of them is a great loaf of sour dough....I could damn near live off sourdough/brie cheese/Sam Adams...you get the idea.
I've found absolutely NO sour dough out here.
What is available is typical white air bread in a sour dough configuration....guess that is supposed to fool us.

Seems to me the bread maker is surely the way to go.
Much less time involved as you put in the ingredients, let the machine do it's thing and just wait the obligatory 4-5 hours. (just a guess)
My wife doesn't mind tackling the process but I do want to make it easy in the preparation sense.

Anyone her making their own and satisfied with the outcomes?

What machine would you endorse with confidence? (I haven't checked the buckaroo factor yet)
EDIT: holy shvt...they can be 200-300 bucks.....but, seems to me one might get what they pay for in this context.

Or...what the process more of a PITA and the bread maker ended up being another bulky, novelty kitchen device that takes up too much real estate.

Thanks to any that chime in and of course I'm glad to green anyone that I can.

A good day to all....

My wife makes homemade bread and it taste better than the on we buy, she also makes banana bread and I love it. I can eat like two loafs in one day!

[Wayne Evans]

My wife makes homemade bread and it taste better than the on we buy, she also makes banana bread and I love it. I can eat like two loafs in one day!

Ha....I hear you.

So...bread making does have it popularity for the obvious reasons.
If my wife will tackle this project and it comes out as I hope I'm not sure I'll be willing to share it.

Hmm....come to think of it I'd guess good sour dough is readily available in your turf?...but I've been wrong in the past.

Thanks for chiming in....hope all is well with you/family orbit.

Back to it....

[GreatOldOne]

I presume you're just letting ts "sit out" for 10-15 minutes.....then, refrigerate as directed?
Sorry to hear of your spillage...

SS is painful and my legs just go to sleep on me periodically during the day and night.
I should be walking with a cane (pisses off my wife) but I'm unable to give in to employing that tool.....for now anyway.
I'll probably have to visit the VA very soon for some meds an follow-up evaluations.

Hope your healing continues....

Actually, you let it sit out for 5 days, covered with a cloth. You make the starter in a jar, and just set it somewhere on your countertop to sit.

My sciatica is gone, and I'm off anti inflammatories...just starting stretching more now and gradually going back to strength exercises. But. I haven't done anything much but walk and the "cobra pose" since it happened in March. I had injured this like 10 years ago and went through it, and that time took like a year to heal. Sucks. Daily pain takes a toll. Especially when you're uncertain if it's healing correctly. I made it back to no pain now...just want to keep it that way as I get back to sports and lifting harder over the next few months. Gotta take off some weight I put on during this time, too. I had lost 100 lbs and regained during the last bit, but I'll get it back off.

Best wishes with your injuries and recovery.

[supramax]

Lisa makes a killer banana bread too; but lets be real it's closer to cake than it is to bread.

Everyone makes a killer banana bread!
I use a little more cinnamon than a recipe calls for and a big handful of pecans. You can also add dates or anything else you like, like raisins, cranberries, etc., etc.

Next to banana bread, corn bread is the easiest bread to make.

[Gabbar99]

We ("we" = my wife) have been making whole-wheat sourdough bread every couple days for 30 years. Everyone who has tried it has said it's the best bread they've ever tasted. My wife gave her mom the recipe and the starter and now the whole large family (grandkids + great-grandkids + great-great-grandkids > 50) raves about "grandma's bread", which kinda gets under my wife's skin since she's the one that started it.

It's smooth and sweet, more like a really good whole-wheat than what you think of when you hear "sourdough". It's kinda a delicate operation. You have to keep the starter fed and the activity of the starter and the quality of the bread varies quite a bit with temperature and with who knows what. And how much kneading you do makes a difference.

It super important to get the best quality flour. In Arkansas, we had a great source. It's taken us awhile to find a good source in Pennsylvania. We drive an hour every few months to get 50 lb bags. It's just not as good when we have to use store bought flour.

The bread is heavenly when it comes out of the oven, really good the next day, okay the day after that, and then approaches ordinary. When all four kids are home, we're making it every other day. About once a week we use it to make pizza dough. Sometimes dinner rolls and sometimes cinnamon rolls.

[mtpockets]

We ("we" = my wife) have been making whole-wheat sourdough bread every couple days for 30 years. Everyone who has tried it has said it's the best bread they've ever tasted. My wife gave her mom the recipe and the starter and now the whole large family (grandkids + great-grandkids + great-great-grandkids > 50) raves about "grandma's bread", which kinda gets under my wife's skin since she's the one that started it.

It's smooth and sweet, more like a really good whole-wheat than what you think of when you hear "sourdough". It's kinda a delicate operation. You have to keep the starter fed and the activity of the starter and the quality of the bread varies quite a bit with temperature and with who knows what. And how much kneading you do makes a difference.

It super important to get the best quality flour. In Arkansas, we had a great source. It's taken us awhile to find a good source in Pennsylvania. We drive an hour every few months to get 50 lb bags. It's just not as good when we have to use store bought flour.

The bread is heavenly when it comes out of the oven, really good the next day, okay the day after that, and then approaches ordinary. When all four kids are home, we're making it every other day. About once a week we use it to make pizza dough. Sometimes dinner rolls and sometimes cinnamon rolls.

how long do you keep the starter?

[Gabbar99]

how long do you keep the starter?

It may have been going for about 30 years but I seem to recall it died out or we stopped making bread for awhile and we might have had to restart it from scratch some time maybe 15 years ago. We've given some to others so they can get going. Don't recall why we would have had to start from scratch rather than getting it from someone else.

It stays in the fridge and then gets fed with potato flakes and sugar and sits out on the counter overnight. I could ask my wife the details.

[mtpockets]

It may have been going for about 30 years but I seem to recall it died out or we stopped making bread for awhile and we might have had to restart it from scratch some time maybe 15 years ago. We've given some to others so they can get going. Don't recall why we would have had to start from scratch rather than getting it from someone else.

It stays in the fridge and then gets fed with potato flakes and sugar and sits out on the counter overnight. I could ask my wife the details.

An old trapper friend used to bake sourdough bread and that's what he said, he had some dried, but prior to that he told me the starter was years old, I forget now how many years, He did mention feeding it too. That part creeped me out and it took forever for me to try his bread, But when I did, it was amazing. I know he didn't have a fridge though, but he did have a hole under his cabin that was about 10 feet deep and that's where he kept all his veggies. in that hole he would keep ice harvested from the pond in the winter and buried in sawdust and it would last into the next fall. So it's possible he kept it down there.

Thanks for the info, very interesting that the stuff can survive that long

[Gabbar99]

Okay, got the details from my wife.

Our starter was restarted from scratch when we moved 7 years ago. The one grandma has is from the one my wife got from a neighbor in 1990.

The starter is fed in the morning on days we make bread. The bread is made (mixed, kneaded, put into loaves) in the evening, left overnight, and then baked the next day. If we're not making bread, the starter gets fed every 5 to 7 days.

At peak usage with all four kids home, we make bread every other day, 4 regular size loaves each time.

[bodyhard]

Lisa makes a killer banana bread too; but lets be real it's closer to cake than it is to bread.

LOL sooo true!!

Ha....I hear you.

So...bread making does have it popularity for the obvious reasons.
If my wife will tackle this project and it comes out as I hope I'm not sure I'll be willing to share it.

Hmm....come to think of it I'd guess good sour dough is readily available in your turf?...but I've been wrong in the past.

Thanks for chiming in....hope all is well with you/family orbit.

Back to it....

Sour dough? I have no idea what you are talking about, I just eat it after my wife makes it

[Mark1T]

Sour dough? I have no idea what you are talking about, I just eat it after my wife makes it

Johnny, you need to get your ass in that kitchen and start making some bread

[bodyhard]

Johnny, you need to get your ass in that kitchen and start making some bread

Hell no!

[Mark1T]

Hell no!

I knew that answer

[bodyhard]

I knew that answer

LOL, I haven't changed in that department!

Dude won't even grill a fukken steak; ya think he's gonna put an apron on and bake bread?



LOL

LOL, you know Patty bought this (I don't even know what to call it I will get the name of it today) machine and it actually makes grill steak to perfection. She put in a filet mignon for me, set it to medium rare and man was it perfect and it taste delicious!

[Mark1T]

Dude won't even grill a fukken steak; ya think he's gonna put an apron on and bake bread?



LOL

LOL. You get a pass since you drink beer and cook real meat at the same time and that takes some talent

[bodyhard]

I took a picture, much easier than saying the name

[bodyhard]

Never seen or heard of one of those before.

But real men cook their steak over an open flame:

https://i.imgur.com/uSrdd1d.mp4

Well my wife is not a man, but she definitely makes a mean steak for me on the grill, I don't go near those things, real men don't cook, they have their wives do it for them

But on a serious note, man the steak comes out great on that thing!

[Wayne Evans]

Sour dough? I have no idea what you are talking about, I just eat it after my wife makes it

Well....I'll be damned!

I somehow believed NY would wreak with a myriad of fine Italian restaurants that also (be default) serve up some tasty sour dough french bread as one awaits dindin.
Maybe it's just a California (I'm not there anymore ) thing.
No real Italian choices where I am now but I sure miss the bread.

That's a beefy looking bread machine...probably get a good warmup pressing that dude for 3x10.

Back to it....a great weekend to all.