Bread baking.

I prove mine in a colander lined with a tea towel. When I bake it I put a piece of nonstick baking paper over the top, put a chopping board over that, then flip it upside down and remove the colander and towel. Then you've got the dough on the baking paper and you can slash the top of the dough, fold the corners of the paper together and pick it up by the corners and put it it a cast iron pot to go in the oven.

The colander having holes in allows moisture to get out like a basket does, when I used a bowl, the towel would stick to the dough sometimes.

I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do this, but mine works for me
Sounds good thanks
 
Very true, I once forgot to add the salt and instantly noticed it when I took a bite. Salt also plays an important role in the texture of the bread too. I really don’t understand these Salt fascists, as part of a balanced diet it’s good for you.
also, I agree on the sourdough, it’s so little work as you just let time and bacteria do the work for you. The most labour Intensive bread I make is when I make burger buns ( using organic bakers yeast) as whilst they only take a few hrs from start to finish you have to pretty much mother them the whole time.
kindest regards, Olaf
Ps, thanks for the excellent service that you folks at Alan Rhone provided last year. The swing off mounts for my Mauser 66 fitted a treat 👌
Agreed on that. My sourdough routine fits in so well that I don't really pay it a lot of attention. Just check from time to time. Not time critical at all so plenty of leeway on the stage timing. I agree about buns, those do require a full time nurse. Good to hear the scope mount works well.
 
V Nice

I am not. Just can't get the dough to rise. So I did another sourdough starter and from internet version added bit milk to get the culture rolling. A week later after feeding flour its really motoring but looks a bit yoghourty and stinks. Will give it a go anyway and see.

S

This is the starter I got: Kombuchaorganic ® Very Old and Mature - 40 years old Lake District Certified Organic LIFETIME SUPPLY of Sourdough Starter Bread Starter - 80g for all types of flour: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

It is certainly active! Of course after I'd ordered it the chef in our local pub offered their sourdough starter as well........

I have been searching around on the internet and came across this lady: The home of great sourdough

I was so impressed with her website that I bought her book, and it has really improved the results I'm getting. The sections she has (on the website and in the book) about both the starter and what she calls her "master recipe" are really good, explained in a way that even a complete duffer like me can undertand them! She also spells out very clearly the overall process to follow, and has links to her YouTube videos for some of the processes. Doubtless there are other good books and websites out there, but she certainly gets my vote of approval.

Coincidentally I was reading the section in her book on the starter last night, and she mentions that the starter can smell - of eggs, vinegar, etc (hers smells of paint apparently!) - but that it will change and dissipate over time, and basically not to worry about it.

Having fed my starter a few times I then read you should not use water straight from the tap (because the chlorine can kill some starters) but rather you should boil water and then let it cool before using. Mine seems to have survived, though. We have an Aga in the kitchen, which I have always viewed as one of the least efficient machines ever invented by mankind. I have to say, though, that it is proving an ideal spot for leaving the dough to rise. I am convinced that one day I will come downstairs and the dough will have become like the Instant Pudding in Sleeper (starts at 1' 45" in this clip):

 
V Nice

I am not. Just can't get the dough to rise. So I did another sourdough starter and from internet version added bit milk to get the culture rolling. A week later after feeding flour its really motoring but looks a bit yoghourty and stinks. Will give it a go anyway and see.

S
Are you doing an overnight ‘sponge mix’ with the starter added to really get things going before mixing the rest of the flour and working the dough next day ? Doing so really helped me get a decent rise. I also find using a little wholemeal in my starter is more effective than just white flour to get things bubbling away. Not tried milk yet but sounds good.
 
Are you doing an overnight ‘sponge mix’ with the starter added to really get things going before mixing the rest of the flour and working the dough next day ? Doing so really helped me get a decent rise. I also find using a little wholemeal in my starter is more effective than just white flour to get things bubbling away. Not tried milk yet but sounds good.


Not sure what an overnight sponge mix is. Am using 50 50 white/wholemeal flour and feed every day and leave by aga overall for about a week.

S
 
Hi Lads.
A variation on this weeks baking. I decided to do some savoury cheese and bacon scones. If i say so myself they were a triumph. I filled them with some excellent roast ham from my local butcher and accompanied them with some home made mushroom soup.

View attachment 198447View attachment 198449

Ooohhh...recipe please.

We had Celery and Apple soup for lunch, and those look like the perfect accompaniment.
 
Ooohhh...recipe please.

We had Celery and Apple soup for lunch, and those look like the perfect accompaniment.
Hi Willie-g

250 Gms Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
50 Gms Butter
50 Gms Grated Cheddar
2 Rashes Back Bacon finely chopped
Milk to mix.

Rub butter into flour until like a fine breadcrumb.

Add bacon, cheese and baking powder, then add milk to the mix untill you get a firm dough.

Seperate into 4 and bake at 180c for 25 mins. My oven is fan assisted so yours may vary if not.

They are really best eaten on the day. I like them when they are still ever so slightly aired in the middle. I hope you enjoy them.

As my ever increasing belly will testify i adore them.
 
Hi Willie-g

250 Gms Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
50 Gms Butter
50 Gms Grated Cheddar
2 Rashes Back Bacon finely chopped
Milk to mix.

Rub butter into flour until like a fine breadcrumb.

Add bacon, cheese and baking powder, then add milk to the mix untill you get a firm dough.

Seperate into 4 and bake at 180c for 25 mins. My oven is fan assisted so yours may vary if not.

They are really best eaten on the day. I like them when they are still ever so slightly aired in the middle. I hope you enjoy them.

As my ever increasing belly will testify i adore them.
Super, thank you.

Possibly a stupid question......is the bacon cooked before using in the recipe?
 
Some great looking pics on here.
My Mrs is good at fresh bread, we have a bread maker which we often use for convenience or sometimes use it for knead and prove and then bake in the oven.
We have almost finished making a wood fired pizza oven for the garden so that’ll be used for bread too when it had cooled a bit and we are used to the temperatures - it’ll be cooking pizza in about 90 seconds so will need it cooled down for bread.
 
I am back in Oman now. I had been booked to take some Diplomats out to the northern Empty Quarter for a three day camp/sand-driving mission. Along with a request to demonstrate baking bread in the desert. It was cancelled due to the latest C19 restrictions. (Can't say I am disappointed given the eye-ball drying heat)

As it is only 39 degrees here I though I would bake some bread anyway!

I decided to got with Cashew-Bread with an Easter flex (excuse the bbq - is is wood fired not charcoal) and the bowl.

Had it been in the desert it would have been mixed in a freezer-bag

Other than that this is what it would have been like 1geMv140RXWomIfCqMOYaQ.webp.


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