When I buy a bag of white flour at Sam's, 25 lbs, I put it in a 5 gallon bucket with lid. Stays good a very long time that way. The bucket I use is square and the lid comes off relatively easy. If you use one of the conventional round 5 gal buckets, there are some lid systems available that screw on/off to make it easier to use.
Marjorie Suddard said:
You're very welcome! As I mentioned, I upped the salt to 1-3/4 t on my last loaf. It was the best yet. Here it is as french toast for this morning's breakfast:
I'm going to try upping the salt to 1-3/4 t for the next batch. That French toast looks yummy! Is that blueberry syrup?
I did all my shopping for ingredients on this past Saturday, because I got my $7 bread machine on Thursday after work. Spent Friday evening cleaning it up and reading the manual (except the part about getting the pan properly secured). I'll probably make my 2nd loaf of Margie's bread on Friday...so much better than store bought and the 1.5# loaf seems about right for just me to consume before it goes bad. No more tossing old bread out for the birds... :)
In reply to secretariata :
Glad you're getting into it--and yes, that was blueberry syrup. Yums.
Margie
RevRico
PowerDork
3/25/20 6:19 p.m.
Today's messing around. Less water, more flour, started out great, but as it rose and proofed got stickier and stickier, so I just threw it in a loaf pan.
I neglected to feed my starter again last night before bed, so just rolled with it this morning even though it had collapsed and wasn't floating in water anymore.
Still tastes good, good shape for sandwiches.
I think I'm going to take a slight break from sour dough to try A) the red start instant starter, and B) egg buns or honey butter buns.
Sister Schubert yeast rolls are good, but I want that cafeteria style buttered roll.
In reply to RevRico :
If you are craving a delicious yeast dinner roll, give this one a try:
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degres or so, warm to your hand)
4 TBS butter, cut into little cubes
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
3 TBS sugar
1 TBS yeast
Add water and butter to the bread machine first. Sift together the flour, sugar and salt, add to the bread machine. Add yeast last. Run the machine on the dough cycle. When done transfer the dough onto a floured surface. Preheat the oven on it's lowest available temp for about 5 minutes and then turn it off. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven while it is heating up to provide a nice humid, warm spot for the rolls to rise. You don't want the oven to get hot, just warm.
Prepare your baking pan by rubbing butter on the bottom and sides. Divide dough in half and the divide each half into six equal balls. I use just enough flour to keep them from sticking to my hands. When forming the balls, pull the sides/edges down and tuck under. Place in the baking pan with the edges down. Makes 12 rolls, use an 8x12 size casserole pan.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in the warm oven until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven but keep covered. Remove pan of water and preheat oven to 375. Remove towel right before placing in the hot oven, bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until golden. If you want super buttery goodness, melt half a stick of butter on low heat while the rolls are baking and brush the tops of the rolls when done. Try not to eat them all in the first 5 minutes!
Justjim75 said:
Day before yesterday i bought a 50 pound bag of bread flour at Costco. $12.99. So i figured if i tossed half of it I'd still be ahead, but repackaged it in 2 gal ziplocs and gave half to friends, fam and coworkers who bake, the other half I'm making a loaf a day to give to those who dont bake, and cant or shouldnt get out to buy bread. Make a lots of friends giving homemade bread away during the apocalypse
Last time I was at costco I grabbed a 25lb bag for $6. Usually its $3-4 for the 2lb bag at the local grocery store, so I figured why the hell not.
I keep the bag in the basement, but periodically refill an old protein mix container which holds around 5 or 6 lbs.
Marjorie Suddard said:
Those of you also using machines, I would really recommend proofing your yeast first in warm water with the sugar, then adding the oil, flour and salt. Use salt to control the rise: If you're finding that your loaves keep falling, cutting water can fix that, but try upping your salt instead. Salt regulates yeast activity and improves structure, so it's a more reliable way to control the rise and improve the end product. Go up 1/4 t at a time until you have a stable loaf (I am at 1-3/4 t for 3C of bread flour here in warm and humid Florida).
This sounds like what I need to do, but one of the main reasons I got a bread machine was to make bread with much lower amounts of sugar and salt.
Think I'm going to make a flatbread with the intention of using it as a pizza crust tonight, since I haven't tracked down any yeast yet (to be fair, I also haven't gone to any stores). Should be interesting.
Dutch news today has sourdough instructions, "#CoronaCooking: Sourdough bread with flour, water and a portion of patience"
https://www.nu.nl/eten-en-drinken/6039638/coronacooking-zuurdesembrood-met-bloem-water-en-een-portie-geduld.html
In Engles:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nu.nl%2Feten-en-drinken%2F6039638%2Fcoronacooking-zuurdesembrood-met-bloem-water-en-een-portie-geduld.html
I don't think teh googlez did the salt quantity translation correct. Or the Dutch are probably using a different size "tablespoon" than we use. 2 US tablespoons are clearly too much salt. 2 teaspoons, maybe.
Made a loaf of garlic and rosemary beer bread today to have with pumpkin soup for dinner.
I'm thinking about trying the below, anybody done this successfully?
What you’ll need: Jones says that although some recipes you’ll find online call for things like fruit or juice, all you actually need are flour and water. White flour works fine, but whole wheat is best because it has more micronutrients like zinc and iron for the yeast and bacteria. You’ll also need time; it’ll take several days before your starter is ready, so it’s best to plan ahead.
Step 1: Mix together equal parts flour and water in a small bowl. You can start with about a quarter cup of each. Stir well. Water activates the enzyme amylase, which breaks down starch into simple sugars that the yeast and bacteria can eat.
Step 2: Cover the bowl loosely with a lid or towel and leave the mixture on your counter at room temperature. Keeping it in a place that’s a bit warm, but not too hot, will speed up the process of the yeast and bacteria colonizing your batter.
Step 3: Twice a day, in the morning and evening, add one to two tablespoons each of flour and water. By doing this, you’re actually feeding the yeast. In about three to five days, your starter will begin to bubble. This is a good thing: the way yeast makes bread rise is by producing gas, like what you see in the bubbles. After day five, your starter should have at least doubled in volume and will be ready to use. As a rule of thumb, a bit of the starter should float in a glass of water when it’s ready.
In reply to slowride :
Most of us are following the destructions on the King Arthur flour site. Not that different, linked to somewhere in this thread. And about the same as on the Dutch site I linked to up above.
In reply to Dr. Hess :
My starter was originally bought from King Arthur flour.
Double chocolate zucchini bread from the King Arthur flour Website.
I doubled it for two loaves, cut back from four eggs to three (trying to spare the eggs), ended up with almost a fudge cake. I made it once before, and used Hershey's special dark chocolate cocoa. It was too much, I'm the only one in the family that would eat it.
This time, I used regular cocoa. Really good.
Recipe
daeman
Dork
3/31/20 11:54 p.m.
In reply to Floating Doc :
That looks pretty good, I might have to try it out, I've got a glut of zucchini at the moment and I'm trying to find ways to use it up.
In reply to daeman :
It's good, but you better really like chocolate!
In reply to Floating Doc :
Sold!
potato buns!! I'll update this post with an open shot when they're cool enough to handle
This was a bigger one, it might not have been done yet, but good.
Not the store bought I was going for, but light, fluffy, slight taste of mashed potatoes.
I'll using seasoned mashed potatoes next time
I usually make a ton of breads and savory pies this time of year, but now since we're in isolation, I'll probably just be making one challah for Tom and I.
Here's the recipe (from an old bread machine cookbook - my mom has the original paper one, and after scouring the internet last year I found it in PDF form):
I usually skip the poppy seeds and opt for a light sprinkling of kosher salt instead, but that's a personal preference.
Pro tip: this bread makes GREAT french toast. It's also great for shoving directly into your face.
Having skimmed this thread I really want to go buy a bread machine online and add ingredients to our next shopping trip. But...The wife and I had been doing keto about a month before the crap hit the fan. I'd really like to ONLY gain back the 10lbs I'd already lost. If I buy a bread machine I will come out of quarantine shaped like a dinner roll and never be able to Keto again I fear.
Cause damn, I love bread.
In reply to Nicole Suddard :
Ohhhh yum! I can't wait to shove some in my face!
Today's working from home sourdough perk!
russde
Reader
4/2/20 11:15 a.m.
In reply to RevRico :
Post up the recipe if you don't mind
RevRico
PowerDork
4/2/20 11:19 a.m.
In reply to russde :
Here you go
I used 4 cups plus a heavy table spoon of flour, and left it to rise on top of the oven. Came out very similar to frozen yeast rolls.
The recipe was supposed to make 24, I wound up with 15, and the bigger ones needed some extra oven time.
Next time I'm doing something more than plain mashed potatoes. Maybe cheese and bacon, or garlic and rosemary, or just sour cream instead of milk.
Trying a no-knead thanks to Chef John.
Let ir rise over night, warming up the oven now.