Comments on: Foiled Again

By: Rayne

Rayne — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:09:52 +0000

I love your kids, chick. Truly. They are made of awesomesauce, for sure. [rq=1886490,2,blog][/rq]Sadistic Tendencies? When? How?

By: viemoira

viemoira — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:56:53 +0000

Go her for not giving up on the GSA!!! Good luck with the bread- i have nothing to offer for that (just started *really* cooking from scrath past few years and have no clue how to make any bread except pumpkin and banana :P [rq=1737910,0,blog][/rq]Bad Slave, No Valium

By: (Usually a Lurker)Jo

(Usually a Lurker)Jo — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:41:23 +0000

I’m with you on letting the bread machine do all of my kneading. I HATE kneading! Anyway, I agree with the rest of the group with the sentiment that your yeast was bad. For what it’s worth, I use either active dry yeast or bread machine yeast, and I never let the bread machine do the baking. I just let it run its full dough cycle (rising and all), then dump it out when it’s done, knead it a little more by hand and then put it in my loaf pan. Then I let it sit for maybe 20 more minutes so it rises about to the top of the pan so the bread isn’t too squat (generally I let it sit on top of the oven while it’s preheating during the winter). I bake it for around 25 minutes, and brush some olive oil on the top to give it that nice color. Oh, and I usually leave it in the middle of the oven, not the very bottom or top. It usually rises a little more while it’s baking, too, so don’t let it rise too much in the pan.
I have no idea if what I do is what any official baker would do, but it’s worked for me! Sometimes if I messed up the flour to water ratio, it’s a little dense, but still perfectly edible.
Hope that helps! Oh, and congratulations to your daughter! Way to not give up!

By: w_professor

w_professor — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:35:57 +0000

Tell Am way to go!!!! I was a sponsor of a GSA at my old very conservative high school so I know how much shit she has to put up with. Me and my Lezzie daughter both tell her to keep on doing good. If nothing else, she is making some examine their stupid beliefs. She is doing what I always told my students, make a difference. Good on her! The Prof

By: Sanna

Sanna — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:54:17 +0000

Oh, and while my other post randomly floats around the ethernet waiting to be posted, I’ll answer your questions:

Other than the possibility of old yeast, what else could have been the culprit?

It didn’t rise properly, or for long enough. If a bread tastes yeast, it’s usually one of those things (for me). A bread is done rising when you press your fingers down lightly on it and it springs back up. It should also just about double in size. If you’re not sure, give it another ten minutes then check again.

>>>And what IS the time and temp for a basic 1.5lb loaf of white bread? <<>>And should I have made it into two loaves or left it as one? <<>>And what are the steps after the machine?<<<

The machine did the combining and kneading? Then you can pour it into oiled loaf pans and let rise. Let rise BENEATH A COTTON TOWEL. The saran wrap will stick to it, you'll try to unstick it and then they'll deflate. Do not bake something that's deflated, it's a waste of time. Wait for it to rise again. KEEP IT WHERE IT'S ROOM TEMP! Seriously. If you keep it where it's warm, it'll flow out to the sides if you aren't using a loaf pan. The yeast works too fast in that case.

If you do want to add more flour after the machine is done, then yes – you're supposed to knead. In loaf pans, the dough can be pretty wet without a problem.

My general rule of thumb about rising is this: if I let it rise twice, it needs 30-60 minutes each time. If it rises once (like if you don't knead, just pour into loaf pans), one to two hours is good. Do the finger-mark test.

Btw. Googling the finger mark test will confuse you. Some say, that when your fingers leave a small dent in the dough and it doesn't rise back up, it's done. Some say like me, that when it's about twice the original size and does rise back up after your fingers marked it, it's done. So: Meh? Go with what makes sense to you? It should double in size, that all agree on.

By: Sanna

Sanna — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:33:50 +0000

Don’t be nervous. You botch it, you throw it away and try again tomorrow. It’s not harder than that. I’ve failed umpteen times (over 20 at least!) with this bread, and it’s a really simple bread. The recipe is small to allow for failure, so it’s no biggie if you need to start again. You will fail. What you need to do is not to rack down on yourself for it. You did fall while learning to walk, right? Thump, down on your butt! It’s really the same thing.

>.< I really hate my lack of English terms for you. I mean a baking sheet (SHEET?! Where the fuck did you english people come up with that?!) You can use loaf pans if you like. Just make sure they're entirely dry and then oil them slightly with canola oil.

Remember: after you've learned this bread, you can start playing with it. That's really fun! Make it with more water, with sundried tomatoes, olive, feta cheeze, chop down basil or thyme, throw in some oats or old oatmeal, shred a potatoe from last nights supper into it.

Look forward to baking. Something a golfer learns (that M repeats to me over and over and over and over again), is that you shouldn't make a big thing out of missing or failing. Instead: bounce with joy, squeal, spend all you emotions when you get something right.

Like "YAY, it looks AMAZING! Oh, the inside wasn't done – whatever, it still looked AWESOME. I'm awesome. I'm so totally going to get it soon."

It'll make a world of difference.

By: kaya

kaya — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:19:28 +0000

Mother’s Pride. I haz it. :D

By: kaya

kaya — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:18:35 +0000

That’s kind of what I was going for.. sort of. Letting the bread machine do the annoying kneading/mixing part and then baking it in the oven for a more “hand made” taste. Bread machine baking makes it…odd, I guess.

I’d like your basic recipe, and any hints you can think of. I get tripped up over the non-specific directions, because they are aimed at people who, presumably, already know how to bake. I don’t, so that’s usually where I falter. Things like “a warm place” and “warm water”, or “knead til pliable”, etc. I’m guessing at how warm is warm and what pliable feels like.

And then it’ll say things like “If your bread is too ‘heavy’ this time around, next time try adding a Tbsp less water. Or more salt. Or more flour. Or blah blah blah.” – and while I get the reasoning for having to change one thing per attempt to pinpoint the problem, I seriously cannot waste that amount of ingredients. I just can’t. So I back off instead of just getting through it and learning it.

So yeah. Help?

By: kaya

kaya — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:12:27 +0000

lol. Well! I’m not! :P

By: kaya

kaya — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:12:14 +0000

Yeah, I think the yeast was kaput.

I don’t have a bread machine bread recipe that calls for an egg. What’s your recipe?