Flat, hard, odd tasting home/handmade bread

Not in my house it doesn't LOL :)

On brama-sole.co.nz/recipes is my bread, really light fluffy bread every time. I can be got through the site if anyone wants to know anything, but the instructions are pretty straight forward.

Why not.! Have used the "public link" to my album. I'm not selling anything. I'm not promoting anything (apart from encouraging others to bake bread, but I'm pretty sure that TM are OK with that). I'm readily found by a Google search from my TM name and there should be almost no visible photos of my family and friends. just my cooking ones. I'm the most boring person to stalk. so much so, that most give up after a few hours.

I have nothing to sell. maybe my soul if anyone is interested.I think that common sense in this instance (and all the other instances over the last year that I've posted my public FB foodie links for) has prevailed with the TM moderaters. they can see I'm merely sharing/showing off. not bypassing non-existant auctions.

So have most people who participate in some recipe websites - however TM is still wary - that we could - maybe - one day - do something that costs them 65 cents in fees .

If it is packed in Onehunga then it is most likely coming from overseas in bulk - there are no flour mills left in NZ as far as I know.

Where from it came will only be clear if we can push the government for "country of origin labeling" - which they resist with force since decades. I wonder why!

.and hearing the first cicada of the summer making its heebie-jeebie-jeebie noise.

And I'd also say that a man making his own daily bread would be a big plus on the singles scene ;)

g'day, i made my first loaf of 'bread' and it wasn't what i had hoped for.
it didn't rise? my yeast didn't foam up like i read it's meant to, it just dissolved [tasti brand 100% yeast]
i kneaded it into a ball and left it to prove for a good hour with a light coating of oil, it swelled up heaps.
i manhandled it a bit more [and punched it] to get rid of the bubbles, left it for another 30 mins, then baked it at 180c for about 30 mins

it was more like a scone than bread... it didn't taste very good, the outside was very hard, the inside was firm and not fluffy at all
any pointers?

thanks in advance

i followed this fairly strictly
----------
1 loaf of bread

[ingredients]

3 or 4 cups white flour
3/4 cup of warm water
1 t yeast
oil or marge

[instructions]

put the warm water in a warm bowl
sprinkle the yeast over the top of the water
break up the yeast granules
wait about 10 minutes for the yeast to foam
stir in a half cup or so of flour
continue stirring in flour a half cup at a time until the mixture beings to pull away from the sides of the bowl

[fun bit]

liberally sprinkle about a quarter cup of flour with the dough. work the flour in with your hands
continue working flour into the dough with your hands. begin to use a kneading motion.
(fold half of the dough over itself and press it in. turn it a quarter turn and repeat the process all over again.)
knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
you're done kneading when the dough loses its stickiness. the texture of the dough will be similar to that of soft skin.
another signal that you’ve kneaded the dough sufficiently is that it springs back after you poke it.
rub the inside of the dry bowl with oil
form the dough into a ball.
roll it in the bowl to coat it with oil to prevent the dough from drying out and getting crusty
cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap, foil, or clean cloth.
place the bowl in a nice, relatively draft free place

leave it for an hour or more or until it’s doubled in volume. the poke test will leave an indentation in the dough.
grease your baking sheet or surface or use flour
make a fist and punch your dough. punching deflates the dough.
squeeze and work the dough with your hands. the bubbles inside it will pop.
form the dough into a loaf or loaves.
for a loaf, make the dough into a ball, and then smoosh it down onto the baking surface with your hand.
cover the dough again leave for 30-45 mins, then preheat the oven to 180 celsius

cut slashes in the tops of the dough to stop splitting

bake for about 25 minutes. the bread is done when a tap on the bottom of the loaf makes a hollow noise.

Is the yeast fresh? check the use by date, I went to make some today and it was a week or two too late so threw it out and now realised I forgot to go and get more so wont be making any tomorrow!!! also at Ruth Pretty's last week she put the dough into the oven to rise, heated it to 80 deg C..thats what I wanted to do tomorrow - fig and walnut bread. Damn

Did you allow it to rise/prove again before you put it into the oven?

After you have knocked all the air out, place it into the dish and leave it to prove up again, then slide into the oven.

OK. The recipe is not bad (could be better) right up to this instruction: "make a fist and punch your dough. punching deflates the dough. squeeze and work the dough with your hands. The bubbles inside it will pop."

Now I have no idea why recipes tell you to do this as it is just not right.

Here is how dough should be created:

1. Once you have mixed your dough, it should be sticky. Resist the urge to add more and more flour to stop it from sticking. Kneading and light dusting as you go should take care of that.

2. Rest the dough for about 30secs every 3-5 mins as you knead. This helps the gluten bonds to form and relaxes the dough. It helps make it less sticky.

3. You know it is properly kneaded when you can flatten a piece of dough, hold it up and sort of stretch and press with your hands. The dough should be 'elastic' and not break unless put under pressure. Form into a ball, pulling the sides and bottom under to form an unbroken skin on the top. Place in oiled bowl, seam side down. Cover bowl to prevent skin forming and leave to almost double in size.

Here is where you DO NOT go punching your dough down.

4. Tip it out of your oiled bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press it into a rectangle. Fold one side to just past the centre and then other side over that. Press gently to slightly flatten. DO NOT press out all the air or completely flatten. Press this folded 'lump out and fold in half again. Gently pressing, form a rectangle.

At this point your dough should be at least a third of the size it was when you tipped it out of the bowl. Now invert your rising bowl over it and let your dough rest for ½hr to give it time to recover.

6. Now you can size if making smaller loaves/buns/rolls/ plait, etc and gently form the desired shape. There are techniques for doing all of these things but I'm not going into that here. Just form it as best you can, gently, place in tin or boule or whatever. Make sure you create a perfect skin on top and pull sides to under the dough to create a seam. Put into your tin, seam side down and unbroken skin on top.

7. Second proof - covering to prevent a skin forming (I use supermarket bags but gladwrap is more usual. When it is almost double and still 'springy', cook as per instructions.

8. Cooking tips - Pre-heat oven. Put a small oven proof metal dish (not glass or ceramic as it will break when ice is put into it) on a lower rack. Just before you put your loaf in throw some ice cubes into the hot dish to give your bread a shot of steam.

Good luck.

These are very brief instructions. I don't really have space to go into all the other stuff. You will learn as you go. Bread making is actually easy. Looks like a lot of instructions but the doing is a lot less complicated than the writing.

You probably need to knead (lol) more.
Or, try the "no-Knead" recipe. Google it, easy for newbies to do and a great loaf.

IMHO all bread - or any yeast product - should have a bit of sugar in it as that is what helps the yeast to work.It also needs salt and I like to put a bit of milk powder into mine too (can use fresh milk)

i read that too but wanted to try 'a recipe' and follow it to the t then modify it to suit, i will try milk.

loaf after 1st proof [note the tin, is that ok to use?]
http://i56.tinypic.com/8vuf6t.jpg yeast after a couple of mins http://i53.tinypic.com/2w57z1f.jpg
yeast after 15 mins
http://i52.tinypic.com/bfgnr7.jpg

the yeast is dead!?

WOO HOO! i used hotter water and dissolved 2 teaspoons of sugar in it and the yeast foamed up!
and just like fixing car or computer problems i'll change ONE thing at a time, it's been proving for about 10 mins so far and has swollen up heaps

this is quite exciting ha ha

start of first proof
http://i54.tinypic.com/110ka3s.jpg end of first proof [1 hour later] http://i56.tinypic.com/2nbhteo.jpg
end of second proof
[it swelled up heaps again, i forgot to take a before photo!]
http://i51.tinypic.com/9awio7.jpg after baking at 180c for 30 mins http://i56.tinypic.com/2klmro.jpg

it still tastes very yeasty though, will salt lessen that?
i'd rather not put a whole lot of 'stuff' in it
also i used "plain flour" [homebrand], i think i should be using "high grade" to get the fluffiness, apparently it has more protein.

i toasted a slice and drowned it in marge, it tasted good then ha ha

heh, mum just came over and tried my bread, apparently it's quite good!

thanks for all the tips hints people

go oxford !!!!!!

love the taste n smell of fresh home baked bread

yes if you dont use at least a teaspoon of sugar the yeast wont cream up

Dont use water that is too hot..or you will kill your yeast

Home baked bread always has more flavour than crap shop bought.

agreed, it's like smelling roses on a rainy day or hearing magpies in the morning while camping.

heh, i replied while you were too! i had no other basis for comparison, which is why i was thrilled when mum said it was really quite good.

you need strong white flour to make bread its the gluton in the flour also dont have your water too hot it needs to be just warm yeast needs to be fresh i replace my bottle every 3 months

i have been using "plain flour" i will try "high grade" and "wholegrain/wholemeal flour" too.
the water temperature i'm using seems to work well, my yeast i thought was dead but it is brand new, it just needs to be fed some sugar [don't we all ha ha]