Right so, the theory, and hopefully the practice, of this blog is to endeavour to bake wonderful bread. Other stuff may come out of it but the prime reason for buying the KitchenAid is to make bread. Yeasty, crusty, wonderful bread.I don't know very much about yeast bread apart from what I have learned in the last couple of weeks since getting the Red Divil. My mother never baked yeast bread, my father didn't get up at 3 am every morning to start the ovens in a bakery, I have vague memories of my sister Gráinne rising bread at home but that's about the limit.
In terms of equipment (other than the KitchenAid) I have;
one broken oven,
nothing for proofing,
one loaf tin,
one thermometer
some plastic bowls,
a counter-top (vital!)
Already I have made many mistakes, I didn't take pictures of those cos I didn't think I was going to document any of this but as of today I will be trying to make amends.
So far I have made a yeast bread/baguette that could easily double for a police baton it was so heavy. I made another loaf that was considerably lighter but could still be used as ballast in a hot-air balloon and of course I have used the Red Divil for making scones. No yeast at all in those and so they turned out beautifully.
Today I am trying this recipe.
So far I'd like to say it has gone well but in fact I almost burned out the Red Divil. This recipe is to make 3 loaves of bread. I can report that I found the limit of the Red Divil to be half that. So there must be some sort of thermal fuse (which I guessed cos the fuses in the house didn't go) that resets itself. Or else (like my Hilti impact gun) there is a torque setting which, if exceeded, doesn't allow you to use the machine for an unspecified length of time (Hilti... about 30 seconds, KitchenAid... who the hell knows)
So what I did was divide the dough into 3 and mix them all separately and then throw them back together (literally). Seems to have worked so far.
I have only one loaf tin so I have put a third of the dough into that and put the rest into a pyrex dish that's about twice the size. There's a good chance that this is not going to work very well, we'll see.In the oven for the required baking time plus a few minutes cos as mentioned above our oven is slightly broken and God knows what temperature it actually is inside.
This is really really good bread .. that blog is a godsend! It's soft and tastes like those breads they give you in restaurants (good restaurants!) before you have your tasty meal.
What I mostly wanted from this escapade was a bread I can use for sandwiches every day and I've got that already after only a week.
Things are looking good....
Nice going. I used yeast to make little scones with a peach filling in the centre,they turned out pretty well, but had a stronger taste of yeast than I'd have liked.
ReplyDeleteWill I send on the recipe to you?
Deirdre makes yeast bread, well she does.
Could you do a breac in that yoke Oscar?
ReplyDeletethats a fine piece of machinery there boss ....get yerself a fishing pole and you could feed the masses ...just like that other misunderstood carpenter we all know and love .
ReplyDeleteJaysus Mairtín shur send it on, I was pretty sure Deirdre did yeast bread but I've never seen her doing it in front of me!
ReplyDeleteA breac now Ronnie .. you could be onto something. I'm sure you could lash one together in it...
I'm still gutted I never got to see 'Jesus Christ:The Lost Years' last year, we had tickets and couldn't find the theatre in time! Feck...
for the yeast bread i make its 1 lb strong flour, knob of butter rubbed in to it, pinch of salt and fist of sugar, i sachet of yeast, quick whirl in the KITCHENAID, then at second speed add enough tepid water for mix to form a ball that doesn't stick to the bowl while whirling... leave to knead in kitchenaid for 10 mins, then turn out on floured surface, knead a bit, put into oiled bowl, cover with damp teatowel, leave in warm place til doubled in size, turn out again on floured surface, knead into shape, put in oiled loaf tins (2) and cover and leave again til doubled then bake in 220deg preheated oven for 10-15 mins. well done on your loaves! and your father did make yeasy bread cos he'd been a baker at knockaderry with the heffernans ( at what is now paddy and nellies place) bakery. so was dick mackey.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe .. will have to wait a week at least cos I'm away for work as of the morning. I thought our father just played cards at the bakery? Anyway which or whether I don't think it was in my lifetime and my point is that he did not impart any knowledge to me of yeast bread unless it was through some strange process of genetic osmosis!
ReplyDeleteLooks very good oscar, im impressed. What was Jacquis verdict, your bigging it up a lot!! Not that I dont trust your "bias" opinion :P
ReplyDeleteMaggz I will let Jacqui put her two cents to your question (don't betray me Jacqui!) You will no doubt be receiving some next weekend...
ReplyDeletejacqui has custody of the kitchen aid during the week, it sees its daddy at weekends only- very fair arrangement i'd say
ReplyDeleteThe bread was so YUM Mags, honest to God he's not even fibbing a little bit. (You know me girl, I'd tell on him!)
ReplyDeleteOh jees Jacqui, I know you too well!!! Im looking forward to tasting it.
ReplyDeleteas an old person I would like to tell y'all that jimmy helped with the yeast bread in the bakery because they gathered there for cards due to it was the only warm place in the parish that time of night. so they used to gather there but they couldnt deal until the dough was bet so that was done first.
ReplyDeletealso infact jimmy did make yeast bread for us all when the bakers strike was on, or else when winnie was having children and i remember it he put butter on the bread when it was risen and it was grand altogether.
Are you sure I was alive then?
ReplyDeletea blog about kitchen aids and bread, brillant!! Steve has been trying the bread thing with some successes. I've only ventured to soda bread so far but I'll definitely give this one a go, fingers crossed!
ReplyDelete