Bread Recipe w/o Breadmaker?

[topochico225]

Whoops, I forgot to include the recipe!! From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything
View attachment 2812408View attachment 2812409

LOVE his No-Knead bread!

@HomesteaderWife , come on down to the Home Bakers thread! Page 1 has an index of recipes.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/any-home-bakers-here.921333/

 

[JaeG]

This is a very simple Focaccia Bread recipe that doesn't require any kneading. You can halve the recipe, just remember to reduce the cooking time by maybe 10 minutes. Bread is the sort of thing where it does take trial and error to find recipes that you like that work for you. I've tried some recipes and they have been a complete disaster.

1 Tb yeast
1 tsp sugar
6 cups high grade/bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix well.

Set aside, covered, in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

Add the remaining flour and the salt and mix well. Dough should be sticky and wet.

Cover and rest until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 220C (425F).

Pour dough onto well floured surface and roll into a ball (I skip this step and just put it straight in the baking dish).

Press into lined tray/shallow dish (I use slice tins).

Brush the top with oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Bake for 30 minutes.

 

[NatJ]

So I'm looking for a decent bread recipe I can make without a breadmaker.

I can give you the one I use frequently.

Put in a large bowl:
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
(optional, 1/3 cup wheat bran)
2 cups hot water

Mix, then add:
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

Mix.
Add 1 cup flour, and mix again
Add flour about 1/2 cup at a time until it's too stiff to stir
(By this time, the total flour is usually around 4 cups)

Let rise one hour.
Sprinkle with flour and knead briefly.

Shape into 2 loaves and put in buttered bread pans.
(Or shape into rolls or buns or pizza crust.)

Put in the oven, and turn the oven on to 350 degress Fahrenheit.

Bake until done, usually 15 to 30 minutes after the oven finishes heating (so maybe 30 to 45 minutes from the time you turned it on.)

"Done" is a matter of personal preference-- anything from white and soft to dark brown and crunchy.


Notes:
salt can be increased if desired

sugar = white sugar, the common cheap kind in the USA. Granulated, refined, made from sugar cane.

flour = unbleached all purpose flour from wheat (common in the USA. Bleached is probably fine, and other kinds may work, but I have not tested them.)

wheat bran adds a little fiber, and changes the flavor slightly, but I like the effect. The recipe works fine without it.

"Hot" water is what comes out of my faucet. I can stick my finger in it without danger of getting burned, but it's not comfortable to keep my finger in for long. Probably between 100 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yeast: I use active dry yeast from a big package. You can use one packet of yeast. If you use "rapidrise yeast" or "instant yeast," reduce the rising time to 1/2 hour.

"Knead briefly": you can skip the kneading, or knead for a long time, and the bread comes out fine anyway.

Bread pans: I use glass ones, about 5 inches by 10 inches. Or I make rolls or shapes like hamburger buns, and put them on a buttered baking sheet. Or I roll it out for pizza crust. I've even rolled it out and fried in a pan for flatbread. It's a pretty versatile recipe.

If the oven is pre-heated, let the loaves rise for a little while before putting them in (maybe 10 minutes-- until they have visibly puffed a bit.) But unless I am cooking other things, I save time and energy by letting the oven heat with the bread inside, which also serves as the final rising time before baking.

When it's done: it "feels" done when I touch the top. When you're new to the recipe, try for light to medium brown, and when you push on the top it bounces back up. If you're making rolls, you can rip open one of the middle ones to be sure it's not gooey inside. Of course a pizza is "done" when the cheese is melty and the right amount brown.

Rolls are good hot, but loaves tend to squish if you slice them when they are hot. They taste fine, but don't look as pretty. After cooling, the loaves are usually too crumby to make sandwiches, but slice well enough for toast or just buttered bread. For sandwiches, I shape it like hamburger buns, because they hold together better.

This bread reliably works for me, even when I'm baking in someone else's kitchen in another state, using their ingredients and their oven.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately I did use a recipe from some blog I've never heard of prior, instead of a trusted website recipe such as King Arthur that was mentioned. I definitely feel this is something that requires quality ingredients. Breadmaking is something I have always wanted to do and succeed at, but never had luck with. I will have to update my attempts here!

 

[nuthatched]

I have a great flat bread recipe, like foccacia bread. Great with stews

 

[Duckiiess]

For first starting with bread, stick with the basics until you get those down before adding in a bunch of extras.

Flour, water, salt, yeast is all you need. There's a LOT of different kinds of breads you can make with only those 4 ingredients. Learn what it's supposed to feel like/ look like, then start playing with other add-ins. Enriched breads are pretty easy too- ones with milk/ butter/ eggs- think challah, brioche, sammich loafs, etc.