First bread making attempt

[newcook]

I was considering whether I should take the leap and try a bread recipe. What would you think would be a good recipe for a first timer that is not likely to fail and is still quite delicious. I would love to try something like crusty French bread but have no idea if that would be too difficult to start with.

Any suggestions?

It is amazing how much I rely on all of you.

Daniele

[badunnin]

I don't think a crusty bread would be too hard to start with. The key to a crust is putting a pan of boiling water in the oven while the bread is baking. Don't be afraid - bread making ingredients are cheap. :D

[newcook]

There are so many zillions of recipes to choose from, I don't know where to start. I saw some said they don't keep fresh longer than a few hours, ome claim to have a sour taste, some a sweet one. I have no idea which recipe to try.

Does anyone have taste tested crusty french bread recipe that is not too difficult to make? I would really appreciate it.

Daniele

[sfarler]

I just started making sourdough bread this year. I printed off this thread. And everytime I make a loaf I get out Beth's notes and re-read. She gives a really nice discription on the second page.

Sourdough Notes (http://)

[badunnin]

Daniele - I do! Let me see here...Ife you want a sour taste, you really need a sourdough starter. They are a lot of fun to experiment with (and again - cheap!). In the meantime, here is a good, basic white bread, and a good basic french loaf

* Exported from MasterCook *

Classic White Bread

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Fleischmann's Yeast Yeast Bread


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 cups all-purpose flour (6 to 6 1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages Fleischmann's® Rapid Rise Yeast
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

In large mixer bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast. Heat water, milk and butter to 120º to 130ºF. Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1/2 cup flour; beat at high speed 2 minutes. With spoon, stir in enough additional flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Prepare one half for freezing (directions follow). Prepare one half for baking: Cover kneaded dough and let rest on floured surface 10 minutes.

Shape, rise and bake according to selected variation.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD: Substitute 1 to 3 cups whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour.
____________________

To Freeze Bread Dough (use 1/2 above recipe):

Flatten dough to 6-inch disk. Place in lightly floured 1-gallon plastic freezer bag with zipper lock. Squeeze air from bag and close zipper. Freeze for up to one month. When thawing and rising dough, check dough frequently. Use the following time ranges as a guideline. Thawing and rising times vary according to the temperature of the dough, the room or the refrigerator. Frozen and thawed dough is cooler than freshly made dough and takes longer to rise.

To Thaw:
Thaw dough (in sealed bag) and allow to rise slightly either in the refrigerator, on the counter or in a microwave oven (instructions follow). Once thawed, remove from bag; shape, rise and bake as directed.
— Refrigerator: overnight or 8 to 16 hours.
— Counter (room temperature): 4 to 9 hours.
— Microwave oven: Heat for 10 minutes on LOW (10% power), turn over and rotate 1/4 turn. Let rest 10 minutes. Repeat 1 to 2 times, until dough is thawed.

Source:
"Fleischmann's Yeast"
S(Internet address):
"http://www.breadworld.com/index.html"
Yield:
"1 Loaf"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per serving: 266 Calories (kcal); 3g Total Fat; (10% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 52g Carbohydrate; 7mg Cholesterol; 383mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates


Nutr. Assoc. : 14 0 0 26366 0 0 0



* Exported from MasterCook *

French Bread

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 16 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Breads

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (105º to 115º)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon shortening
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (3 1/2 to 4 cups)
1 tablespoon cornmeal
Cold water
1 egg white
2 tablespoons cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in salt, shortening and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Beat with spoon until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour (first with spoon, then by hand) to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

Punch down dough; round up and let rise until almost double, about 45 minutes. Punch down; cover and let rest 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough into rectangle, 15 × 10 inches. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side. Pinch edge firmly to seal. Roll gently back and forth to taper ends. Place loaf on lightly greased cookie sheet. If desired, make 1/4-inch slashes across loaf at 2-inch intervals. Brush with cold water. Let rise about 1 1/2 hours. Brush with cold water.

Heat oven to 375º. Bake 20 minutes. Beat egg white and 2 tablespoons cold water slightly; brush over loaf. Bake 25 minutes longer. Remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack.

____________________

Please note, if you should change this recipe it will no longer be an approved Betty Crocker® Recipe.

Copyright:
"© General Mills, Inc. 1998."
Yield:
"1 Loaf"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per serving: 111 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (9% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 205mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates


Originally posted by newcook
There are so many zillions of recipes to choose from, I don't know where to start. I saw some said they don't keep fresh longer than a few hours, ome claim to have a sour taste, some a sweet one. I have no idea which recipe to try.

Does anyone have taste tested crusty french bread recipe that is not too difficult to make? I would really appreciate it.

Daniele

[newcook]

Thanks for the recipes. I'll let you know how it turns out

Daniele

[Leisa M]

Originally posted by sfarler
I just started making sourdough bread this year. I printed off this thread. And everytime I make a loaf I get out Beth's notes and re-read. She gives a really nice discription on the second page.

Sourdough Notes (http://)

Kyle is a good referance too. For sourdough, Beth is the queen. And no the bread doesn't go stale in a couple of days. I make bread weekly. Keep it in a plastic glad bag or even an old bread bag sealed with a twistie.

If you want to reheat, wrap in aluminum foil on low heat in the oven. Shiny side in.

[Kyra]

Dear newcook,

Don't be scared! I was so chicken about yeasted bread recipes that I put off trying to make bread for YEARS. Finally, a couple of months ago, I gritted my teeth, made the "basic sandwich bread" recipe from the new Joy of Cooking, and....it was perfect. I have had a couple of failures, but mostly it's been great, and I am no master chef, believe me. If I can do it, you can do it!

I admit I am still chicken about sourdough/crusty bread, so will be interested to hear how this goes.

Good luck!

kyra

[Beth]

Actually, I think the Sourdough French Bread was the first real bread I made (I had a couple of attempts in law school, but I didn't really know what I was doing and made good bricks). After that, I made Julia Child's Classic French Bread. Her detailed instructions are a little intimidating at first (at the time, I wasn't used to multipage recipes -- and that one may be 6-8 pages in the book I have), but they produced a wonderful classic loaf.

Another bread I made recently and that I would recommend for beginning bakers is the Egg Twist from Penzey's catalog. I couldn't find it on the Penzey's site, but I can find my copy and type it up for you if you'd like to try that. The braid is not difficult, and it makes a very gratifying, pretty loaf.

[newcook]

Beth, I have a Penzey's catalogue but did not find that recipe in it. I wonder if they have changed the catalogue. I'm quite sure I would like to start with a traditional French crusty bread which I love. I haven't eaten bread much for the last 7 months so you can imagine how much I am looking forward to trying this.

I don't think I have ever tasted sourdough bread, it sounds sour to me, I think I will try it at some point though but maybe after I taste it. I don't think it is something very popular around here, most people eat French crusty bread I think. Or at least that is what French Canadians eat most, but I do like to broaden my horizons. I have tasted quite a few new things since coming to this board.

Daniele

[badunnin]

Originally posted by newcook

I don't think I have ever tasted sourdough bread, it sounds sour to me, I think I will try it at some point though but maybe after I taste it. I don't think it is something very popular around here, most people eat French crusty bread I think. Or at least that is what French Canadians eat most, but I do like to broaden my horizons. I have tasted quite a few new things since coming to this board.

Daniele

Daniele - sourdough CAN be sour. It can also be quite mild with a hint of sourness that is can be very pleasing. When you make a sourdough starter, you are creating a breeding environment for wild yeasts. The longer they have to breed, the more sour it gets. My starter is about 2 months old (a baby!), and not very sour. I just received one from Beth in the mail that I have yet to reactivate (it's sitting on my desk Beth, and my whole room smells like bread! of course, my closet smells like garlic from the plants i have in there :rolleyes: ) and hers is 12 years old. it will be a lot more sour than mine because there is a lot more wild yeast in it. i'm learning that there are ways that you can control the sourness of the bread, both during the starter process and in the baking itself.

Oh, and what part of Canada are you living in? I've got family all over that very fair and beautiful land!

[Beth]

I found the recipe on a thread under it's own title and bumped it for you.

I will also go see if I can find the sourdough farmhouse loaf or something like that from The Bread Bible. It is a sourdough made without a sponge (a wet mix of stater or yeast and water and flour that is allowed to sit -- typically several hours to a day or so -- before being mixed with the remaining ingredients to make the dough) and has just a hint of tanginess. I think of most sourdoughs as having a tang that is kind of like the salt in most bread. You don't think of most breads as salty, but the salt is definitely there complimenting all the other flavors -- but you can have a salty bread or a more sour one.

[Beth]

Here's the other one -- a very different bread than the Sourdough French Bread, but it's less intimidating than the crusty loaves. The folks I have made it for loved it.

Don't be afraid of a crusty loaf though. Do you have access to any book with Julia Child's recipe? It would be worth finding since it is so many pages of description and process. A few of those recipes will really help you get a feel for what its all about and give you a little more confidence than a mix the flour, water, yeast and salt, knead -rise and bake recipes.

That recipe was originally in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I think a version of it is in Baking with Julia and has been copied in shortened form in other books as well. You should be able to find one in a library or at least read through it in a bookstore so you can apply what is there to whatever recipe you decide on -- then you can buy half a dozen or more bread books like some of us (I had to go look and stopped when I counted 20 on bread and several more on baking in general).

[newcook]

I finally got the courage to try a French baguette. The taste came out really really good, but the crust was overdone, too dark and too hard. I wonder if my oven temperature was too high, or did I use too much water in the oven.

Anyway thanks for the encouragement, I will definitely have to make bread again. Of course I ended up eating way too much bread today. But who can resist.

Badunnin, I only now realized you had asked me which part of Canada I'm from. I'm from Montreal, Quebec, well actually in a suburb of Montreal. Do you have family near here?

Daniele

[badunnin]

Daniele - I used to have family in Montreal. Alas, I think most of them (all of them that I'm in contact with on a regular basis, that is) are in Ottawa or back in the Maritimes now. Pity, really. I'm hoping to make a trip back (driving, preferably about oh, 4 weeks :D ) in the next few years. Through TO to Montreal and out to Halifax/St. John's/Fredericton/PEI.

Oh, and my vote is for oven temp too high. :p

[newcook]

Badunnin,

I hope you will look me up when you're around here.

Daniele

[newcook]

I just made my second batch of bread, this time I made the French-Style Country Bread (I think the recipe comes from King Arthur's Bakery). It was easy to make and turned out absotutely perfect. My sister and brother-in-law could not believe that I had made the bread. I made it into 8 smaller loaves mainly because I can't stop eating it when I start so I thought there would be less damage with smaller loaves. I will very definitely be making this again.

I will try to make the first recipe again but at a lower oven temperature. The flavour of the first one was so good that I think it is worth trying it again.

I love crusty french bread!!!

Daniele

[Peggy C.]

Congratulations Daniele! Don't you feel so proud? I'm a beginner with bread also, but was pretty impressed with my first loaf. (a braided italian form the king arthur site)

[yomomma]

Just wanted to jump in here and say that the sourdough farmhouse bread that beth spoke of earlier in this thread is an excellent recipe. I made it a couple of weekends ago with really good results. Mine also is a re-hyrated starter from beth's 12 yr old starter. For those that don't like really sour flavor, I think you can add baking soda to tone it down.