The benefits of home made bread

[mogenblue]

I have been making my own milk at home for more then half a year now and it feels great. It's tastier, healthier and cheaper. What more can you wish for?

So about a month ago I was wondering what more I could do at home to improve my diet. And my attention came to baking my own bread at home.

I saw some very interesting videos about no-kneed bread and this inspired me to give it a go.
I have a very small oven so I had to buy a larger one because I assumed it would not be big enough to bake a whole bread in it. I also had to buy a number of other things to get started. I scored a cheap second hand oven on the internet, that saved a lot of money.

Well, so I started off with the ready made bread mixes that you can also put in a bread machine. The first mistakes I made was raising the temperature of the oven once the dough is in it. You can't do that cause the heating spiral turn on full power again and your bread will burn on the top. So that was quick learning.

Well, anyway, I am a few weeks under way now making my own bread and I have to say it tastes a lot better then what I used to buy in the supermarket.
But what surprises me the most is that since the beginning of this week I have been losing nearly 4 kg weight!!
I also started eating 2 slices in the evening to prevent getting a snack attack in the night. That works fine. But 2 slices of bread in the evening don't make you lose 4 kg in one week.
So I just can't think of anything else then that baking my own bread gives me, apart from much tastier bread, also much much more nutritions.

Last week I read an article on an online newspaper in which the bakeries were complaining that supermarket bread has almost nothing in it. Now that I am eating my own home made bread I understand what they mean.

Does anyone else here have similar experiences with baking their own bread?

[Xiomara]

I don't use ready bread mixes,but make my own mixes,using different flours-rye,spelt,maize,also add nettle or apple flour and spices.A teaspoon of carob flour gives a specific taste.
As for the weight,home made bread indeed helps in losing excess weight,and what's maybe more important,one can maintain healthy weight successfuly.
I'm not sure how it works though,suppose it's just the natural way-always wise.

[mogenblue]

Well, I just started with ready bread mixes because I thought that would be easier. You only have to add some water to it.
Today I am going to make bread with the base ingredients for the first time: flour, yeast, salt and water.
The only issue I have left with baking is that it doesn't rise that much once in the oven. But I'm sure I will get over that. Just a matter of experience.

There are a lot of interesting recipes available for making different kinds of bread. And I also signed up with a bread making forum here in Holland. Some real pro's overthere. And very kind too. Great tips.

I found an interesting recipe for chocolate bread with cocoa. So that's in the pipeline too ;)

[Xiomara]

Have you tried making a bread with baking soda instead of yeast?

[Faith33]

Hi mogenblue....

Good luck on your recipe.
I have been baking my own bread for many years now...everyone loves it and I know what goes into it, which is most important.

Also, fresh yeast acts as a better leavening agent than dry, so you might want to look into that...and after you've kneaded your dough, let it rise (covered with a clean kitchen towel)for about an hour, without touching it. Once it has risen, shape and place into your baking pan making sure it isn't too large for the amount of dough at hand as it won't allow the dough to rise upwards, instead it will expand in all other directions. A pound cake form works well for one loaf of bread...it rises perfectly.

good luck!

(4 kilos is a lot of weight for one week:O)

A medium PREHEATED oven is best.

[mogenblue]

yolxochitl: I'm just starting today actually with base ingredients. I've seen baking soda in the supermarket but on the dutch bread forum it's either yeast or desem, from what I have read so far.

So it's all still very much in it's early stages.

Hope33: thank you Hope.
Actually I am going for the method of long rise times with little or no kneeding. I read that experts agree taste improves a lot when you increase the rising time.

I found a good dutch spoken site over here for bread with long rise times. The woman who made that site speaks of "Night bread", because it rises overnight.
Since I make my own soymilk I am used to letting the soy beans soak overnight to let them increase in size and lose fytic acid. I use a lot of beans for dinner too and I soak those too overnight.
So taking time for my food, much time, long time, has become a regular practice for me.
Some experts also say you have to wait for the dough when it's ready to be put it in the oven. They mean it's not up to you to decide when the dough is ready, but up to the dough.

I think I have found a suitable baking pan for a regular bread from 500 gram flour this week.
I had been using an oversized baking pan deliberately to be sure the dough would not spoil all around the oven if it would rise too much. Because I am completely new in this.

So yes, there are different way to make your dough rise. There is a lot to discover for me.

Yes, 4 kilo is really a lot for one week. I was so surprised by that

Ill definetly be giving this a try once my oven arrives

Supermarket bread tastes so bland or just plain horrible.

[FruitLoop]

Proper yeast, kneading and proving will get you a well-risen loaf with a light texture.

Soda bread is very easy to make (a very quick bread) you use buttermilk / natural yogurt / lemon juice in milk as the 'acid' to trigger it

[mogenblue]

Rising is the only problem left for me.

My own bread tastes delicious.
I have used a long rise technique for better flavour, but it seems to rise too long. It doesn't rise the second time anymore.

So I will try shorter rise time for the first rise next time.

My loaves don't get higher then 6 or 7 cm when they leave the oven. About 2.5 inches. Well, the advantage of that is that you need less spread on top of it, like jam, sandwichspread and the like. So less calories which is not such a bad thing. ;)
The bread already tastes delicious from itself.

Today I made my first whole wheat bread from whole wheat flour, instant yeast, salt and water. Very basic recipe.
It's great. In spite it didn't rise that much.

Life becomes much easier when it comes to home made bread if you purchase a bread making machine.

We have one. You simply putting the ingredients in, switch it on and set it on the desired program, then leave it. A few hours later, you have a freshly baked loaf of lovely bread.

The bread making machines do all the work. They have a little paddle in the bottom that mixes the ingredients then kneads the dough, then it just seems to do nothing, but it is actually heating to exactly the right temp for the yeast to do its job to best effect. Then off it goes on high heat to bake it once it's had time to rise, then shuts down all by itself. You can put the ingredients in in the morning before work, press the button, and just leave it safe it the knowledge that it wont overcook it and needs no supervision. Then you come home to the lovely smell of freshly baked bread.