BAKE LIKE AN ARACHNID: Lazy-day Buttermilk Bread part 1

[spiderine]

I baked scones yesterday, and I was out of dry buttermilk powder so I had to use real buttermilk (OH NOES THE SUFFERING!). So today I looked in the fridge and said, "I gotta use up this buttermilk

Comments

Ah, bread

[ms_lorelei]

I've got very good instincts when it comes to my bread. I do measure the water (more or less) and the yeast, but everything else kinda goes in like you do. I pour the salt into the center of my palm, and when it looks right, in it goes. Oil is a sploosh. Sugar is however sweet I want this loaf.

I kinda like mealy, "heavy" breads better than airy, so my rising time is generally 30-60 minutes. I do admit to using a KitchenAid mixer to save my paws, and it does the trick.

Next time we hit Jim's for a fireside gathering, we need to prepare ahead of time and bake for each other. :o)

[fiwen1010]

That sounds like me and cake, actually. Well, I measure the basic ingredients, like the flour and the butter and the sugar... And then I throw in whatever I feel like. Some marshmallows, enough chocolate chips, all the bits of smashed up Crunchie that I didn't eat... splash of rum or Baileys.

[alphawench]

yum. Fresh Bread. Yum.

I helped a friend making multiple loaves for an SCA event, once. He set it up in "4-loaf batches" (in case something went wrong with one batch the project wouldn't be a total loss) then broke it into the 4 lumps to knead...

...but I'm a potter, and the "one big lump" was about the size of the lumps of clay I wedge... and its the same process, essentially. I rather sped up his production line.

It was fun :)

[aunty_marion]

Partly thanks to your tips on bread-making, I'm gradually getting better at it. I still buy most of my bread, because I don't really eat enough of it to warrant making even one loaf a week; but I'm losing my fear of a wet sticky dough, and am getting better at 'winging' it.

I've got some live yeast in the fridge as well as the instant/easy yeast - Mum gave me a tin of that last summer as she'd bought it but not used any. So I'm using it up.

[gatewaygirl]

Vital wheat gluten is what allows me to make bread with enough rye. *nods*