Hi Everyone!
In this video I show you how to make two beautiful loaves of bread, from scratch, without a bread machine!
I admit, I do have one and think bread machines are pretty cool. However, I don’t like the limitations you have with them.
Limitations:
1) Makes most people buy mix kits (you can make bread from scratch, most folks don’t) = Expensive
2) Very limited settings; our ‘maker’ worked great in Pueblo, Colorado (4980 ft altitude), absolutely sucks where we are now (9000 ft). The machines are necessarily built to serve the average person, so your bread will probably never be as good as it could be.
3) You need electricity. I can make my recipe and bake it easily using a sun oven if I want. The difference is we let the bread form here and gently brown it, where most recipes today are trying to leaven and brown to perfection at the same time.
Check it out!
As I mention in the video, patience is key! Perfect bread is not hard to make, but you cannot do it quickly.
Serve warm! There is nothing like a fresh slice of homemade bread!
My family has not purchased store brand ‘sliced’ bread for a long time now. The two loaves you see here will be wrapped in foil and frozen. It stays sooo fresh!
Cheers!
Willie
PS.
It may seem at times like you have ‘done it all’ but there are many new crafts and lost skills out there for all of us! This is my mission!
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I too have been making bread for years. If I’m not going to serve the bread the day I make it, I wrap it in a plastic bag and seal it right out of the oven. This keeps the loaf from loosing moisture and the plastic bag starts to shrink wrap around the loaf. I put the loaf right into my freezer. When I decide to eat the loaf I take it out of the freezer the night before for it to thaw and the moisture collected inside the bag goes back into the loaf. You have been baking for years so you may already know this trick. I found you on YouTube and enjoy your videos. I am looking to get a pressure cooker and your video about this matter was very helpful. Thank you !!
Jean,
Thanks for your comment and tip! I have actually always done the same thing but with foil. Seems like the plastic may be a better idea to keep that moisture. I’m glad you enjoy the videos! Feel free to write me if I can ever be of help.
Willie
Found this site on accident yesterday. Never made bread in my life. You made it look so easy I had to give it a try. Followed your video pretty close and made some bread. Came out perfect! Not only did it smell and taste good but was good looking bread.
One request for any future recipe posts – can you type out the ingredient list, amounts and times? If so, that would be awesome!
I find the rest of the information on your blog pretty cool as well, I’ll be following.
Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge!
Steve,
Sorry I was so slow to respond to you kind comments!
I love your suggestion to include the recipe in the post! I have done it in a few of them, but will update this post and my other cooking ones.
I kinda hope to make an e-book someday compiling all of these (and those yet to be posted). This Suggestion will help me greatly in getting that done!
Thanks again and Cheers!
Willie
Great website! I really love how its easy to browse.
I’m wondering how I might be notified when a new write-up has been created. I’ve registered to your feed which should do!
Have a great day and plz excuse my poor english!
Can you make a video of you slicing it? When my first one was a tad bit too fluffy. My 2nd one i put in the refridgerator and it was perfect for slicing but, it was a tad too dry. Have any tips? Thanks.
Hi Julie!
I typically wrap the second loaf in foil (tightly) and freeze it until I’m ready to use it. Just make sure it is sealed up.
As for slicing, the best advice I can give you is to get a bread knife, the are pretty cheap and allow you to cut that nice fluffy bread with ease!
I hope this helps!
Willie
It also seems like if I make a sandwich out of it it falls apart very easy. Is there a trick? like leaving it to cool before wrapping it? Or anything like that? Thank you.
Hi Julie, did you see the response from Jean? Great advice.
Another thought, How long are you kneading the bread? The gluten development is very important in both the fluffy and crumble factor. Make sure the initial knead is sufficient and your rise time allows for plenty of gluten formation.
I hope this helps. I agree with Jean, its sounds like you are doing great for being a newbie. Just experiment and keep asking questions and you’ll nail it in no time.
Cheers!
Willie
Homemade bread dries out faster than store bought from my experience. Maybe Admin has some more tips on how to make it last longer. The bread knife as Admin suggested is very helpful for your fluffy bread. Below are two ideas that help moisten my bread.
#1 ….. I fine grate a real small raw potato per loaf about the size of a golf ball or slightly smaller (skin on is my choice) to my yeast proofing, this gives the bread more moisture after it is baked.
#2 ….. or if the bread is really dry. Put your oven dial on warm letting it heat up to warm. Take a brown paper bag and with your hand sprinkle some water into it, put your bread in the bag and roll up the ends to seal it. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes or so, this will steam your loaf of bread, putting moisture back into it. Oven warm temps vary so keep your eye on the paper bag so it does not start turning brown as in burning. This should not be a problem with a warm oven setting but this is a caution until you get used to your warm setting.
Julie for a first time baker it sounds like your bread came out really good …… fantastic !!!!!!
Thanks Jean! What great advice!
Cheers,
Willie
Willie I thank you too as I always learn something new from you !! Kneading is so important, sometimes I am in a hurry and I cut it short. More than once my bread ended up like Julie’s and it falls apart. I’ll have to pay attention to my kneading. I was told by my sister, 10 minutes minimum for the first knead. The first knead is the most important. After the first rise, just punch down the dough and you don’t even have to knead it again, just form it into a loaf and let it rise again. This seems to work for me. Since I only make bread for myself I’ve stopped making loaves of bread and I now make buns. Dough for a loaf of bread makes about 6 big buns. I bake them in a cast iron pot in my oven and they come out really nice. Willie I never connected lack of kneading resulted in crumbly dry bread …. sure does make sense !!!! You would think in my older age I would of figured this out ….. ha ha …… Thank You …….
Jean, thanks for your kind words hopefully Julie keeps us up to date with her progress!
Cheers!
Willie
I haven’t made any more bread yet. But, I will let you know how it turns out. I love homemade bread and started making it because of how cheap it is. Saves quite a bit of money and it’s so versatile. I’ve made bagels, English muffins, cinnamon rolls, and buns. They’ve all turned out perfect. My only problem is keeping the bread from falling apart. I’ll definitely try kneading the bread longer. Thanks for your help.
I made some bread. And made a sandwhich out of it. It was PERFECT! Kneading the bread longer definitely helped. Thank you for your help!