Does ''real'' bread, exist any more?

[P95Carry]

I seem to have to pay getting on for $2 to get bread that seems vaguely - like real bread!  The cheapie stuff is so pumped up with air - if you squish a slice it'll become 1/16" thick!

I prefer a wholegrain, wheat type of bread from choice - with preferably some substance to it - squish it and maybe it only goes to 50%.

Your thoughts?  Do you manage with ''pap'' bread or do you like something better?  if so - what and how spendy?

[nico]

Pepridge farm 7 grain and some other brand that I can't think of in a purple package are both good, but they're in your $2 range.  Lately, it seems like it's almost a necessity to have a membership to one of the big wholesalers like Sam's or Costco.  My family saves a TON of money from buying stuff like bread from Costco.  We'll buy a couple loaves of good, whole grain bread and stick what we don't immediately use in the freezer.  When you want some, just put it in the toaster for a couple minutes.  It's probably not for everyone, but I don't mind lightly toasted bread for sandwiches.

[P95Carry]

nico - we do the ''freezer trick'' - oh yeah - when we find something that is Ok we get several.  Strikes me tho that this huge disparity in prices is irksome.  I dread to think what goes into ''cheapie'' stuff.  I wonder whether it has ever seen any wheat or grain of any description LOL!

I wonder if cheap bread has any gun cleaning potential!

[cfabe]

We have local to us an "Enteman's Outlet" where they sell almost-expired baked goods of all sorts. Prices are very low and their bread brand, whose name escapes me at the moment, has some good whole grain and multi grain breads. I don't know if this is a local thing of if they have these all over.

[K Frame]

Yes.

It's called "home made."

For the past nearly 10 years I've made almost all of my own bread, using either a bread machine or doing it the old fashioned way.

Because I've been so busy at work lately I have been buying some loaves of multi-grain bread to make sandwiches for lunch at the office, but I still make fresh bread whenever I can.

At one point I was buying my yeast in 2 pound pouches, and my flour in 25 pound sacks.

[Guest]

Chris,
To put it bluntly - most stuff today , including bread, sucks.

Everything is chocked full of preservtives,hormones or something.

I too prefer the wheat, whole grains and such. I am giving more thought to / doing more buying of fresh baked breads for instance. If time allowed - I'd make my own.

I have a couple of small Mom&Pop Bakeries that I go to...drool at the smells of the hot fresh baked breads. Yummy.

Mike Irwin has some great recipes for homemade bread - ask Mike. Maybe Mike will post and share. HINT HINT.

[K Frame]

Sigh...

Basic Oatmeal White

This is one of the best bread machine recipes I've come across for a basic, all purpose sandwich bread. I've made it so many times I can make it in my sleep. It's also a fantastic base for making herb breads.

Your bread machine may require some variations in the ingredient quantities.


1 C. water

3 TBSP sugar

1.5 tsp salt

3 TBSP oil (you can go as low as no oil)

1/2 to 3/4 C oatmeal (old fashioned or quick, doesn't really matter, just don't use steel cut unless you like really chewy)

2 1/2 C bread flour (if using a bread machine, bread flour is IMPORTANT). If you want to use all purpose, you'll need to add about 1TBSP of vital wheat gluten per cup of flour, or you might find a hockey puck in your bread machine.

2 1/2 to 3 tsp yeast (don't worry about bread machine yeast, it's horrifically over priced)

In a small bowl, combine the water (warm, about 100 deg. F), sugar, and yeast.

Put the rest of the ingredients in your bread machine.

When the yeast starts to foam actively, pour it into the bread machine and run it through the large loaf white bread cycle on your machine.


Variations (each line is an individual variation, all may require adjusting the liquid):

Use molasses or honey instead of sugar

Add 1/3 C dried cranberries, cherries, etc.

Add 1 TBSP dill weed and 1/3 C dried onions.

Add 1 whole egg and 1 yolk, reducing the amount of water proportionally. Reduce the oil by 1/2.

Crush or mince two cloves of garlic fine, and sautee in the oil until they being to brown. Cool and add to machine, along with 1/4 C very finely shredded parmigian (sp?) cheese.

Add 1 TBSP applesauce (non chunky), 1/4 C of the stinkiest blue cheese you can find, and replace 3 TBSP of the water with Port. You can also add 1/4 C of toasted walnuts (I don't). This makes a FANTASTIC bread to accompany a steak, or buns for hamburgers.

[Sean Smith]

Homemade bread just rocks.

You can always go looking for a real bakery that makes bread, too.  And some better grocery stores bake decent bread themselves.

[K Frame]

Here's a little trick that you can do to make your homemade breads even tastier.

It's a faux sourdough that works really well.

In a very clean plastic or glass container (NO metal, it seems to inhibit the process), mix 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of water, and 1 TBSP of yeast. Mix very well, and leave on a warm countertop until it starts foaming and bubbling. Cover loosely (NEVER cover it tightly, especially not in a glass container!) and put in the refrigerator.

Over the next few days stir the mix occasionally. In 2 to 4 days, it will get a very sour and alcohol taste as the yeast do their thing.

Remove 1 cup, and use as a base for a loaf of bread.

After you remove 1 cup, replentish your starter with 1 cup of warm water, and 1 cup of flour.

If you make a faux sourdough like this, you will have to add more cultured yeast to your bread, as this mix is more about flavor than lift. The flavor will be wonderful, however.

If you start getting any funky colors, red, pink, blue, green, or black in your starter, pitch it and start again.


Oh yeah, always use filtered water that removes the chlorine. If you have a water softener at home, buy mineral water. Softened water just doesnt' make a very good loaf of bread.

[DigMe]

The bakery at our local HEB grocery store makes all kinds of fresh breads daily and that's what I typically buy.  I usually get the sourdough.

brad cook

[Moondoggie]

My wife and I have worn-out several bread machines over the years.

Can't remember the last time I bought a loaf of bread.  BTW, store bought bread keeps for weeks in the fridge, no need to freeze it.

We also buy our yeast in 2 lb pkgs @ Sam's Club.

My favorite meal is fritters...patties of bread dough deep fried, served with real maple syrup & ice cold milk.

We normally just make dough in our machine and bake the bread in the oven...don't care for the shape the bread machine makes or the thick crust all the way around.

Hodgen Mills is a good source for whole grain flours and mixes.

[P95Carry]

Mike - thx for the recipe info.  Bonnie has tried some bread-making but despite setting up breadmaker carefully - always seems to get a humungous crust and yet a soggy middle!!

I guess oven baking is way to go.... and practice too.  Some of the ''homebaked'' offerings look good, don't taste too bad but - taking a peek at the ''ingredients'' makes it seem less than wholesome!!!

[K Frame]

A huge crust and soggy middle...

Probably two problems going on at the same time.

Too much water in the dough. The dough should be tacky, not sticky to the point where if you touch it and pull away you have dough on your fingers.

A bit too much yeast, or not enough salt.

She's not omitting the salt, is she? Can't do that, as salt helps regulate the yeast colony and makes it perform in a much more predictable fashion.

[P95Carry]

I'll check out her ''modus operandi'' - see what she might be doing wrong.  If we can get this thing to go right then it sure would be a bonus.  Good to have input from an accomplished bread-maker! Thx.

[El Tejon]

No bakeries out your way, P?  I can't swing a dead cat in either Laughalot or West Laughalot and not hit some hippie bakery.

[P95Carry]

Come to think of it El T - there is one in the locality - it just happens to be tucked away a bit - could well be time I detour and check it out.  Sure looks like I have to find something other than the plastic wrapped supermarket offerings!

[Penman]

We enjoy a good selection, the grocery where we shop has many varieties of whole grain, etc breads. Also fortunate to have a bakery that does traditional Italian style breads, that you can also buy at some of the markets-ciabatta, rye, sourdough, olive loaf, etc.

[Gewehr98]

Mike, thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try it this weekend!

Yup, we make our own, on a regular basis:



No preservatives, don't it look good?

[P95Carry]

Darn - the ''slicer jig'' - love it!!!  I don't mind slicing (woodworking experience) - they come out uniform - as for others ... this looks like a great idea!

''Honey - that bread maker - I got this new recipe and tips ......''

[stevelyn]

Before I started doing the low carb thing I bought an idiot proof bread machine. Just dump in all the ingredients hit da switch and go about other things. Never bought bread from the store after that.
I'd still use it too if I could find a recipe for reduced carb breads.

[Silver Bullet]

Before I started doing the low carb thing

Me too.  Unfortunately, the "low carb thing works" very well for me, otherwise I'd still be using my bread machine.  

Back in 1991 the prices on bread machines finally came down, and I bought one for each sibling and my parents.  The one we bought came with about 50 recipes.  We would each rate the breads that we tried from 1 to 10, with comments, and that way we got a better idea which recipe to try next.  Lotsa fun for a while; we're a dull group, I guess.