Bread recipes

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Like I say, I've been baking bread for decades now. I've never run into an issue. Some flours take more effort to achieve the gluten sheen, and right feel. But if you know what you're looking, and feeling for, they all seem to work -- at least that's been my experience.

I’m the cook in our relationship and I prepare about 90% of all meals.

You need good strong flour to make good yeast bread. But in many countries ( particularly Southern Med and France there is little tradition of home baking , remember in Greece people brought their dinner to the baker to be cooked.

Hence you’ll find in the supermarkets only a tiny selection of baking ingredients, usually cake flour , and baking soda/powder. The aisle at home for baking is 60 feet long , here in Greece it’s about 5 feet. But you can see why , there is a bakery every where you turn and in Port however small , there is the local bakery.

Here I simply can’t buy the ingredients even at about 2x the price of beautiful local baked bread , when I was in France , there was no way I could duplicate the local bakery bread.

You actually can’t make a classic baguette at home , certainly nowhere near the quality , in France , outside commercial suppliers ( 20 kg bags ) you cannot buy T65 flour in supermarkets , or have you a hot enough oven , or steam injection. Some versions of bread are quite complex to make with multiple processes and particular methodologies.

Thankfully I cruise in an area with arguably the best food in the world, and that includes wonderful varieties of local baked produce. I try and limit my purchases of bread ( watching those calories ) but when I do , making it myself is a waste of time and money.

[Mike OReilly]

I guess we're blessed here in Canada. I've never had a problem baking all sorts of breads with just the basic "All-purpose" flour that are readily available everywhere. Of course, there are lots of more specific flour types available, but I find most of it is just marketing.

[Llarian]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I guess we're blessed here in Canada. I've never had a problem baking all sorts of breads with just the basic "All-purpose" flour that are readily available everywhere. Of course, there are lots of more specific flour types available, but I find most of it is just marketing.

You certainly can bake perfectly goods bread with AP flour. People do it all the time.

But that in no way means that different flour types are just marketing. Just because you don't personally see a difference or benefit doesn't mean the higher gluten flours don't create a different end product.

[jordanbigel]

Originally Posted by Llarian

You certainly can bake perfectly goods bread with AP flour. People do it all the time.

But that in no way means that different flour types are just marketing. Just because you don't personally see a difference or benefit doesn't mean the higher gluten flours don't create a different end product.

Just to jump in here... I don't think Mike said he didn't see the differences, just said that you can make decent bread with any [decent] AP flour.

When I am in a country where bread is abundantly available, I don't waste my time baking - I'm not sure how that is even an issue of contention.

But if you choose to frequent remote cruising areas where you can't buy bread, you either learn to make it properly by feel with whatever is available, or you go without.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by jordanbigel

Just to jump in here... I don't think Mike said he didn't see the differences, just said that you can make decent bread with any [decent] AP flour.

When I am in a country where bread is abundantly available, I don't waste my time baking - I'm not sure how that is even an issue of contention.

But if you choose to frequent remote cruising areas where you can't buy bread, you either learn to make it properly by feel with whatever is available, or you go without.

Yes, thanks Jordan. There are tremendous differences between some types of flour. But there's also a lot of marketing and branding involved.

But the real point -- and the point which I thought we were discussing -- is that it's really not that hard to make tasty, nutritious bread. We bake all our bread while on the boat since we tend to cruise in areas with little or no commercial activity. But even on land, with easy access to stores, I prefer to bake my own. It is cheaper, and usually better than most of what you can get in non-specialized grocery stores.

BTW, I stepped away to finish making a no-knead loaf. I had to improvise with a heavy cast-iron pan since I didn't have a proper dutch oven. Used basic unbleached white, then whole-wheat, and tossed in a bunch of flax and used some seasme oil just to add some more flavour depth. Turned out great.

[capt jgw]

We've used breadmakers at home for probably 30 years. Been through three of them. Nothing special with recipes though, we just use the ones that come with the machines. There's a variety of types included and pretty much the same from machine to machine. We usually did it a bit different though, we mix the dough in the machine but bake it in the real oven. We don't like the funny shaped loaves that come out of the machine. When we moved aboard, there wasn't room for the machine so we gave it to one of our kids. The Admiral had just gotten a new KithenAid mixer, no way she was giving that up, she now does the dough in the mixer and bakes it in the oven. Not much harder than the way we used the machine and just as good. Still using the machine recipes, they work fine that way.

[goboatingnow]

But if you choose to frequent remote cruising areas where you can't buy bread, you either learn to make it properly by feel with whatever is available, or you go without.

Par baked bread can be used to tide you over until civilisation hoves into sight , it keeps well sealed for weeks , but wherever there are people , there is bread

Personally I can do without so, happy enough not to have it onboard, the quantities of flour needed are significant for daily bread production and fresh loaves don’t keep well, largely stale by day 2

Anyway I cruise to experience the culture and people and cuisine ,

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Par baked bread can be used to tide you over until civilisation hoves into sight , it keeps well sealed for weeks ...

Or much longer, if frozen.
Par-baked bread, short for partially* baked bread, is a process of cooking the bread through without finishing it, removing it from the oven for a time to cool, then completing the baking at a later time. Many retail stores and bakeries, use this process to bake large quantities of bread at another location, then finish the bread on site, supplying the customers with warm, out-of-the-oven loaves.

* Bake as usual, but cut the time to 75 - 80% of specified. So, if the recipe calls for an hour, bake it 45 - 48 minutes. But the time is just an estimate. The goal is to completely bake the bread internally, to a temperature of 185 degrees, or more*, without browning it too much**, on the outside. Once it's reached that internal temp, take it out, then rapidly cool and freeze.

* For lean-dough breads, the recommended doneness is 190–210°F (88–99°C), while rich-dough breads are done at 180–190°F (82–88°C). These critical temps are important if you want bread that is cooked through, and not gummy in the center but is still moist and tasty.

** Doneness Tests, for Yeast Breads, Use an instant-read thermometer, and be absolutely sure when your bread is done. The crust should be an even golden color. The bread will pull away from the sides of the pan, and will feel firm to the touch. The bread will sound hollow when you tap it lightly.

[Mike OReilly]

If you're looking for a bread that lasts forever, Newfoundland has the answer for that:





It's bread as hard as rock. Makes for a good hammer if you need to pound in some nails.

But it's also seriously delicious. I always carry some on board. Yum!

[tamicatana]

wondering how one eats the hard bread, I Googled:

https://www.wikihow.com/Eat-Hardtack...y%20at%20first.