help with home made bread please

This is a favorite bread recipe we make a lot. If you want to make it healthier, you can substiute whole wheat flour for some of the unbleached white flour.

Oatmeal Bread

Bring 2 cups water to boil and stir in 1 cup oats. Remove from heat and add 3 tbsp. butter. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine: one and one-half cups unbleached flour, one-fourth cup sugar, 2 tsp. salt, and 2 tbsp. yeast. Blend well. When the oatmeal mixture reaches about 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit, add it to the flour/yeast mixture. Add one egg. Mix well. Then stir in an additional 2 cups unbleached flour (or a mixture of unbleached and whole wheat flours), adding more flour as necessary to form a stiff dough.

On a floured surface, knead the dough about 5-10 minutes, adding more flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise 15 minutes.

Punch dough down. Divide in half and form into two loaves. Press loaves into greased bread pans. Cover and let rise, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.

reply to post by nixie_nox


No offense at all. My home was built in 1989, and I know my pipes are copper not PVC. I'm assuming the soldering is lead, so I am careful about drinking and cooking with hot tap water, and running the cold water tap a while before using it. We have well water here, so at least no worries about fluoride or other chemicals.

reply to post by nixie_nox

Basic Bread Recipe
4 Cups white flour.
1 tsp salt.
1 package activated yeast.
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water.

Blooming the Yeast
This is pretty important and it serves a couple purposes. First, it proves that the yeast is good, and second, it gets the yeast 'going.'

Take a small bowl or coffee cup and put in a pinch of white sugar. Then add about a 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, no warmer than 110 degs F. Then add the contents of one pack of activated dried yeast. Stir it all up well, then set aside.

In 15-minutes the yeast should have 'bloomed.' It will look 'foamy' and will have multiplied the original amount. This will be a good thing to make sure your bread will rise ok.

Making the Dough
Get a large bowl, earthenware is my preference, and add the flour. Just scoop out a cup at a time, level it off ( more or less ) and pass each cup through a wire-mesh strainer into the bowl to get all the hard lumps out. Throw away what remains in the strainer after each cup.

Add the salt.

Add the water and the bloomed yeast.

Use a flexible rubber spatula to mix it all together in the bowl until it begins to 'come together.' Then use the 'heel' of one hand to knead it all into a ball inside the bowl. You may need to use the spatula to 'scrape' the sides of the bowl to get everything into the ball.

Sprinkle out some flower on a counter top, remove the ball from the bowl, and just let it sit there for five minutes. In the meantime wash and dry the bowl. When the bowl is clean and dry, set it aside.

Now 'knead' the dough. When you start, the 'ball' will be kind of 'lumpy.' Just use the heel of one hand to get the dough all smooth in texture. Keep your other hand 'clean.' You may need to sprinkle a little flower on the ball if it is too 'sticky.' When you've got it right it wont stick to your hand at all.

After about 5-minutes of kneading, the dough should be pretty smooth. Then use both hands to form it into a ball, place it in the bowl and cover the bowl with a couple clean, damp dishtowels.

I like to warm the oven up to 90 or 100 degs F and set the bowl in there. In this case the dough is ready to 'punch down' in 90-minutes.

If it's warm enough in the room you won't need to use the oven. Depending on the room temperature it may take 2 or 3 hours for the dough to 'double' in size. When it has 'doubled,' it's ready to punch down.

Baking the Loaf
Lightly 'oil' the inside of a bread-pan. Butter or olive-oil is my preference.

Form the 'deflated' dough into a 'loaf', put it in the pan and cover again with some moistened dish-towels.

When the loaf has doubled in size in the bread pan it's ready to bake.

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven, pre-heat the oven to 425 degs F and put the bread pan in there.

After about 30-minutes the loaf should look golden brown. This means it's done, so take out the pan, let it cool for a few minutes, then 'turn out' the loaf onto a rack to let it cool.

Notes
Baking 'purists' insist that the dough must rise twice before being formed into a 'loaf' for the third and final rise before baking. I admit this does result in the best tasting 'yeasty' bread. But the 'downside' is that these 'three rises' may take as long as 6 or 7 hours before the loaf is ready to bake, depending on temperature, of course ...

Me, personally, I usually just let it rise once, punch it down, form it into a loaf, place it in the bread pan, cover with the towels and let it rise a second time before baking ...

Baking bread is not an 'exact science.' It's an art - very 'touchy-feely.'

As far as how long to bake the loaf, you will 'get the feel' for it after a couple times. Play with the oven temperature if you want. It's all up to you, the 'baker.'

What I've described is what I have found works best for me.

Finally, after the fresh-baked loaf has been 'resting' for 10-minutes or so, if you're anything like me, you may not be able to 'resist' any longer and simply 'must' have a slice. In this case it is best to use a long, thin, serrated bread-knife to cut the still warm loaf, as it will still be very soft and plastic inside.

Make sure you've got some fresh, salted butter handy, and make no mistake - you will be very satisfied with the results when you take your first bite !

Enjoy !!

reply to post by visible_villain


Yours seems to be the most straight-forward recipe - no oil or fat - which the Wiki link said defeats the gluten to an extent anyway.
I'm not a recipe person but usually just like to dive in with what I think works and was always putting oil in my bread dough. The result was a crumbly bread as often as not. I'm going to do it next time without any fat content and see what happens. (next time I run out of the store bought stuff, that is. lol)
Enjoyed the read.

this is a really simple brown bread using a bread maker (I can bake the old-fashioned way and sometimes do, but when working, the bread maker is awesome)

just put everything in this order in the bread maker

1 tsp. bread maker yeast

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 or 3 tbsp. whole flax seeds (optional and variable - can also add sunflower seeds)

1/2 tsp. salt (I use sea salt)

3/4 cup warm water

2 tbsp. oil (using peanut oil these days - works great, light taste, but olive oil worked too)

2 tbsp. honey

and that's it - if I want buns, I set the bread maker on the dough setting - after it's done with the dough, I knead it a bit and form my buns - usually oil them a bit once formed and bake them on a cookie sheet - makes a nice crunchy bottom

if I want whole wheat bread, I just set the bread maker on that setting

this makes a nice light bread - as buns, I like a tougher crust, but on the bread, it's crusty but not too much so.

excellent warm with butter

#10 round top or #12 flat top cast iron Dutch Oven.

One 11 - 12 oz can of beer.
Any kind as long as it's not light.

Two tbsp sugar.

Three cups self rising flour.

Oven at 350 * F - preheated.

Wipe Dutch Oven interior with Crisco.


Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
Pour in beer.

Mix 17 times - or a touch more - with a wooden spoon.
A few streaks of white won't hurt.
Over mixing is not good.

Turn the dough into the cold Dutch Oven.

Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes.

Remove, slice and serve with butter.

Excellent side for chili, ham hocks and Navy beans or a sturdy chicken soup.

Store in ambient kitchen temps inside an open clear plastic food bag that's not sealed, just tuck the end under the bread.



I've baked this bread quite a few times in the #12 oven, but now prefer the #10 round top oven.


Give it a try, it's very easy and quite tasty....




[edit on 26/10/2009 by Desert Dawg]

[edit on 26/10/2009 by Desert Dawg]