Early Morning Bread Baking

[street]

I bake bread ~once a week. I would like to stop for the summer month's but I have a very hard time eating bought bread anymore. I might bake everyday for a few weeks and stock pile then freeze my starter.
Everyone else still baking through the summer months?

 

[sparky08]

We used to bake all of our bread. I'm not sure why, but we stopped about 10 or 15 years ago.

Wow Street! That's a work of art!

 

[Chuckanut]

I like to bake in the Winter as it adds a good amount of heat to the house and a very nice smell. MMMM…..

Summer? I tried using my toaster oven to bake a small loaf outside on the patio deck. However, the top always was cooked more quickly than the center. I might try doing that again, with foil to protect the top of the bread from over cooking before the center is done.

I fully understand your desire to avoid store bought bread. As I have stated before, I don’t get the reflux problems with my home made bread that I get with the store bought stuff. Something they put into the bread or how they process it must be the problem. My bread is simply flour (two types), water, salt and yeast. Mix well, then allow the slow rise over night, and bake in the morning.

Have you considered an outdoor gas fired brick oven? I don’t have the outdoor space for that, but IIRC, you do. The only danger is once the neighbors find out, they will be bringing their raised bed dough over to your pace for baking.

 

[Cognito]

I bake bread regularly. Just made a 7 grain seeded bread w/ 7 grain hot cereal mix. We enjoy my whole wheat quinoa bread. I am an America's Test Kitchen fanatic. How to cook rice--Well down hamburgers with a panade to keep them moist.--Corn bread muffins w/ very little sugar using a cornmeal batter instead.

 

[pacergal]

Bread looks good!
I can understand not wanting to add heat to the house during summer, but I bet is adds wonderful smell while it bakes!
Could you bake later in the evening after the sun is down?

 

[Kings over Queens]

Nice loaf Street.

I bake once a week or every other week including the summer. I baked last night in fact...the problem is that the smell lingers in the house and makes it hard to sleep.

 

[Twilo123]

bake more cakes than bread myself.
i'll bake various breads just to try it out but overall not a normal occurrence for me.

 

[ER2B]

I bake bread all year round. In the summer, I bake in an un-air conditioned room in the house using a toaster oven. I am like you. Can’t stand store bought, but will get baguettes once in a while when they go on sale. I can’t seem to make good baguettes at home.

 

[Flyfish1]

My sourdough is on it's first proof, baking tomorrow morning.

 

[Koolau]

Heh, heh, I bake just as much in the summer as I do in the winter.

street, that bread IS a w*rk of art. How do you ever manage to cut into it? Glad you took a picture.

 

[pb4uski]

I bake bread year round but go in spurts. I'm trying to cut back on carbs.

In Texas I have a Welbuilt Bread Machine breadmaker that makes pretty good bread. In Vermont, I buy frozen dough and then bake it. Just plain old white bread for me.

 

[Midpack]

We’ve never had much success baking our own bread (almost always too dense) - as compared to an authentic local French bakery. Their Swiss sourdough is to die for. But maybe we should try again. Freshly baked artisan breads and pastries are one of life’s great simple pleasures.

 

[wrigley]

I started as a newbie a couple months ago on the sourdough bread journey. I've baked a couple loaves so far that actually tasted pretty good, but would be better suited for self defense or breaking a car window in case of a fire. I started a new "starter" which I think was my problem all along. I hope all this turns out better.

 

[finnski1]

DW and I started baking bread in late December and haven't had to buy any store bought since. We make a lot of oatmeal, sourdough wheat breads, flaxseed etc. and really enjoy it. Planning on baking year round. I don't notice it heating the house all that much yet although summer hasn't arrived in the New Hampshire hills yet. 42 degrees this morning and going to rain all day. In fact may have to run the wood stove a bit this morning.

 

[Flyfish1]

My kids got me started on sourdough a few months ago. Pretty easy but the first few loaves were absolute bricks. Getting better now. Will have a fresh loaf in 10 more minutes - and yep it's cold and rainy - classic Nor'Easter in New England.

 

[pjigar]

I just started my sourdough journey a month ago. I always wanted to try sourdough baking. DD said she doesn't like store-bought bread one day and that tipped me over. I plan to bake year-round. I am still learning but here is what I got so far:

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Shortly after I retired in 2017 I took a sourdough course from the county parks and recreation center. I went to lunch with a couple from class and mentioned I was retired. The wife asked how old I was and I answered 57. Her response was that I couldn’t be retired as I wasn’t 62 yet!

Anyway, I’ve been baking sourdough once a week ever since. I try to bake first thing in the morning after letting the shaped loaves proof overnight in the fridge. Once in a while I might run out of bread before the next batch is ready and we buy something from the grocery store. Ugh.

 

[street]

Twilo123 and pjigar looks great!!! Thanks for the pictures!!!
Thanks everyone and happy baking to the ones just starting out on the sourdough journey you will learn something new every time. Hang in there you will find what works best and then there is tweaking from there.

 

[CaptTom]

I got into making bread big-time when the price in the stores spiked a couple of years ago. But I think I approach it differently from most.

My goal is to make a good, simple, useful bread, as easily as possible. Plain white sandwich bread, dinner rolls, an Italian or French style loaf, things like that.

I use a bread machine "dough" cycle for the kneading and the first rise, then form, rise and bake it from there. It takes just a few minutes of actual effort, over the course of maybe three hours.

I get that sourdough is an interesting challenge, and have all due respect for a well-formed "ear." And of course I have no problem eating it. It just seems like w*rk to me.

 

[Flyfish1]

Highly recommend 2- 3 tbsp of fresh Rosemary finely chopped in a sourdough loaf - delicious and the house smells amazing.

 

[pjigar]

I get that sourdough is an interesting challenge, and have all due respect for a well-formed "ear." And of course I have no problem eating it. It just seems like w*rk to me.

Yes, it takes a long time to bake sourdough (it is 36 hour cycle from the moment I pull out starter from fridge). Actual hands-on time is more like 30 minutes. I have way too many hobbies and yes, each hobby is lot of "efforts". But to me, the efforts feel more like challenge and meditation. YMMV.

 

[street]

Yes, it takes a long time to bake sourdough (it is 36 hour cycle from the moment I pull out starter from fridge). Actual hands-on time is more like 30 minutes. I have way too many hobbies and yes, each hobby is lot of "efforts". But to me, the efforts feel more like challenge and meditation. YMMV.

Yes, not much time hands on, and I find it fun and enjoyable. I get every thing done early, so never interferes with my daily hobbies or any schedule. I'm up early the mornings are the best part of my day and get a lot accomplished.

The hard work in sourdough making is the wait till I can have a slice of the bread. A two day yearning. Lol

 

[folivier]

DW has mastered the art of sourdough bread at 9400' altitude! Awesome.
BTW we were gifted our starter in 2019 from an old hard rock miner and it's on it's way back to Alaska as I type.

 

[jollystomper]

DW bakes bread about every other month, or if an appropriate social or need situation arises. She has gotten rave review from family and friends. She bakes more than we can eat so we freeze it. It still tastes great after thawing out.

 

[Kings over Queens]

We’ve never had much success baking our own bread (almost always too dense) - as compared to an authentic local French bakery. Their Swiss sourdough is to die for. But maybe we should try again. Freshly baked artisan breads and pastries are one of life’s great simple pleasures.

Try upping the hydration by 5% and keep going until you get to where you like it.

Another culprit could be not letting it ferment, or rise, long enough.

I can tell immediately that I'm going to have a dense loaf because the mix is to dry. It happens especially with whole wheat flour.