The Big Bread Thread ?

[The Happy Hooker]

Jack Monroe has a recipe for slow cooker bread.
<Broken link removed>. I haven't tried it yet.

I've been using this method from Mel, who was recommended on Instagram. She uses plain flour, dried yeast & water & it doesn't need kneading, it's delicious.

Easiest homemade bread recipe... ever! - Le Coin de Mel

One of my most popular recipes and one of my favourites - here's my easiest homemade bread recipe ever. The easy way to make bread at home.

lecoindemel.com

 

[34127]

I did fruit loaf in mine yesterday, very nice indeed. Half sliced and in the freezer and half for the elevenses. The only problem was I found it difficult to distribute the fruit through the dough. The recipe said to put the fruit in after the first prove. Then I was unsure how much you should knead the dough before the second prove. All the videos I have watched say not to handle the dough too much in between provings.

I just give it a quick knead before 2nd prove, have read somewhere that it helps get rid of any large air bubbles in dough but don't know for sure if that is correct.

 

[Riverbankannie]

So, here's the Slow Cooker white loaf, courtesy of the BBC Good Food website and denisejoe. It's quite good. In fact, it tastes like a white loaf should taste. It's just a little pale on the top. I cooked it in the slow cooker for 2 and a half hours and then popped it in the oven (as the recipe suggests) for 10 minutes to brown the top. I think it could have done with another 5 minutes to brown on the top.
While it was baking I made some Rhubarb & Ginger Jam to go with it. A productive morning.
Perhaps I should cancel my order for a new breadmaker?!
View attachment 387520

Wow, it’s great. Putting it in the oven at the end obviously key to how it looks.

 

[denisejoe]

 

[Puddleduck]

Sorry no photos of today's bake as we ate it for lunch ....... oink oink

Slow cooker bread tomorrow and I will use my "old faithful" basic gluten free recipe but with arrowroot rather than cornflour as gluten free cornflour is unobtainable here at the moment. I do have half a box of cornflour but will hang on to it at the moment.

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[Puddleduck]

Wow, it’s great. Putting it in the oven at the end obviously key to how it looks.

Or under the grill perhaps?

 

[Riverbankannie]

Or under the grill perhaps?

Maybe but need to get it brown all over. I am still weighing up the benefits of slow cooker plus oven rather than just oven ! I suppose it does the second prove and major part of cooking.

 

[denisejoe]

Maybe but need to get it brown all over. I am still weighing up the benefits of slow cooker plus oven rather than just oven ! I suppose it does the second prove and major part of cooking.

Slow cooker uses a lot less electric than the oven so saves on cost.

 

[Puddleduck]

Slow cooker uses a lot less electric than the oven so saves on cost.

Also we don't have an oven in the van Actually we don't have a working oven in the house at the moment!

 

[Riverbankannie]

I’ve lost the baking thread so I’ll put today’s bakes on here
Boiled fruit cake and cheese straws - sorry Puddleduck !

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[Puddleduck]

My gluten free bread dough has just been put into the slow cooker as an experiment.

The ingredients recipe is what I call my "old faithful" which I mixed up by hand.It's not really a dough but more of a batter as is usual with gluten free bread.

I have the cooker on the low setting for 30 minutes and will then turn it up.

If it works a thermometer would be a useful investment I think - might need two, one for the house and one for the van. The bread does smell good at the moment and if the method works it will be great to be able to make our own bread in the van when on our travels. I will be able to make up baggies of the dry ingredients so it is just to mix together with water, egg (unless I use dried egg white) oil, vinegar and glycerin when I need to bake. However if we get stopped in a drugs raid I am not sure how easy it will be to explain the white powder, the glycerin and the "cooking" - especially of we've been near Amsterdam.

 

[Puddleduck]

My bread is done ..... a little crunchy round the sides and pale on the top but it tastes really nice. I had some cake pan liners from ages ago and cut one down to fit the slow cooker - well oiled so it didn't stick to either cooker or bread.

I have two thermometers on order so that will be sorted.

I left the cooker on low for 30 minutes and then turned up to full for (I think) 90 minutes ...... this was a small loaf (only one and a half cups of flour mix) done in a small (mini) slow cooker. The slow cooker in the van only uses 90w maximum and will run off the inverter so if necessary I can make bread when we are "on the move" or, on a sunny day, even when off EHU.

 

[denisejoe]

Glad the SC bread worked out well! Good that you can use it in the van on the inverter.

 

[wasp]

We got our bread machine out last week, it’s a Morphy Richards one. Plugged it in switched it on, nothing, it’s humming, checked it, the rotor bit in the bottom was turning so assume the belt has perished. B*****d thing, has anybody stripped one to fit a new belt.I zip cut the bottom off to fit the new belt and glued the bottom back on. It’s a major job to take them apart.

 

[KiwiKampers]

We got our bread machine out last week, it’s a Morphy Richards one. Plugged it in switched it on, nothing, it’s humming, checked it, the rotor bit in the bottom was turning so assume the belt has perished. B*****d thing, has anybody stripped one to fit a new belt.I zip cut the bottom off to fit the new belt and glued the bottom back on. It’s a major job to take them apart.

I would hesitate to try to fix a breadmaker. When my Panasonic started making strange noises and it sounded like the bearings were going I took the decision to only use it when I was in the house and latterly, to stop using it altogether and get a replacement. Breadmakers are a frequent cause of house fires in NZ, along with Christmas decorations. I, personally, know two people who have experienced a breadmaker catching fire. In one case it burnt the house to the ground and killed the family dog.

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[Puddleduck]

We got our bread machine out last week, it’s a Morphy Richards one. Plugged it in switched it on, nothing, it’s humming, checked it, the rotor bit in the bottom was turning so assume the belt has perished. B*****d thing, has anybody stripped one to fit a new belt.I zip cut the bottom off to fit the new belt and glued the bottom back on. It’s a major job to take them apart.

I'm going to give away my MR bread maker as it is too big - makes 2lb loaves and gf dries out very quickly so too much waste. Pity you are so far away as you could have had it.

I have replaced the washers / cushion on it and also the bread pan and the paddle. Some MR machines can be repaired depending on what has "gone" and the model. I think the older ones are more likely to be suitable for repair than recent models.

The slow cooker bread I made didn't need any kneading or pounding, just a gentle mix through so that might be an option for you? I can send the recipe and you can substitute any plain flour as it doesn't have to be high gluten (or indeed any gluten). Some of the specialist ingredients could be left out completely if there is some gluten in the flour you are using.

MR parts from here:

Morphy Richards Breadmaker Small Appliances | eSpares

www.espares.co.uk

also ebay have a lot of drive belts etc.

 

[Puddleduck]

Breadmakers and fires ...... I would never leave a breadmaker on if I wasn't around to supervise it - and never use one on a timed programme - especially overnight.

If the dough goes a bit wild it will escape over the top of the breadpan and drop onto the heating element causing a fire. When I am making bread I check the rise every 20 or 30 minutes.

 

[Landy Andy]

I have my first ever loaf currently proving.

 

[Odd-no-more]

Soda bread today

 

[Odd-no-more]

I'm going to give away my MR bread maker as it is too big - makes 2lb loaves and gf dries out very quickly so too much waste. Pity you are so far away as you could have had it.

I have replaced the washers / cushion on it and also the bread pan and the paddle. Some MR machines can be repaired depending on what has "gone" and the model. I think the older ones are more likely to be suitable for repair than recent models.

The slow cooker bread I made didn't need any kneading or pounding, just a gentle mix through so that might be an option for you? I can send the recipe and you can substitute any plain flour as it doesn't have to be high gluten (or indeed any gluten). Some of the specialist ingredients could be left out completely if there is some gluten in the flour you are using.

MR parts from here:

Morphy Richards Breadmaker Small Appliances | eSpares

www.espares.co.uk

also ebay have a lot of drive belts etc.

We only half fill our machine, and we normally freeze half the loaf as soon as it is cool. Can you freeze gf?

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[Puddleduck]

We only half fill our machine, and we normally freeze half the loaf as soon as it is cool. Can you freeze gf?

Only if you toast it from frozen afterwards. Commercial bread freezes well (schar do a lovely frozen bread bun offering) but home made not quite as good as it is more crumbly. Commercially both guar gum and xanthan gum are used as gluten replacers but guar gum is not supposed to be sold to general domestic users (there are places you can get it - legally and otherwise - but I have never bothered).

Guar gum was once promoted as a slimming product, pills expanded in the stomach to make a person feel full. Unfortunately the product was abused and people took more than the recommended dose with tragic results. It also interferes with the absorption of prescription medications - another reason I don't use it.

From Pharmacy180.com

"Guar gum in a weight-loss product has been implicated in esophageal obstruction in a patient who exceeded the recommended dosage. In a recent review, 18 cases of esophageal obstruction, seven cases of small bowel obstruction, and possibly one death were associated with the use of Cal-Ban 3000, a guar gum containing diet pill. The water-retaining capacity of the gum permits it to swell to 10- to 20-fold and may lead to luminal obstruction, particularly when an anatomic predisposition exists. Guar always should be taken with large amounts of liquid. Occupational asthma has been observed among those working with guar gum. Because of its potential to affect glycemic control, guar gum should be used cautiously by diabetic patients."

 

[Landy Andy]

OMG. It just keeps growing.

There is a bread tin under that somewhere

 

[Puddleduck]

Time to bake it!!!!!!!! It shouldn't take more than 40 minutes to double in size (yeasted bread and so I am told).

Baking SOS: how to solve 10 common bread problems by Luis Troyano

We have all the answers you need to give your bake a picture perfect finish and satisfying flavour. Discover Luis Troyano's advice for rescuing bread.

www.bbcgoodfood.com

 

[Landy Andy]

Ahhh. So over proven.

 

[Landy Andy]

He’s out.

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[Landy Andy]

tastes good ??

And has a useful hook, so you can hang your toast on a mug

 

[denisejoe]

tastes good ??

And has a useful hook, so you can hang your toast on a mug

Had the same thing a while ago trouble was had the same hook on both ends but hooked under the tin had to cut them off before I could get it out of the tin

 

[Armytwowheels]

Soda bread todayView attachment 388046

That looks interesting.

 

[AnnK]

I have a bread maker, not seen the light of day for a few years, so having sourced flour & yeast (thanks to my SIL) I decided to get it out. Put all my ingredients in, switched it on & pottered round the kitchen whilst it did it's magic ..... Five minutes later the unusual noises started so I called in the "mechanical expert" Dan who suggested the bearings were kn******* (broken). So back to good old elbow grease. Was really impressed with the result & though miss-shapen tasted lovely

 

[reckless]

I decided to try the slow cooker method. Worst loaf yet (only my 4th ) Burnt sides, soggy top. Once I managed to get the knife through it tasted ok, maybe better toasted.

I'm too ashamed to post a picture

Karen

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