4Real Forums: Do you make your own bread?

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Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
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Topic: Do you make your own bread?

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MarilynW
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 6:45am \| IP Logged

If you do - do you grind your own flour - what grinder do you use? Do you use a bread maker, or a food processor to make dough?

I would love to make my own - just can't get to it. I would prefer not to use a bread maker - does anyone use a Bosch - this is out of my budget, but I am interested to know what people think of it.

A friend is offering me a sourdough starter - I did do this 5 months ago - but it did not survive postpartum.

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Elizabeth
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 6:49am \| IP Logged

Marilyn,
I made my own bread for years and ground my own wheat and I had a Bosch.But now I'm allergic to wheat. The motor on my Bosch is dead (I think but maybe it could be fixed). I have some extra bowls and dough hooks and such, though. I also have a wheat grinder. And just yesterday I was thinking that they really are taking up space that could be put to better use. Would you like to take them off my hands? PM me. Or call.

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Paula in MN
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 6:50am \| IP Logged

I make alot of my own bread, but I don't grind my own flour. And I don't use a bread maker or a food processor. I tried one a while back, but I really like kneading the dough - especially if we've had a difficult day!

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KackyK
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 6:55am \| IP Logged

I do grind my own flour, but I have a Nutrimill...which seems fine so far. Then I do put the dough in the bread machine for some of the rising. But the baking actually happens in the oven. I have heard great things about the Bosch.

I remember hearing about Elizabeth's allergy...whenever I make bread, I get nervous whenever I sneeze

I think oh no here it comes...but usually it's just a poof of flour that got up my nose...but I'm on the lookout now!

I buy my wheat in a Bread Beckers co-op...but I know you can get it from Quail Cove too, I think a little cheaper. But Beckers has great buckets the wheat comes in for storage.

Good luck...I started baking bread last Feb. and I have only had to buy one loaf of bread since! Very yummy!!!

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mathmama
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 6:56am \| IP Logged

I make my own bread. I don't grind my own flour. I always make 100% ww bread. I used to use a bread maker, but we were going through about 1 a year, so figured it was cheaper to get a Bosch. I *love* my Bosch. I know it is expensive, but it can be used for so many things and you can make 6 loaves at one time. Perhaps you could find a used one somewhere.

Beth

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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 7:58am \| IP Logged

I make my own sourdough but don't grind my own flour or anything. I'd sort of like to get there, but Elizabeth's story makes me nervous and most days getting the bread made is a small miracle, so I'm not ready to complicate things further. Though, that said, the bread making is always less time and effort than I think it will be. I'm so good at inflating tasks in my mind!

I knead it by hand--less hassle. Though I can really only handle one loaf at a time that way, so I might have to switch to a dough hook as our family grows. I have an industrial kitchen aid.

Susan

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CandaceC
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 8:17am \| IP Logged

I also use the Nutrimill to grind my own wheat and LOVE it! It is so easy and really just takes a few minutes. Seriously, 5 minutes or less!

The Bosch is next on my wishlist! I want one, but we haven't had the money yet.

I do use the bread machine. I used to let the bread machine do it all. But I didn't like the shape of the loaf. So, now, I let it mix and rise a bit in the bread machine, take out the dough and put it into loaf pans and bake it that way in the oven.

I love our homemade bread! And I feel good about giving my kids something healthy. I haven't bought bread at all since starting to make my own.

I got the Nutrimill a few months ago I guess. But before that my sister in law was grinding for me for maybe a year or so. Before that I used store bought flour and used solely the breadmachine.

I must say that the bread tastes much better now!!

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sweetiesmom
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 8:18am \| IP Logged

I make all my own breads. I don't use a bread maker or grind my own wheat. I make a variety of breads and I do them by hand. I love kneading the dough...it's good therapy. Yesterday we made a German Rye. I only make one or 2 loaves at a time. I usually bake every 2-3 days.

sweetiesmom

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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 8:23am \| IP Logged

Marilyn,
We make our own bread and haven't bought bread for about a year and a half.

I do grind my own wheat in a Whisper Mill. They are no longer in business, but someone bought their design and is making this replacement. I've had the whisper mill for about 10 years now, but we've been using it on a daily basis for only the last 1 1/2 - 2 years. If I ever had to replace it, I'd buy the Nutrimill. It is very worthwhile to grind and then knead and bake for nutrition reasons if you're going to be doing it on a regular basis. The ground wheat begins losing its nutritional value very quickly once ground.

I bought my wheat berries from a co-op, and I am up for another purchase. We'll be buying through the Bread Beckers. I love the big buckets - it's a gamble if you're unsure if you're really going to stick with it, but if you do, it is a very frugal way of purchasing berries. You'll want a Gamma Seal Lid if you go this route. It makes the bucket seal nicely, and it's so much easier to open and close in between getting berries out.

I currently use a Zojirushi bread machine to make my bread. I grind, dump in ingredients, set it and go. I feel pretty lazy compared to the other ladies here who knead, but it's working for our family for now. It only makes a 2lb loaf - a nice one though. However, depending on the size of your family and the bread needs, I really believe the Bosch would be a very worthwhile investment. It will be my next step up when we "outgrow" the Zoji 2lb daily loaf of bread. I am pretty sure you can find some re-conditioned Bosch's for a more affordable price. It would be worth looking into.

Hope this has been somewhat helpful. It was very intimidating for me to start making our daily bread at first. It took me 18 loaves to figure out how to get the whole wheat bread to rise nicely into an edible loaf. That meant 18 bricks went out to feed the birds! But, once I had invested the time to figure out a recipe that worked for us, it became a very easy and enjoyable daily task - no longer so intimidating. I just wanted to encourage you if you pursue this.

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SusanJ
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 8:48am \| IP Logged

Mackfam wrote:

It took me 18 loaves to figure out how to get the whole wheat bread to rise nicely into an edible loaf.

Let me just affirm the learning curve on bread making. It seems like a huge project if you need to follow a recipe and read directions. But once you've done it for a week or two you will memorize everything and learn a lot. I find that pulling out a recipe makes a cooking project seem much bigger--once I've got the recipe and method down it seems easy. So stick with it and it gets a lot easier!

Susan

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~Rachel~
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 9:33am \| IP Logged

I do, although not as often as some

I do not grind my own, the outlay for the grinder was a bit steep

and I usually use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer to do most of the kneading

I just bought the new Peter Reinhart whole grain breads book. This has a very interesting slant on wholegrains in there.

And no, I don't have a bread maker either... although I have considered it

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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 11:25am \| IP Logged

I have a Bosch and a wheat grinder(the one that sounds like a jet engine, can't remember the name). I used to make 18 loaves of bread a week when all the kids were home, now I just use a bread machine every day. I'm going to start grinding my own wheat again.

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Anne
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 12:00pm \| IP Logged

I just pull 2 fresh loaves out of the oven!!!!

I do not grind my own wheat yet. I am hoping to get a grinder soon. I use my kitchen Aid mixer to mix and kneed my dough. I have never fully mastered the hand kneeding.

I also just buy my ww flour at the grocery store. When we can I buy in bulk. I am searching for an alternative.

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KackyK
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 12:34pm \| IP Logged

Oh...I forgot to add something about my best Christmas present this year...it was this bread board. I had never heard of this until a friend of mine, who has lived in Europe where she said everyone eats fresh bread, recommended this to help combat the crumbs.

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JodieLyn
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Posted: Jan 18 2008 at 1:19pm \| IP Logged

Nutrimill here too... after the initial expense of the mill.. I found that I could get whole wheat flour for close to the regular (not sale) price of all purpose flour which makes it a sustainable thing to be using the whole wheat flour. And fresh ground is soooo much better than the other flours off the shelf I've used. I'm very pleased with it.

I have a kitchenaid stand mixer.. the 6 quart lift. And it'll knead 2 loaves of whole wheat bread. Which means for me that I can be doing other stuff while getting the bread made.. so while I need to be here there's really little of my actual time needed to do the bread..

especially since my 10 year old can now do it just as well

Now in the interest of fairness.. I've had problems with the KitchenAid.. their customer service has been stupendous.. it's been replaced a number of times.. but at no cost to me (including no shipping charges).. so I just keep using it.. but when it ever comes time to replace it and the co. won't replace it.. I'll definately be looking at something else.. perhaps the bosch.. but I'm thinking there was another one or two worth checking out as well.

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