Bread Newbie

[Dadof3Illinois]

So Richard Chrz, WayneT, hoovarmin and rickgregory have all inspired me to get into baking bread. I have a lot of fond memories of helping my grandmothers bake breads and rolls when I was a small boy. A few months ago I found both my mothers and grandmothers old recipe boxes. Inside was my grandmothers yeast bread recipe, which she would make rolls, bread and cinnamon rolls from.
So for Thanksgiving I made those rolls....the recipe is nothing fancy and no secrets but it made me feel good to think about the last time she made bread for us kids and i'm now using her recipe for the first time since!! Those were some of the best rolls i've had in a long time.
Now, these above mentioned fella's got me interested in making Sourdough.....well i'm now hooked on another hobby....HA. Made a basic starter from the "king arthur flour" recipe and actually produced my very first loaf of sourdough bread ever!! Thanks to you all for sharing your wisdom via this forum, it's been a valuable resource for me.

Here's my yeast rolls from Thanksgiving.....don't pay attention to the ugly one....it ate just fine...HA.



And finally here's my first loaf of Sourdough Bread. I added a little too much flour to my bowl when letting it rise but other than that it was a pretty good first attempt.

[hoovarmin]

Outstanding! I've never made yeast rolls. Yours look fantastic.

[Dadof3Illinois]

IMO yeast rolls are way easier than Sourdough.

[WayneT]

I feel doubly honored that I inspired you and am included in the company of Richard Chrz , hoovarmin and rickgregory . I'm sure I am the rank newbie among these paragons of baking.

If you don't already have one, my only advice, as you embark on this endeavor, is to buy a modern bread baking book that incorporates some of the latest techniques for home baking. After using Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice for years, I recently bought Ken Forkish's Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast and I'd say it is the better of the two if you're just starting out. There's about a $200 initial capital investment for CI dutch ovens, Cambro containers, bench blade, scraper, etc., but after that, it's just baking bliss.

Glad to have you among the dough boys and girls on the forum. You'll never regret it, as long as you tolerate carbs well. ;-)

[WayneT]

Dadof3Illinois I've considered a proofing box but I just crank my room temp up to what I need to finish my bulk fermentation and proofing. I do let my house get cool at night so my overnight fermentations for things like poolish may take longer but I'm fine with that. If you fully understand the ways to manipulate time and temperature in baking and still want a proofing box, go for it.

[WayneT]

hoovarmin You won't see a like from me about being a hack. I've seen your bakes. False modesty doesn't become you. ;-)

[hoovarmin]

WayneT lol I'm a one trick pony, but thanks!

[Skip]

All looks great to me Dadof3Illinois. Your Grandma would no doubt give you an A for a grade!

[RedheadQ]

I just picked up Flour, water, salt, yeast too. Took time to read and comprehend the approach to the bread making, nothing but great rounds the last 4 weekends. I picked up the equipment also, makes life easier.

[hoovarmin]

FWSY is a terrific entry into great bread making.

[WayneT]

Awesome! I read Ken's first 4 chapters twice before even beginning to use his method. It's unique but extremely rewarding when you nail your first bake.

[Richard Chrz]

Welcome to the club! It’s a deep rabbit hole for certain, and appears you’re already baking great bread. Super cool that you get to work with your grandmas recipe! Looking forward to following along.

[RonB]

Great lookin' rolls. Around here, no one sees the misshapen rolls 'cause I eat them just to make sure the batch came out OK.

Would you mind sharing your GM's recipe? I bet it's great.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I sure will, I don't think there's anything too different in it but I'll post it tonight.

[captainlee]

Great looking bread, congratulations.