[joyfull]

this model offers the drop down paddle, although I prefer to use my mixer and dough hook to make bread 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-48268-Breadmaker-Stainless/dp/B00065IA6U

[madcat]

Thank you!  And an excellent price too ......  at least compared to the manufacturers website.   

[shokkyy]

It's taken a bit of practice, to get it right, but I can guarantee the 12 mins - they are small loaves after all. The rise time is the variable.

I've got it down to a fine art now, as soon as I put the oven on to bake a batch, the next lot of mix goes in the machine, by the time that dough's ready, the oven's heated up, previous batch has baked and the tins have cooled down ready for the next lot.

Okay, I tried it, and my mini loaves don't look anything like yours. They're pathetic, actually, with the texture of house bricks. I did make one mistake i know of, by forgetting to cover the dough while it was rising so it developed a tough crust. I think maybe I needed to put more dough in each mould than I did. I actually followed a dough recipe in my breadmaker manual that's 550g flour. I did 6 mini loaves and half a dozen rolls (which were very odd shapes and too small). I found it surprisingly difficult to shape them, actually, cos the wretched stuff was so elastic it just snapped back to its original size and shape every time I tried to shape it. My manual recipe said to allow just 25mins for rise after shaping, but I left them for an hour, and they certainly had got a lot bigger.

Would not covering the dough have caused the dense texture, as well as the tough crust? And what do you cover yours with? I'm not sure I like the idea of a damp tea towel, it just seems a bit mucky, but I like the idea of oiling clingfilm even less.

[DD.]

I know it's probably not a lot of use, but it's taken me quite a while to get my bread right to suit my conditions.

One thing I don't do is cover.  The rising bread used to hit the tea towel & stick to it.

I brush the top with sunflower oil to try & keep it moist & leave it to do its own thing.

[Madame Cholet]

I use a dry tea towel, don't worry the heat in the oven kills any bacterior. I knead my by hand which could be seen as unhygeinic.

The dense texture could be due to not enough water, I could never get a good loaf from my machine I find now I do it by feel, which is not fool proof but generally works for me.

Alos different flours vary in how much moisture they need too.

Other peolpe make fantasic loaves in theirs, just keep trying and find out what works best for you.

[shokkyy]

Good lord, I just discovered that website called The Fresh Loaf. When they say 'shape the bread' they're encompassing a whole new world within that word shape, aren't they? No wonder I was having problems when I was just tearing it and trying to bully it into shape. I had no idea there was a degree course in shaping bread dough And now I've watched some of the video demos on that site, I know for sure I didn't put nearly enough dough in each mould.

[hamstergbert]

Found some smashing little tins in Mortens in Ilkley and tried the penny loaves at the weekend.
with the 1lb loaf recipe made 8 penny loaves.
Just did me standard machine on dough setting then manual thorough knock-back.  7 equal pieces and one that was a bit small but couldn't be bothered to fiddle with the split.
Covered them with my pet tea towel and did a fairly long cool environment rise then twelve mins and they were brill!  I'd never have thought of getting penny loaf tins if it were  not for seeing the piccies on here so thanks DD!


(I reckon covering any and all doughs with a tea towel during rise is a good idea when your gaff is as draughty as the HamsterGBert shack!)

[shokkyy]

I tried again today, armed with my new found knowledge on shaping bread. This time I did a baton shape instead of the mini loaves, and it was absolutely delicious. Definitely tasted much nicer than loaves baked in the bread machine. Next I'm going to try shaping some normal round rolls and I've ordered some loaf tins so I can try a standard loaf shape too, and I want to try baguettes, cottage, and all those shapes. Once I've got the hang of shapes and baking, I'm seriously thinking about trying to make the dough by hand as well.

There's just two things I'd like to improve from today's baton. I brushed it with milk and it was an ok colour but it wasn't the nice golden crust colour I like best. Do I have to brush with egg to get that or is there another way? How about oil? The other thing is there was a definite but fairly soft crust on the bread, not the brittle sort of crust you tend to get on crusty bread in bakeries. I saw somewhere that the only way to get that is by introducing steam into the oven at the start of baking. Is that right, or is there another way?

And does anybody know how to make tiger bread?

[Madame Cholet]

bakingmad.com has a whole section on different crusts and how to acheive them.

[shokkyy]

bakingmad.com has a whole section on different crusts and how to acheive them.

Thanks for that, it's a good site. They also seem to be saying steam in the oven is the answer for a good crust. Maybe it will have to wait for my new cooker, because I'm a tad nervous about exposing my ancient oven to steam. They do say that one way of introducing steam is to spray the loaf with water just before putting it in the oven, but I'd have thought brushing it with milk would have a similar effect, but it didn't really.

[shokkyy]

Today I tried crusty rolls, this time brushed with beaten egg, and they look and taste absolutely fantastic, really good crust. I'm so impressed with myself It's way more fun than baking in the bread machine, tastes better, and opens up a whole new world of different breads you can make.

I'm really glad I read this thread and tried this, so thanks for that. I'm now going to bore you all with a daily report on the bread I made today And I'm determined I'm going to work my way up to having a go at making the dough by hand as well.

[Madame Cholet]

I find bread kneading very therapuetic, baking was one of the first things that helped me out of depression and ptsd, along with nature and gardening.

[shokkyy]

I don't know if you've seen it before, but I found a wonderful video demonstrating one chef's method of kneading dough. He makes it look like fun, much less work than the traditional way I've seen people doing it. It's here: www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough

[Splodge]

Here's some of mine:

The 12 rolls mentioned (these are wholemeal with basil & sundried tomato)



This is a loaf baked in the oven, placed back in the bread machine for comprison:

What temperature oven do you bake your loaves at?

[DD.]

200 C in a fan assisted oven.