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wrote:

> I'm now considering making bread by hand. I like that the skill won't
> be dependent on a machine, and I could make a larger quantity of bread,
> as much as I could fit into my oven, which should be more.

Ah, breadmakers. Reminds me of this great new appliance
I saw on Saturday Night Live called "Mr Tea".

It's basically a funnel held up by a plastic stand. You
put your teabag into your teacup, place it under Mr
Tea's funnel, then pour the hot water into the Mr Tea
funnel. Voila, tea in your cup. Amazing.

Whenever I see a breadmaker I think "Mr Bread".

That said, here's a way you can have fresh baked bread
at home every day and only have to mix it twice a week,
which is where most of the work is. I like this method
better than trying to "keep" the baked bread by leaving it
out or freezing it, which I think diminishes the
quality too much.

Basically you mix the dough, put it in your pans,
then put them the fridge. If your fridge is at a
low enough temperature the fermentation will be
slow enough that they can be pulled out and baked
as needed over a period of a few days. There's
always a loaf in the fridge ready for the oven.
Here's what you do.

Mix your dough using a basic sponge method, then
load your pans. Bake one right away, cover the rest
in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. Pan
#2 to gets baked off a day later, pan #3 gets
baked a day after that, etc.

The longer the dough stays in the fridge the
better the flavor and texture, but the oven spring
will diminish. I find they're good for up to 3 days,
generally, but on the next day they're still good for
things that don't require as much oven spring like
pizza dough and bread sticks.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com