OT Bread from ASDA

SimonAH

Is it just a function of Welsh ASDA branches or are any of them capable of making an edible loaf of bread? I doesn't seem to matter if it looks like a ciabatta, a farmhouse loaf or a crusty french boule they are all just tastless, structureless blobs of foam which look identical when sliced.

Even when you go to pick up the ones that look lovely and crusty they have the hand-feel of a bag of wonderbread.

Hate hate hate. Bad bread is a crime.

gtvlusso

I thought you all ate Welsh cakes......

SimonAH

I'm as Welsh as Boris Johnson. Anyway Welsh cakes are for scrubbing your back in the bath.

DonDaddyD

Warburtons

Or

Kingmills

Ms DDD gets bread with seeds on it. I try my bet not to associate with it.

deptfordmarmoset

Yes, SimonAH, I no longer touch the stuff. It's all over-proofed (I'm bluffing here - I'm not a baker) so that it's full of oversized bubbles and it's dry and starchy. And beyond the tastelessness, I remember noticing which customers bought lots of their bread products, and they seemed also to be dry, starchy and full of oversized bubbles. Pasty, too, while I'm at it.

outofbreath2

You're on the right lines but it's not proved enough. Commercial bread is only proved for about an hour and cooked for 20 mins. They can do that by using high speed mixers and vitamin C to improve the flour. It's called the Chorleywood method because it was invented in a food lab there.

I make me own don't y'know.

deptfordmarmoset

outofbreath2 wrote:

You're on the right lines but it's not proved enough. Commercial bread is only proved for about an hour and cooked for 20 mins. They can do that by using high speed mixers and vitamin C to improve the flour. It's called the Chorleywood method because it was invented in a food lab there.

I make me own don't y'know.

Does 100% wrong count as close?

outofbreath2

It's plenty close enough. Commercial bread making is alchemy compared to what happens in a domestic kitchen. Now don't get me started on fermentation.... :oops:

wizzlebanger

I had a couple of old dears at my front door the other night trying to get me to convert to brown bread.

Bl00dy Hovis Witnesses.

Cafewanda

SimonAH. Breadmaker as pressie for Mrs AH. Hopefully she'll take the hint

wgwarburton

DonDaddyD wrote:

Warburtons....

What? Who?

Oh... them! Nothing to do with me, I'm afraid...

Cheers,
W.

SimonAH

.......now that's a good idea Wanda, 'cept maybe breadmaker as pressie for me (I love her dearly but the Mrs AH cooks only chili, good chili it must be said, but genuinely only chili.....)

wgwarburton

SimonAH wrote:

.......now that's a good idea Wanda, 'cept maybe breadmaker as pressie for me (I love her dearly but the Mrs AH cooks only chili, good chili it must be said, but genuinely only chili.....)

I recommend Panasonic. Pricey but reliable. We must have had our SD-206 for ten years or more and it gets used several times a week.
Our normal loaf is a 50:50 wholemeal/granary mix. Tasty.
It does good pizza dough, too.

Cheers,
W.

lost_in_thought

Why do you need a bread-maker? Got hands?

outofbreath2

+1 pizza dough

We do our own naans too.

pst88

I've made my own bread before but it always comes out very dense. What's that a sign of? Not enough kneading or too much kneading?

outofbreath2

lost_in_thought wrote:

Why do you need a bread-maker? Got hands?

Hands, yes. Time, not enough.

outofbreath2

pst88 wrote:

I've made my own bread before but it always comes out very dense. What's that a sign of? Not enough kneading or too much kneading?

Might be not enough kneading. You need to knead to get the stretchy protein (gluten) in the flour working. That gives structure. Or your yeast is dead.

rmhodv

WGWarburton wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

I recommend Panasonic.

+1
I too have a Panasonic bread maker & love it. We got it as a Christmas present last year, and so far have not bought any bread at all this year. The biggest plus point for me is that I know what goes into it. Strong flour, yeast, a little salt, a little sugar & water. That's it

wgwarburton

outofbreath2 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Why do you need a bread-maker? Got hands?

Hands, yes. Time, not enough.

+1 It takes me two minutes to put a loaf on before going to bed and it's done when I get up in the morning.

I wish I had the time to mix, knead, prove etc but TBH, if I did I doubt I'd spend it making bread... Having said that, the kneading is good for your hands.. maybe if I retire someday...

Cheers,
W.

gondwanaman

Avoid any white bread from the big bakeries (and most little ones too.). Most of the brown & seeded breads have decent texture & flavour and really are convenient. Steam proving is the biggest problem as the raw ingredients are generally high standard.
Make your own; check out some sourdough blogs for high water content, long proving, no knead recipes and start from there. Gets very addictive tho.
Sebon actually do properly proved, and some hand platted, bread. Their products are generally good and find their way into the supermarkets. No I don't work for them.

outofbreath2

Yes, I think sourdough is the way to go. There's a following for 'artisan bread in 5 minutes' too.

Both very good and I'm going to give them a go. The only problem I envisage is that you need to nuture a starter dough which might required a bit of planning. Also you end up with a more rustic loaf with quite a challenging crust. OK if lunch is bread and cheese but might need a more convenient shape for whipping a packed lunch up on a busy morning.

Not critisisms per se though.

rjsterry

Making your own is good fun, and kneading is good for working out any aggravation from work or whatever. Takes a bit of practice, but much more satisfying. I need to get back into it.

mkirby

im with the home bakers.

I make all sorts of bread from sweet rolls, cobs, soda, lava (the one with the seaweed in it). Pesto bread etc etc.

Its so easy todo and doesnt take that much time, and beating seven bells out of the dough is very theraputic.

biondino

For someone who loves cheese as much as the pope loves children, Simon, this is a bad state of affairs indeed.

SimonAH

It is indeed.

Sainsbury's does however stock a pretty good range of the crusty stuff, but I can see a breadmaker featuring in my near future!

Whenever I've made bread before it has always been a bit on the flat side (I guess my technique aint up to scratch) so I'm going to bow to the robots and check out the Panasonic jobbies that they're all raving about!

jimmypippa

WGWarburton wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

.......now that's a good idea Wanda, 'cept maybe breadmaker as pressie for me (I love her dearly but the Mrs AH cooks only chili, good chili it must be said, but genuinely only chili.....)

I recommend Panasonic. Pricey but reliable. We must have had our SD-206 for ten years or more and it gets used several times a week.
Our normal loaf is a 50:50 wholemeal/granary mix. Tasty.
It does good pizza dough, too.

Cheers,
W.

Another recommendation for the panasonic. I have just replaced our old one (bought in 2000) and it was being used about 7-times a week on average (mostly for bread, also for pizzas, and nans. Pittas are also good.

WGWarburton wrote:

outofbreath2 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Why do you need a bread-maker? Got hands?

Hands, yes. Time, not enough.

+1 It takes me two minutes to put a loaf on before going to bed and it's done when I get up in the morning.

I wish I had the time to mix, knead, prove etc but TBH, if I did I doubt I'd spend it making bread... Having said that, the kneading is good for your hands.. maybe if I retire someday...

Cheers,
W.

And we have a combi boiler, so don't have an airing cupboard to let the dough rise.

If I am feeling lazy in the weekend, and need some decent bread for lunch, I have found that putting the bread dough recipe on the pizza setting gets decent rolls in 45 mins. (slightly better if you let them prove after separating)

I do find that the type of flour is critical - Dove Farms Organic White and Wholemeal are both good and strong. Some others I have tried aren't.

outofbreath2

jimmypippa - do you use Doves Farm normal flour or does it say 'Strong' on the pack - both white and wholemeal.

redjeepǃ

I play at making bread occassionally. Very satisfying. This week was just one of those occasions.

I think I actually invented a new bread this week. I'm calling it Naan Loaf, as it's a Naan bread mix, but made into a loaf that you can slice etc. The kids love it (and so do I).

You heard it here first! Patent Pending

NGale

DonDaddyD wrote:

Warburtons

Or

Kingmills

Ms DDD gets bread with seeds on it. I try my bet not to associate with it.

bread with seeds, very good for you, keeps you regular

Valy

Thread tl;dr

BUT - get a bread maker. Can get a good one for about £100. The bread is really ossum.

Though it does take 4 hours for it to bake, and you eat almost all of it straight away as it's so good.