On 2014-07-16 01:32:15 +0000, said:

On Tue, 15 Jul 2014 17:03:52 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-07-15 15:29:15 +0000, Pam Moore said:
snip
You can get a good lunch there though!

Yes, I thought the foodie places looked rather glam!

The owners have a large farm estate near Glastonbury and much of the
Organic produce is available at the outlets at Kinver Court. A grain
they grow Spelt, is promoted to such an extent that it reminded me of
Monty Python and the Spam Sketch.

Despite what I said about the shops I should have added that the Cafe
meal we had was very good.

G.Harman

I do rather like spelt bread, so if they have that I might buy some
when we go. We once stayed at a b&b in Herefordshire that made their
own bread daily and one of them was spelt bread. it was truly delicious
and I keep meaning to make some myself and then never getting round to
it! The girls in the nursery and I have decided that if KC wants any
plants from us we'll be happy to be paid in Mulberry hand bags. Ray -
not so much! ;-)
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

In article ,
Martin wrote:
On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:55:50 +0100, Sacha wrote:

I do rather like spelt bread, so if they have that I might buy some
when we go. We once stayed at a b&b in Herefordshire that made their
own bread daily and one of them was spelt bread. it was truly delicious
and I keep meaning to make some myself and then never getting round to
it! The girls in the nursery and I have decided that if KC wants any
plants from us we'll be happy to be paid in Mulberry hand bags. Ray -
not so much! ;-)

That's interesting. My wife made spelt bread using the recipe on the packet of
flour. The result was very similar to dry very stale supermarket bread. Not only
did we find it inedible but , but the birds did too.

I made some, and it was very good, but no better than bread made with
good quality very hard flour. My guess is that your mistake was to
follow the recipe too closely - a common one when making bread.

You HAVE to make bread by 'feel', because the amount of liquid needed,
the rising time and (to a slight extent) the baking time are not
entirely predictable. It is completely unlike cakes and pastries,
which is why relatively few people can make both those and bread
well.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Nick Maclaren wrote:

You HAVE to make bread by 'feel', because the amount of liquid needed,
the rising time and (to a slight extent) the baking time are not
entirely predictable. It is completely unlike cakes and pastries,
which is why relatively few people can make both those and bread
well.

I forgot. Add the kneading time to those.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2014-07-17 08:15:34 +0000, Martin said:

On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 17:55:50 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2014-07-16 01:32:15 +0000, said:

On Tue, 15 Jul 2014 17:03:52 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-07-15 15:29:15 +0000, Pam Moore said:
snip
You can get a good lunch there though!

Yes, I thought the foodie places looked rather glam!

The owners have a large farm estate near Glastonbury and much of the
Organic produce is available at the outlets at Kinver Court. A grain
they grow Spelt, is promoted to such an extent that it reminded me of
Monty Python and the Spam Sketch.

Despite what I said about the shops I should have added that the Cafe
meal we had was very good.

G.Harman

I do rather like spelt bread, so if they have that I might buy some
when we go. We once stayed at a b&b in Herefordshire that made their
own bread daily and one of them was spelt bread. it was truly delicious
and I keep meaning to make some myself and then never getting round to
it! The girls in the nursery and I have decided that if KC wants any
plants from us we'll be happy to be paid in Mulberry hand bags. Ray -
not so much! ;-)

That's interesting. My wife made spelt bread using the recipe on the packet of
flour. The result was very similar to dry very stale supermarket bread.
Not only
did we find it inedible but , but the birds did too.

I wonder if they used half and half. I have heard of people doing that
but not having tried it myself, I can't give an answer. I can see
myself being slowly pushed towards bread making. Sigh.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

In article ,
Sacha wrote:
On 2014-07-17 08:15:34 +0000, Martin said:

I do rather like spelt bread, so if they have that I might buy some
when we go. We once stayed at a b&b in Herefordshire that made their
own bread daily and one of them was spelt bread. it was truly delicious
and I keep meaning to make some myself and then never getting round to
it! The girls in the nursery and I have decided that if KC wants any
plants from us we'll be happy to be paid in Mulberry hand bags. Ray -
not so much! ;-)

That's interesting. My wife made spelt bread using the recipe on the packet of
flour. The result was very similar to dry very stale supermarket bread.
Not only
did we find it inedible but , but the birds did too.

I wonder if they used half and half. I have heard of people doing that
but not having tried it myself, I can't give an answer. I can see
myself being slowly pushed towards bread making. Sigh.

It can be easier if you do, but I have never found it necessary.
The keys for extreme brown bread making (and spelt is certainly
that) include:

The mixture must be sticky - i.e. NOT like white bread - as
it needs the extra liquid

It must be kneaded vigorously enough and for long enough to
develop the gluten, despite the stickiness

It must be let rise properly (over-rising is fine), knocked
back and let rise again

It must be baked for long enough to sound when tapped on
the bottom, but not over-baked

Not really much different from white bread, but less forgiving
of not being given enough effort and time (or too much time, in
the case of over-baking).

From observation, men (who often ignore instructions) tend to
be more adept than women (who often follow them to excess).
Even more than for white bread, brown bread is best made by
feel, not rules.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sorry - me again! I should have mentioned that the book I use
is Home Baked by George and Cecila Scurfield, which gives recipes
but (far more usefully) describes when to vary them. One of the
best cookery books I have ever seen, and quite compact.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Martin wrote:

I do rather like spelt bread, so if they have that I might buy some
when we go. We once stayed at a b&b in Herefordshire that made their
own bread daily and one of them was spelt bread. it was truly delicious
and I keep meaning to make some myself and then never getting round to
it! The girls in the nursery and I have decided that if KC wants any
plants from us we'll be happy to be paid in Mulberry hand bags. Ray -
not so much! ;-)

That's interesting. My wife made spelt bread using the recipe on the packet of
flour. The result was very similar to dry very stale supermarket bread. Not only
did we find it inedible but , but the birds did too.

I made some, and it was very good, but no better than bread made with
good quality very hard flour. My guess is that your mistake was to
follow the recipe too closely - a common one when making bread.

You HAVE to make bread by 'feel', because the amount of liquid needed,
the rising time and (to a slight extent) the baking time are not
entirely predictable. It is completely unlike cakes and pastries,
which is why relatively few people can make both those and bread
well.

My wife makes bread with a Panasonic bread making machine. The flour was
designed to be used with a machine. Normally she doesn't have a problem.

SPELT flour? I suspect that you were had. I doubt very much that
bread making machines have an appropriate setting for such very hard
flour. In my experience of eating bread made by machines, the best
that they achieve is equivalent quality to the better non-specialist
suprtmarket breads, anyway.



Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 17/07/2014 11:36, Martin wrote:
My wife makes bread with a Panasonic bread making machine. The flour was
designed to be used with a machine. Normally she doesn't have a problem.

I used to make bread by hand, as bread machines I'd tried were very
inconsistent and generally not very good.

However, since getting the Panasonic, I've only made it by hand once or
twice. It really is an excellent machine. It doesn't give you quite
the same crust, but it isn't a bad alternative, particularly when very
fresh.

Most of the bread I make tends to be a mixture of 2, 3 or 4 of:
strong wheat wholemeal
wholemeal spelt
granary
rye

Current favorite is spelt, granary and rye in equal proportions, with
added sunflower, poppy and sesame seeds.

I've actually found that spelt in the Panasonic (I've never used spelt
by hand) actually rises better than the wholemeal and I have to reduce
the quantity of yeast.

And as Nick says later in the thread, even with the breadmaker, I find
it best to ignore the recipes and approximate - seems to be much more
consistent in results.

--
regards andy