Making Bread

[jal_ut]

This may be off topic. Guess the mods can toss it if so?

Today I am making bread. I use whole red wheat and grind it at home in an electric grinder, then mix the dough.
I have dough rising as I write this. Just curious, do any of you grow wheat? Do any of you make your own bread?
I have grown wheat in the past, but it takes acreage and you need a combine to come cut it and thesh it. I do
still have acreage, but have given it to the deer and the grasshoppers.

[gumbo2176]

I like making my own bread, especially herb infused breads with my favorites being Garlic/Basil or fresh Rosemary loaves. I also like to make my own baguette's, those crunchy small versions of French Bread that are soooo good when fresh out the oven with a few pats of butter and a hot cup of coffee. I also use the baguettes to make my own fresh croutons for salads and soups.

No, I don't grow my own wheat.

[rainbowgardener]

I'm with gumbo. I like to bake bread, especially bread with my own herbs in it.

I have never tried growing wheat. Seems like you would have to have a lot of space occupied with wheat to get enough for even a little bit of bread.

[jal_ut]

We have bread

[gumbo2176]

WOW, they look good enough to eat James. LOL Is it the red wheat that helps give them that dark color? My bread never comes out with that shiny of a crust, or that smooth for that matter.

I'm assuming you're not going to eat that much bread before it could get stale, so do you freeze it or do you share it?

[rainbowgardener]

For a shiny crust glaze it with a beaten egg yolk before baking.

[jal_ut]

What made it shiny: when it came out of the oven I brushed it with butter.

Some of it goes in the freezer.

[jal_ut]

I mentioned my acreage? It is a mountain. Here is a shot from up on the mountain. Looking down at the valley. My home is down there in the valley.

[Taiji]

I make bread once in awhile, but it is usually in the form of buns. That way, it's really easy to deal with. I just freeze the ones that I don't eat right out of the oven. I pull them out and slice them to make sandwiches, toast, whatever I need bread for.

I am looking to buy a grain mill. Would like to find one in a thrift store, but don't know if I would even recognize one if I were looking right at it. The one I get I want to be able to grind popcorn as well.

[jal_ut]

Do a google search for: NutriMill Classic Grain Mill

[Gary350]

I use to make a lot of bread many years ago. These days I don't make bread very often. I don't use loaf pans anymore I just throw the dough in the center of a pizza pan and let it rise, then bake it in the oven. I always wipe my bread with melted butter it sure does taste good like that. I don't grow my own wheat but one time I bought a 50 lb bags of wheat at a farm supply store for $25 to make bread flour. I like to make bread with malted barley, malted wheat, and or oatmeal it gives the bread a very good flavor. If you replace the water with milk you get a softer bread. Replace the water with milk and 1 egg the bread is even softer. I like to make tough thick crust bread, you put a cast iron Dutch oven or 6" deep 10" cast iron skillet in the 400 degree oven while the dough rises then dump the dough in the smoking hot cast iron pot and bake it for 30 minutes, cover it with plenty of melted butter. I once had a bread making book that showed how breads all over the world are made.

[Taiji]

Do a google search for: NutriMill Classic Grain Mill

Thank you. I would like to grow popcorn and grind it. A chef on a cooking show said regular cornmeal you buy is made from field corn. He said popcorn has a higher protein content, though I can't remember offhand what the percentage is.

[pepperhead212]

Nice loaves, jal_ut !

This is not a bread time of year for me. I do NOT turn the oven on in this heat, and, while I occasionally use the grill as an oven, 108 heat index is not conducive to baking.

I have a grain mill, and use it mostly for grinding unusual flours I won't find anywhere, using legumes and odd grains.

[jal_ut]

Though I do still have some acreage, I do not farm it these days, but let it go for the deer and other wild things. Some of the local farmers grow wheat and plant acres of it. They have a big combine come cut it and load it into trucks to be hauled to the granary. I just buy several hundred pounds and put it in storage and use what I need as I go along. Ya, it takes some area to grow enough wheat for bread making. You can plant a handful in your home garden if you have a little space to experiment with.