The Poultry Keeper

Paulfrompompey · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Posts: 162 Location: Back in Pompey

We've got a breadmaking machine, but the price of bags of heavy flour means that it is cheaper just to buy a loaf of bread off the supermarket shelf. Sad

Does anybody know where you can buy large, wholesale bags of flour at a reasonable price?

Or, is there a cheaper way of making your own bread?

All infomation welcome Smile

stephen · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:37 pm Post subject:

Costco and Makro sell huge sacks of flour.

To be honest, we make our own bread not because it's cheaper (it's not), but because it tastes better.

CP · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:41 pm Post subject:

Tried making my own bread years ago = dismal failure! Embarassed

Brother gave me his breadmaker to try = dismal failure! Embarassed

Can anyone tell me the secret too, please? Rolling Eyes

Heather · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:26 pm Post subject:

I can white by hand , but wholemeal unless we want a particularly heavy bread has to be done in the machine - still tastes nice if I do it myself just is a bit dense

Paul what about trying a mill - I'm sure I've heard of people being able to buy 25 kg sacks of flour , but I'm not sure where from

stephen · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:51 pm Post subject:

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2488 Location: South Cumbria

I make it with a mixture of wholemeal and white or wholegrain and white, but always cook on wholemeal setting , longer rising lighter bread and I buy supermarket own brands of strong flour with excellent results Smile

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1359 Location: Leicestershire

I love getting technical!!! Strong flour has a higher gluten (protein) content. Gluten is the stretchy stuff which holds the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast and so makes a lighter loaf. A higher gluten content means that:-
a) The loaf will rise more
b) The dough absorbs more water

Bread manufacturers love this because they get to sell tap water and a higher volume loaf, so there's nothing to stop you making your bread from plain flour, but you need less water in the mixture and it will not rise quite as much (maybe 1/2" difference in a 2lb loaf).

A farmer once said to me that you couldn't make bread from English soft wheat, I asked him what the English had made bread from before Canada was discovered. Strong Canadian wheat was a boom for bread manufacturers during the 50's, they used (and still do) the infamous Choleywood breadmaking process for mass produced sliced white (pap), it high speed whisks the dough and incorporates so much air that yeast is not needed for it to rise, but it has to be added for flavour.

I've made my own bread for years and do not own a bread maker (well apart from my son) so I use old fashioned dried active yeast, which has a limited shelf life once it's opened. I've never used instant yeast and fresh can be hard to come by. Supermarket own brand strong white flour is good, although Tesco's has a bleaching agent so I don't use that, I use Allinsons which is less than £1 for a 1 & 1/2 kg bag - so 50p for a decent loaf, I think that's pretty good. Don't be taken in by the expensive bags which says specifically for breadmakers, all flour will make bread.

Dough which won't rise is caused be
a) old yeast
b) too little water in the dough
c) too much heat on the yeast
d) too much fat, salt or sugar in the dough which are all yeast growth inhibitors

Vitamin C is a feeder for yeast and can be useful if you are making an enriched dough (buns, croissants etc) but if your yeast is fresh it shouldn't be necessary.

Don't be too keen to buy large quantities of flour as it can go somewhat stale and also harbour and breed grain weevils if it's come from a dubious source. Although I have to confess some of the best bread I ever made came from flour from the water mill in Leek. I went for the tour and asked to buy some flour - but they weren't allowed to sell it because of trading standard, however they could give it away and they had had a school party in the day before so I came home with about 30lbs, it had cobwebs and straw in it and was probably from some locally grown wheat, but - it made the best tasting & wholemeal rising bread I've ever made Laughing

Itsybitsy

Spana · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 2132 Location: North Cornwall

I love your technical stuff Itsy Very Happy

if it wasn't so late I'd start baking Laughing

Clucky · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2183 Location: Shropshire

MY OH makes our bread by hand and uses the same stuff as Itsybitsy (very interesting by the way!) Bread is my downfall over anything...including chocolate Shocked

He always uses to rises too.

I think my OH deliberately makes bread so that I can't eat it until late in the evening, torturing me with the smells wafting from the kitchen....the idea being that I can't eat too much so there some for the following day Wink

I have got it made really. He bakes his bread, brews his own beer and cooks all our meals...Hmmmm now what do I do....have to think about that one Laughing

mojo · Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:21 pm Post subject:

tricia(mrs mojo) makes super bread to this recipe regulally.........350gh loose flour(your choice).........210ml warm water........5gm salt....5grm sugar..........4or5grm dried yeast...........1 egg broken.......1 teaspoon of oil(try nut oil)........in the bread maker on normal and light crust setting............out of this world.

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1359 Location: Leicestershire

stephen · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 5:28 am Post subject:

When we moved here we accidentally made a loaf with 'med bakpulver' flour (to be fair, it was in very very very tiny writing, we only noticed afterwards).

It was incredibly light and delicious - though not very surprising seeing as it was the Swedish equivalent of Self Raising Flour!

mojo · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:10 am Post subject:

give it to the neighbours and tell them its your own special bread ............tricia did that with bread pudding and folks kept asking .........his zar heeny mur

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1359 Location: Leicestershire

CP · Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

It's not boring itsybitsy it's very interesting. Very Happy

(but it still won't make me a good cook! Rolling Eyes

)