Bread

Bready, Steady.... GO!
A while ago, I found myself randomly flicking through TED videos, and came across Peter Reinhart talking about bread.

I've been trying, on and off, to make decent bread (mostly through the medium of the pizza base) since 1999, and never seemed to be able to figure it out. I always ended up with dense inedible lumps.  Peter's little talk made me go and buy one of his books, Artisan Breads Everyday.

I found this book very useful. It make me understand much more about what actually happens when you knead bread, when you prove it; basically the whole process.

I've since tried a few of his recipes, and I think I've made some pretty good bread as a result.

These days, I make at least a loaf a week, sometimes more, and it really doesn't take that much effort (using his overnight fridge fermentation method), and I haven't had to buy any fancy utensils or whatnot to get some great outcomes.

My latest bread takes his basic French bread, and just adds 20% Spelt flour to the mix and I've found that is makes a bread with a bit more flavour than the standard plain white stuff.

I'd encourage anyone who likes good bread to give it a go.