I tried it alone. I tried it with jam on top. I tried it dipped in coffee and with tea. I tried butter. I toasted it and tried that. But no amount of dressing up made it remotely tasty, or even mildly edible. I’d made a shitty loaf of bread.
There was really no denying it when I sliced that first slice and found a dense whole-wheat grain that resembled the edge of a broken cinder block. I might have gotten the hint earlier, though: removing it from the oven after 45 minutes without any rising, I saw that my 6 cups of flour had turned into a fist-sized loaf which, on lifting, approximated the density of tungsten. I might have even known it while I was kneading the loaf earlier and my standing mixer started made the same sound a lawnmower makes when you happen upon the hidden stump of a Civil War-era oak tree.
But as usual I didn’t pick up on these subtle hints, and a gentle tap on the finished puck elicited not the deep hollow sound I expected, but a sharp knuckle pain and a faint knock. Better luck next time.
Comments
Mar 16 02004 9.38p
Missie Saint #
What’s more dissapointing than an awful loaf of bread? Such an anticlimax.
I frequently bake our household bread, and there’s a number of things that might have gone wrong—overkneading, an overheated oven, issues with the flour—-but I suspect the problem was with your yeast!
Allow me to condense years of mighty battle with yeast into one paragraph:
~Yeast conquering super-tips~
(1) Before making bread, always make sure your yeast, which should have been stored sealed in a very cool dry place, has not expired. (2)if the recipe calls for proofing, the liquid you add to the yeast should ideally be approx 110* (use a meat thermometer). (3)Note, ice water and liquids hotter than 130 degrees will kill yeast, resulting in a ball of rock hard flour, suitable for use only as a door-jam. (4) a little sugar, such as a teaspoon of sugar or tablespoon of honey, will help your yeast work. If the recipe does not call for any sugar, then add one of the above to yeast during proofing for extra oomph. tasty, too!(5) this is my favorite tip ever, and made a major difference in my bread— the ideal place to let your dough rise before baking is —taadaa!— your oven. Preheat it to 200* for 10 minutes, TURN IT OFF, and set the dough inside to rise. (6) don’t rely on cooking times or hollow sounds to determine when the bread is done—whip out that meat thermometer again. To test, insert it, at an angle, into the middle of the loaf—the bread is done to total perfection at 195*.
Good luck!
~Missie
Mar 18 02004 11.03a
Joshua Cherry #
Nice cutting board!!!
Apr 2 02004 3.36p
fc #
nice pic! hahaha