Bread - essential man skill.

[doc holiday13]

Two years ago at a hunt the cook brought his starter and made sourdough bread every day . All the other guys in camp loved it and couldn't get enough , so he rationed it out , made sure I got a slice with every dinner , like he was doing me a favor , LOL .
I felt obliged to eat it , with a ton of butter . I didn't want to offend the guy , he was so proud of it , LOL

Cinnamon rolls are easy and delicious !

Sourdough can greatly vary on flavor. My wife has it perfected. I brought a loaf to bear camp and it was 90% consumed within an hour

 

[TaperPin]

How do we make the bread soft? Everything comes out hard enough to break a window and almost inedible. We just want soft bread or rolls for sandwiches. Doesn't have to be sourdough!

It was a game changer to use a thermometer to judge when it’s done. That keeps the inside from being dry and over done, or so underdone it’s gooey. 200ish degrees in the very middle, more or less depending on your recipe.

Lower cooking temperature for longer times reduces browning and gives a thinner crust.

Baking with the dough covered keeps steam in and limits browning. If using loaf pans, turning a second pan upside down like a lid works. Tenting with aluminum foil works if there’s enough room for the bread to rise. Baking in a Dutch oven with the lid on also works. To limit browning of the very bottom, a cookie sheet on the rack directly below the bread pan helps.

If the dough hasn’t fully risen it can be more rock like - it should be nearly the size of the finished loaf when going into the oven. I’m not very patient so this part is still hard for me.

 

[The_Jim]

How do we make the bread soft? Everything comes out hard enough to break a window and almost inedible. We just want soft bread or rolls for sandwiches. Doesn't have to be sourdough!

My wife uses a sourdough sandwich bread recipe. I like it better than the artesian loaves.

 

[CRJR45]

Sourdough can greatly vary on flavor. My wife has it perfected. I brought a loaf to bear camp and it was 90% consumed within an hour

Oh I’m sure it was just me , it wasn’t around long .
The cook sat whatever was left after dinner down on the table with real soft butter , they practically wrestled for it ,

 

[SDHNTR]

I make various kinds of regular bread all the time, but don’t have the discipline (nor desire) to deal with sourdough. It’s like having another pet to keep alive.