Newbie intro and halp!

[leucotheasveil]

Hello all

Comments

[belochka]

i've gotten the dough to be a ball -- though i'm not sure how "satiny"

what my machine's instructions say is to first put in most of the flour in the recipe (as in, leaving a few ounces out), and then add the rest of the flour as the dough is mixing, or -- if it gets too hard -- water, but just one tablespoon at a time -- until you're happy with the consistency

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as far as different recipes, i've used some from this community (people don't write too often, so you can just go back a few pages to look for what inspires you) and some googled online

- spinach bread (yum and healthy)
- banana bread (yum and _not_ healthy)
- beer & cheese bread (yum and still healthier than the banana bread)
- rye bread using some liquid from pickles (the salty, rather than the sweet kind -- this probably isn't the exact recipe i used, but just in case: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/DillPickle.htm)

[wendyzski]

It's really a matter of practice and getting a feel for what works. I always peek in once the real kneading starts and if it's still amoeba-like you sprinkly in some flour by the Tbs until it starts to come together.

It may not be the humidity where you are but where the flour was packaged as well - it's just not an exact science.

[cappyhead]

My challah bread recipe works every time, even if the dough is sticky, or doesn't seem to rise very high, etc. I usually use the dough setting on the bread machine then take it out & braid it. But it works just as well if you bake it in the bread machine. The recipe can be found here:

http://cappyhead.livejournal.com/22823.html

weigh your flour!

[portsalut]

Flours can weigh different amounts. If you weigh your flour instead of measuring in cups it's a lot more reliable, especially when dealing with bread. Small digital kitchen scales are very economic these days. Happy breading!

[bldrnrpdx]

Different kinds of dough will have different consistencies. It depends on how determined you are to have exactly the same kind of texture every single time you bake, I guess. I'm mostly just looking to have a decent loaf of bread to eat or share. Maybe if I was looking to enter baking contests (our state fair has a division not just for yeast bread, but for Traditional vs. Bread Machine Bread), I'd be pickier. But generally, a decent recipe, mostly followed, turns into edible - if not really nice - bread.