Life at the moment has been quite aggravating. Not for any specific reason other than my yeast, for my bread, isn’t doing what I want it to do. For me, there is nothing quite as special as homemade bread. I love the feel of the dough between my fingers, the humming sound of the mixer and of course the smell.
Is there anything better than that smell? Maybe the smell of a newborn baby, or perhaps a new book. I guess it depends on your preferences.
If you’ve tried my cozy beef stew, then you’ve probably made yourself some cornbread. I love cornbread, but sadly I have struggled to find cornmeal and baking powder. (FYI: thank goodness for the Irish Store I visit!)
So, I thought to myself, “Self, you should make your own bread.” Of course, I’ve tried to do this several times and I must admit that the results were pretty tasty, but the process.
Well, that was a bit of a let down.
The yeast was not my friend. I’ve tried everything, from sugar, to milk to whatever trick I could find on the internet.
The smell was right. The bubbles were there. It all looked good. And as Paul Hollywood says, “Salt stunts (or kills not sure) yeast.” I made sure to keep salt far away.
The bread was proved, and. I waited hours (or whatever the recipe says), before I started baking, and yet it never quite got to the level of “sandwich” bread size.
Which is a pain in the booty.
This doesn’t mean that I’ll give up on my dream of making homemade sandwich bread. I just need to problem solve a little. Eventually, I am sure I’ll get the hang of it all.
Update: BTW I just made bagels, and they are the size of walnuts! So, it’s definitely the type of yeast I am using.
Thanks for stopping by and listening to my bread problems, I hope this inspires you to sound off in the comments about your own bread problems. Or perhaps you have solutions! Either way, I would love to hear what you’ve got.
Christina
