How many people here really know how to bake bread without a recipe

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   Draxposted 12 years ago

   How many people here really know how to bake bread without a recipe
   
   As food prices increase and quality deteriorates I am curious how many could actually make a loaf of bread or would it have to be cake :-)

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   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   Everything requires a recipe even if that recipe is stored in your head instead of a book. I personally can make regular bread without reading a recipe, but I prefer making banana bread. Cake is always good too though!

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      Perspycaciousposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is the comment I would have left had I left one.

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm a book cooker myself and always need the book open to tell me what to do next... sometimes I can even eat it. I was wondering do people know how to do it without a written recipe in front of you, as you say from memory..  Thanks

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   joytruthloveposted 12 years ago

   i make  plenty of things without buying them, but I use a recipe for most things.  I don't really know if it's cheaper to make things thought because you still have to buy all the ingredients, but it might be healthier because there shouldn't be any preservatives or other junk that processed food has in it.

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Joy... absolutely, I  always read the ingredients and never buy something if I do not recognise what is in it..

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   Seeker7posted 12 years ago

   I'll be perfectly honest - I have a hard time making bread with a recipe never mind without one! I have to say there's nothing tastier and that smells more delicious than freshly home baked bread.

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Tell me about it Seeker... :-)  you know you can go and out and buy smells now, I should do a hub about that..

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   Perspycaciousposted 12 years ago

   With a mill (they have great ones from Blendtec for the home), you can start with your choice of quality wheat, make your own flour in less than five minutes, and have loaves of homemade bread for pennies instead of $3.49 from the store for a matching quality bread.  There are simple blender recipes, also, that start with the wheat, make the flour, and prepare the dough you put in the pan and bake.

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You commented :-) !  Thanks...!   I really need one of these, it would be delightful to read the paper and then just butter the bread when it is ready..

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   lovebuglenaposted 12 years ago

   I've never made bread before so it would be fun to try baking one... While I prefer to work without recipes in this case I think a recipe is needed... at least to know the main ingredients that go into baking a bread.
   
   I read ingredients labels on things before I buy them (even on breads) and a lot of them have so much written in there that it makes me want to put the item back on the shelf. Whatever happened to a few ingredients? Why do they have to add all this chemical junk to the food, even to bread?

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely Lena... this drives me crazy, I just want carrots or whatever it is I am buying... I will have to post a recipe that just says bread ;-)
      Thanks !

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   Alina Rposted 12 years ago

   Well, if you know the basic ingredients in bread, such as flour, water, yest, a pinch of salt, a table spoon of sugar, you can mix it up till desired consistency without having a real recipe.  It does help to have a recipe, as then you know what proportions are going to work well.  If I make something that works well, I write down the recipe!

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Alina...  I have tried to make bread but it never works out like the picture :-)

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      Alina Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I make bread a lot, as my family has allergies, and it always comes out great, I think you need to give it time, to rise properly.

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Alina... more practice required then it seems !

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   vespawoolfposted 12 years ago

   I used a recipe when I started out making bread. I was also fortunate enough to have a mentor who was a country cook, the type of woman who could make crescent rolls in the blink of an eye. With experience, you get a feel for how the dough should feel in your hands and you can make it without measurements. Bread is really just flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt. You can add oil or use milk instead of water, etc. but it's the way the dough feels in your hands that tells you whether or not it'll turn into a beautiful loaf of bread. And the smell of fresh-baked bread as it comes out of the oven is hard to beat! Of course, I love cake too. I imagine there are plenty of people who will be able to make bread or cake, even with the most rudimentary ingredients. :   )

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm thinking to myself this is such a talent to be able to 'know' the bread... it's like the mysteries of ironing . The reference to cake was from Marie Antoinette when she was told there was no bread she said let them eat cake.. Thanks

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   mvillecatposted 12 years ago

   I have baked the same recipe enough times over not to need a recipe. I have been baking bread for 15 years now. It is a great point you make about increased food prices. I am a coupon stockpiler and wanne be homesteader. I have been working real hard this summer gardening, canning, and stockpiling food. I am not a prepper but I do believe in keeping a well stocked home. Combining sales and coupons does really work to help out a family's budget. Today, I saved 50% on my Kroger grocery bill. I have enough pasta to last six months. That may sound crazy to a non-stockpiler but that is how it works. You purchase large quantities of food when it goes on sale and have a coupon. It is really scary how close the world is to a food crisis.

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      Draxposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I find this admirable and it is great to always have food in hand to balance the political climate or what people believe or not believe...  we may need that  recipe :-)

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