baking bread

does anyone have any ideas on how to bake bread that everyone will like?

Hi Shaunie and welcome to Permies.

That's a very tough question to ask. My brother-in-law likes white soft "bread" that's industrially made, sold in plastic bags and has a shelf life measured in weeks. I like home baked sourdough with a thick crust. I don't like his bread and he doesn't like mine. There could be a middle ground, but I haven't found it.

Maybe you could expand on your question? What do you like? What experience do you have baking? Who are you trying to please?

In the meantime, you might want to check out these Permie threads for inspiration:

Awesome Bread Flour

Sourdough project

vollkornbrot - I might have to try this myself, sounds amazing

Good luck with your quest!

When baking sourdough bread with wheat, I have found that adding three tablespoons of olive oil (for a batch making two loaves) makes the bread softer, which is often what people used to store-bought bread miss in hearty, home-baked bread. Here's the recipe I use: https://www.reformationacres.com/2017/06/sourdough-farm-loaf.html

Welcome to the forum, Shaunie!

That thread that Edward posted for the Vollkornbrot looks that a bread everyone would love.

My dear hubby is like Edward's brother-in-law as he likes bread that comes from a commercial bakery.

I like homemade bread, sourdough bread, wheat bread, rye bread, etc.  I have ever met a bread I didn't like.

Edward Norton wrote:Hi Shaunie and welcome to Permies.

That's a very tough question to ask. My brother-in-law likes white soft "bread" that's industrially made, sold in plastic bags and has a shelf life measured in weeks. I like home baked sourdough with a thick crust. I don't like his bread and he doesn't like mine. There could be a middle ground, but I haven't found it.

Maybe you could expand on your question? What do you like? What experience do you have baking? Who are you trying to please?

In the meantime, you might want to check out these Permie threads for inspiration:

Awesome Bread Flour

Sourdough project

vollkornbrot - I might have to try this myself, sounds amazing

Good luck with your quest!

hiya, my family for thanks giving! I love baking

shaunie smith wrote:

hiya, my family for thanks giving! I love baking

Hmmm. . .  something fast then, so soda bread or corn bread. Enjoy

Edward Norton wrote:

shaunie smith wrote:

hiya, my family for thanks giving! I love baking

Hmmm. . .  something fast then, so soda bread or corn bread. Enjoy

hiya, thank you!

Assuming you know how to bake a bread...

I think flour is key.
There are many different wheat flours and some other cereals that can be used for bread. Try a few of them, in different proportions and see if you like the taste.
I like 25% rye, 25% strength flour, 50% all purpose wheat flour. So far, it's the best flavour for the buck. Spelt is also very good, but it is expensive.
Add 16 grams of salt per kilogram of mass, and a spoon of olive oil or butter.

Sourdough/yeast is another question. Sourdough makes your bread more acid, depending on how much you add, but yeast is not always available. Also, sourdough bread is easier to digest. Yeast, on the other hand, is faster and easier.

You can increase the crust by leaving the bread more time in the oven when the baking is over. The crust protects the bread from dehydration, so it lasts longer, but it makes it harder to slice it, more rustic to say so.
Careful. The more you bake the bread, the sour it gets.


Once you like the taste of your bread, you can use edible seeds for decoration (I'm using quinoa and poppy seeds), sprinkle flour cover, or fill with nuts and raisins, or dried fruits, or sausages, or whatever you see fit in the next mass.


So, try different things and see what your friends like more. (You have to try a chorizo baked inside the bread).

If you're looking for something squishy and light, along the lines of store-bought bread, try Japanese Milk Bread: https://www.thekitchn.com/japanese-milk-bread-22987020

It combines the soft texture of Wonderbread with the rich flavor of homemade. I like to swap out some of the flour for whole wheat, and switch the white sugar for brown, just to amp up the flavor a little bit. I haven't tried it with 100% home-grown flour yet, but that's on my list for when I finally get the hang of growing wheat.