h squared said:i could use a good bagel recipe or two myself. the one i have is ok (no eggs!),
but it's fun to experiment. and btw, (cover your ears, tritonrider) i make
dough in either the bread machine or in the kitchen aid. saves a ton of time.
otherwise i'd never make anything, knowing how lazy i am.
Yeah, well, the kitchenaid is basically a scaled down version of the industrial
strength Hobart mixer found in bakeries anyway. The first time I saw the back
room of a commercial bakery I saw the huge mixers and thought Geez, that looks
just like something you would see in a machine shop, only the business end is
different shaped.
Quoted message said:i don't know how much bread type stuff you've made in the past, but different
types of flour and even different brands of the same "type" can make a
difference in a recipe.
Oh yeah. Even the humidity makes some difference, gotta do it by feel. I think
the reason fewer people bake than cook is that it's harder to learn the feel for
dough and baking unless you learn hands-on from someone who knows. Also, baking
takes too much time in the modern world. My dad makes wonderful sourdough bread,
but you gotta commit to making bread every week to keep the starter alive.
Quoted message said:also, be careful not to burn the hell out of your face with escaping steam when
opening the oven door. that was "fun"..
Ow. I like to pour boiling water into a pan to improve the crust on french bread,
and sometimes I forget there's a pan full of water on the lower rack ... oops.
Damn, I haven't done that in a long time, now I'm hungry.
Ben