INGREDIENTS
What I use the most to make my breads at the moment are flours T45-T55-T65-T150 for wheat, flours T130-T150 for rye, dry baking yeast, salt and water mineral in bottle.
Sometimes I use seeds, sourdough.
In the future I will test fresh yeast, SAF-levure and many other types of flour.
FLOURS : At the start, like many, I learned about it. I learned that good bread is made with sourdough, noble flours full of fibers, rye, seeds. In short, everything that most of us do not find in stores near our homes!
And unfortunately, when you find it, it is often at discouraging prices for the wallet!
In this case, how do we do ??? What flours to make bread? The answer is simple: all those that you can have the opportunity to try!
You have to test everything! First the flours alone, then the mixes and then we will (perhaps) move towards more complex breads.
I started with the principle that T45 flours are made to make cakes. Something you can read all over the web.
And certainly not bread! But in reality I found that T45 flours are no problem for making bread!
I don't know on what criteria the flours for the cakes are made because I don't make them.
But for bread, if it is true that the choice of a semi-complete, complete, integral flour of wheat, rye will certainly be the best in nutritional terms, this is not necessarily the case in terms of form, the color and the final taste of your bread.
You don't always have to go to expensive flours.
A flour of first price at 50cts euro per kilo in T45 can quite give a very beautiful bread with a very good taste.
The ideal is of course to create your own mixes and find what suits you.
A balance between good nutrition and good taste.
It is a way for many families to find their way in terms of quality / price of the finished product.
So, no, flour does not have to be expensive to make good bread.
SALT : I use regular fine table salt. But you can use other kinds of salts as you like as long as it mixes well with the other dry ingredients first. But I'm still going to start using salt that has less sodium now. My quantity is generally 2% of the weight of the flour (s). Depending on your taste, you can put a little less or a little more.
YEAST : I use dry baker's yeast as a priority. I very rarely use Saf-levure, fresh yeast or sourdough. The amount is generally 2%, as for salt.
I really like the Saf-levure (in the form of granules, tiny round beads) and especially its strong odor. But it must be activated before use and I have missed bread because of this. If you are used to using a carefree type of yeast, that's good for you but I prefer to avoid, it gives me one less worry.
I also do not use fresh yeast because it must be stored cool and it is not very practical (this is a very personal opinion).
I sometimes use my own sourdough but I don't recommend it to beginners. Nothing like this to discourage you from making bread at home for life.
The sourdough is a delicate thing. It's alive and you have to take care of it. I have already killed several. It is discouraging for a beginner.
I quickly realized that before I wanted to make sourdough bread, I had to master (at least a little) yeast bread.
So for the moment I am using dry baking yeast.
Again, no need to ruin yourself in bags that cost a fortune. From what I’ve tried, they’re all equal. So you might as well go for the cheapest.
And for that, dry baking yeast from Norma or Lidl stores will do the trick!
Saf-instant yeast is also very good because, unlike Saf-levure, it does not need to be activated before use. In addition, if you make a lot of bread, it can be in a capacity of 500grs at unbeatable prices!
So, for the practical side of use and storage, dry baker's yeast is perfect.
WATER : I use bottled mineral water as a priority. But when I have no more, the tap water, after resting for several hours, is perfectly suitable. For a dough that I raise the day before, I use water at room temperature. Otherwise, I always use water at 35 ° C / 95 ° F.
BREADS TJ METHOD
