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by soperj 2919 days ago
There's nothing arduous about bread making when you use a slow rise. I make bread and pizza dough and bagels several times a week, for couple reasons: a. it's bloody cheap, b. it's damn easy for how good it is. The process is literally stir the ingredients together and put a lid on it for about a day. 8 bagels, 3 pizzas, or a nice loaf of sourdough cost about 27 cents total.

Just go down to your local library and get My Bread by Jim Lahey.

2 comments

I'm not as prolific as you are, but I bake fairly regularly, and its the perfect hobby for me. Nice and relaxed, with a tasty outcome.

While I haven't read it myself, on /r/breadit there's also a lot of love for 'Flour Water Salt Yeast' as well.

A day seems long? I’ve not noticed any appreciable difference past 3 hours.

Curious as to why you leave it this long...

We make ours at night right before bed. Using a very small amount of yeast, we let it ferment/rise for 12 or so hours and then knock it down and rise for 2-3 more hours and into the oven.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

Personally notice a big taste difference, but even if that wasn't there, it's cheaper since you use significantly less yeast.
Does that make much difference? In my experience, the cost of cheese is by far the biggest determining factor in overall cost.
From my calculations, it tripled to cost of a loaf (which granted wasn't overly expensive). I really have no reason to do it any quicker though since I know when I'm about to run out of bread/bagels.
Why not use a little dough from the previous batch, removing straight yeast all together?
Does the type/quality of yeast make a difference? Maybe I just need to buy better yeast...
The dry active yeast I use is just what I get from costco for very cheap. Lately I've got a good sourdough start going on (just got some from the local bakery and have kept it going). It's a bit more finicky in how long you can let it rise for, but I like the taste better.