and the word is "bickering" not "pickering" :o)

I like your spirit!

Happy Friday!

I'm glad you are sticking it out and I sure know what you mean...remember "water enhancers"?

BTW-I think "pickering" is very appropriate; on the forum posters can keep coming back to "pick" and keep it festering.

I think that's the reason I don't post much. I do keep reading and collecting recipes. Been slow lately for those.

It does seem that there are some who think it's their way and no other..."Try it you'll see"...they say.
But I have changed my recipe or the way I do something many times because of what I have learned here...like adding an extra egg white to my popovers for an absolutely sure big pop. Not proofing my yeast in warm water, how to make a wonderful chicken broth, that a wetter bread makes for bigger holes and how to make many sorts of compound butters.
But there is NO absolute one way to do or make something. And to assume that your way, or someone else's way is best is simply wrong. If that were so, everyone's dinners would taste exactly the same....and fried chicken and sticky buns and white sauce are as different as the people who make them.
Glad you are staying ntt hou.

LindaC, adding an extra egg white to my popovers for an absolutely sure big pop; I like that tip, thanks.

Thanks all for understanding :o)

LindaC, yes, I agree. There are many ways of doing things. LOL, with my disability, I even invent new ways of doing things. Just as long as I can do it and its result is the same.

Mustangs, you wrote "remember "water enhancers"?". Huh? Sorry but I don't get it?

"But there is NO absolute one way to do or make something. And to assume that your way, or someone else's way is best is simply wrong."

"I live in Iowa....we KNOW corn. I've seen people shuck a bushel of corn for a corn boil in less time than it takes to tell....always starting at the tip or the ear. People who know corn know that by shucking from the top of the ear you can remove most of the silk with one pull, when you cut the tip off, you remove the "handle" for the silk and have to resort to a sponge, which seems very unsanitary, or a brush.
And we call it an ear of corn, a stalk of corn a kernel of corn, depending on what you are talking about....but a "corn" is something that grows on your toe from ill fitting shoes.
Perhaps we don't do it in an "interesting" way...but it is efficient.
Come to Iowa or Illinois in late July and we'll show you how to shuck corn!
Linda C"

Jimster, you should have posted your comment in that thread. Please, let-it-go! Pretty please?!?

Jim....you are continuing to poke the bear....you KNOW my post was in response to several other posts....not as a stand alone comment.

ntt hou, I'm glad you are staying too.

This is, after all, a cooking forum. I have gotten a lot of knowledge and good tips here, and I take away what I wish to use and forget the rest.

And sort of like those blasted rose cupcakes, what works for some doesn't necessarily work for me. sometimes none of the ways work for me. (sigh) And that's when I just say "never mind" and do something else.

I do that with contentious threads too, I just say "never mind" and go do something else.

Annie

Annie

LindaC said "But I have changed my recipe or the way I do something many times because of what I have learned here...like adding an extra egg white to my popovers for an absolutely sure big pop. Not proofing my yeast in warm water, how to make a wonderful chicken broth, that a wetter bread makes for bigger holes"

Linda, I make popovers, and I'm going to try that!
Also, I didn't know that about wetter bread. How do you proof your yeast if not in warm water??

Thanks! I learned something today.

Ask Ann T about the yeast....she never proofs....just adds the dry yeast with the flour....it works!
And I was moaning about popovers not popping over just when you were showing off for company....and Ginger....years and years ago, told me to add that extra egg white.....and I haven't had a failure since!

I wonder if proofing started out just as a way to make sure your yeast was still good when you weren't sure, and then got over-generalized to a bunch of recipes. I use the bulk yeast and keep in in the freezer, like many others, and it's extremely reliable. I only proof it if I'm in a huge hurry to get the bread to rise. I think the warm water and sugar get the yeast awake and multiplying as fast as possible.

I really thought it was instant yeast that could be added to the dry ingredients.

It's certainly worth a try. I guess yeast doesn't need sugar to work. I make the Honey whole wheat 99% of the time, and as it uses honey instead of sugar, I just use warm water with the yeast. I think it takes a long time to get working, but that might just be me. Someone told me a long time ago that sugar kills yeast, the same as salt, so when I use my breadmaker, I make sure the sugar is well away from the yeast.

I think you're right. Putting yeast in a very hypertonic solution (lots of sugar or salt) could kill it or at least make it dormant. In a nutshell, the water would rush out of the yeast cells to try to dilute the solution surrounding the yeast. But when I proof yeast, I put just a pinch of sugar in a cup of water, or something like that. It's not enough to kill the yeast. I threw away the package my yeast came in, so I'm not sure what kind it is. My experience has been that all yeast is pretty much the same, but I also don't do much precision baking. In any case, honey or corn syrup should work just as well to feed the yeast as sugar. You'd just dissolve a little of the honey in the warm water and add the yeast.

Linda, do you beat the extra egg white to a froth and then add it, or do you just add it unbeaten?

Sally

I never proof yeast. I bake enough that I know my yeast is fresh. I store it in the fridge. Also, unless I'm baking a sweet bread I never add sugar or other sweetners. Flour has enough simple sugars to feed yeast.

Ann

I never proof yeast either, like Ann T I bake a lot of bread and use enough yeast that it's never very old. I also store mine in the refrigerator, I just put it in a glass canning jar.

Oh, and I never sift either, I think that's also something I share with Ann T.

Annie

Well I'm certainly going to try it with my next loaf of bread. It saves a lot of time.

Like you guys, my yeast is fresh. I keep it in the freezer and frig, and bring out what I want before I start baking so it's not real cold. I know some of you don't bother even doing that.
I don't sift anything.....I think with the flours now, and not finding bugs, sifting is unnecessary.

The only time I sift is for Angel food cake. I think it makes a lot of difference to sift then measure the flour and sift the flour and sugar together.
When....and if I proof yeast ...I use about 1/3 cup water,4 tsps yeast and at least one teaspoon of sugar....And only do that when I want the bread to rise up in a big hurry!..And I put a 2 cup measure of water into the micro...bring it to a boil.....then add the dough to that warm moist enviornment. It rises in nothing flat....at the expense of that wonderful mature flavor.....but at least it's home made bread or rolls.

All your posts about yeast and making breads are wonderful. I wish I could live nearby one of you!

I tried making bread a couple of times but the local supermarkets make them fresh every day. I got used to just go there and buy them. But, I think I'm missing all the fun. I need to go back in making breads.

Thanks for the tips & for sharing :o)

Ntt Hou, I'm sorry, it seems that your thread has been hijacked into a bread-making one!!!

I'm glad you're here to stay, and yes, do try your hand at making bread again. I've only recently learned and still learning, obviously!! I used to make my bread from start to finish in my breadmaker, but using either that or the KA and then forming it into loaves and baking is fantastic!

The only bread that we buy is rye for hubby. Hands down our favourite is the Whole Wheat Honey Bread.

Jasdip, I don't mind at all being hijacked. Just as long as all comments stay positive & sharing!

As long as you guys don't end up throwing bread to each others, I'm a happy camper! But if you feel like throwing fresh breads, just throw them this way...gently... yum yum :)

ntt hou, I remember all our discussions about Bao. You do have flour skills!

Hi Jessyf, funny that you mentioned the word "flour". I learned from my mom at a very young age about the different type of flours and their results when using warm water vs. cold water, when baking vs. steaming and vs. boiling. In our country, we have rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, corn flour, wheat flour, enbleached flour, different type of roots flour, and so many more.

When we came to the US in 1975, we had the hardest time finding rice flour. Mom had to put rice in a food processor to make rice flour. We just couldn't understand why there were so few flours in the US. Now, with all the Asian Stores and a large Asian community, all these are readily available.

The HOU in my user name means that I live in Houston. This town is big and is getting bigger every day. The reason I mentioned is because there are so much competion around Houston when it comes to food. Just about evey grocery store, even Walmart, make fresh bread daily now. Close by, there's asian markets that make Bao fresh daily too. All these just spoil the heck out of me. LOL, it makes me lazy to bake!

Another reason, baking means turning on the oven which heats up the rooms. Summer in Houston is hot! I tried to use the oven as less as I can in the summer.

Nevertheless, the smell of fresh bread and homemade cooking in the house is so memorable. It sure warm up the spirit, doesn't it?

ntt house, it does warm the spirit, as well as the kitchen. I've forgotten many things in my childhood but I distinctly remember the smell of warm bread when I came home from school, and having a nice warm slice of bread fresh from the oven, with butter melting into it.

Annie