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I wait until the bread has cooked, thoroughly cooled and then freeze. That way you always have fresh bread if you haven't had time to make it that day. I meant to say once you get the basic recipe as you like you can add seeds, grated cheese, chopped sauted onions,herbs, nuts all sorts of flavourings which can turn a bowl of soup into something really wonderful.

do you freeze it before or after cooking

Thanks Kamilla. There are only two of us as well and I usually made a big round loaf, cut into 4 farls and freeze 3. Works well for us too.

Hi Old Thatch, my sourdough recipe is the same as the recipe I have posted but instead of 1tsp of dry yeast I use the sourdough starter. I use 00 flour instead of strong bread flour. It works well and I mix it with wholemeal flour.
samsung 1, I am glad your bread turned out well. I also wrap my bread in T towel to keep it fresh. But because it is only 2 of us at home now I slice my bread and keep it in the freezer nowadays.

Hi Kamilla, so glad it worked for you. Once you get the knack you can try all sorts of variations. If you have a 9" loose bottomed tin (actually you could use any size but the 9" takes 500g of dough) after you have kneaded the dough make about 12 rolls all the same size. Grease and flour the tin and place one or two balls of dough in the middle and arrange all the others around the outside. Put in the fridge overnight to prove and then in the morning take out and prove again for about an hour and bake as usual. Fresh warm rolls for breakfast. Just tear off each roll and serve. You can also use the dough after the first proving to turn into pizza bases. Take off dough as required, and roll on a floured board as thinly as you like and top with tomato sauce and sliced peppers, mushrooms etc. That is probably something that your little girl would love to help with. Good luck and keep baking.

hi i made my bread yesterday and it still soft and fresh today my other half loves and want me to carry on making my own plus it something which i can do with my little girl (just need to get her to stop eating it as dough) the only thing i have found is it takes longer to toast . i have been wrapping it in a tea towel as my mum said it was a way to keep them soft to start off

sam

Hi Kamilla, I agree, we never buy bread now - sounds silly but I never lose the thrill of taking the freshly baked bread from the oven. Are you the same? I would be really interested in seeing your sourdough recipe. If you have trouble obtaining bread flour what do you use? Many thanks

Old Thatch, I also use cold water and never had problem with rising.
Samsung 1, do let us know how you got on. I would never eat shop bought bread now. I also made sour dough starter and keep it in the fridge and use only that for my bread instead the dry (fresh) yeast.

Hi Samsung1, do try you wont regret it. I think the most important thing to remember is to ensure that the first kneading is thorough enough. Don't stop until the dough is really elastic ( I have a heart condition and have found my own easy way to knead by hand - as long as it works it can't be wrong) Most recipes indicate tepid water but most of Paul Hollywood's recipes suggest cold water and my reckoning is that if you use tepid water in a bread maker and put on delay by the time the machine starts working the water will be cold anyway. Do let us know how you get on. Home made bread - Magic and a thing of great beauty.

i will give that a go and if it does home made bread for me
yippeeeee

thank sam

Hi my recipe is similar but I can get hold of a wide range of bread flours. Unless I am making a speciality bread I always use the same recipe for all standard breads.
Apologies for mix of metric and imperial but it is easier for me to remember

500g strong white bread flour or a mix of different bread flours,
2 pinches sea salt,
7g sachet of dried yeast or 14g fresh yeast,
1/2pt tap water (from the cold taop,
Either 3 tablespoons of olive oil OR 2ozs butter

Place all ingredients in bowl and either using hands or a food mixer with a dough hook knead until dough is very elastic and silky (about 10-15 mins by hand or 5 mins with a dough hook on a low speed - mark 2 on a Kenwood Chef)
Stand somewhere warm for an 1 - 1.1/2 hours covered with a clean tea towel until doubled in size (or overnight in the fridge) Knock back for a minute or two and either shape as you like or grease and flour 2 x 1lb loaf tins or 1 x 2lb loaf tin. Again cover with the clean dry tea towel.
Leave again for another hour and then cook as directed by your oven guidelines. After 20 - 35 mins depending on your oven tap the bottom of the bread to ensure it is cooked (you will get a hollow sound when tapped.) If not cooked place back in oven and check again in another few minutes. Cool on a cake tray or the bottom will go soggy.
NB: If you do the first proving overnight in the fridge, in the morning take out the dough and knock back and continue as above.
I never use all wholemeal as it tends to be very heavy but would mix with 50/50% strong white bread flour.
Happy baking.

hi thanks for that i will give it a go and hope it turns out good

Hi samsung 1,

I have a recipe which I make all the time.

250 g wholemeal flour
250 g 00 flour (it is very difficult for me to get strong bread flour)
350 ml of water
1 tsp of dry yeast
about 2 tbsp of olive oil
about 1 1/2 tbsp of vinegar
salt
pinch of sugar

Dissolve the yeast in bit of water (from the allowance) with a pinch of sugar and pinch of flour, let it rise.
Put flour, salt, oil and vinegar in to a bowl, add risen yeast and add water. Mix till smooth. I mix it in my Kenwood Chef mixer for about 10 minutes. If the dough is too wet add some flour till it is right consistency.
Let rise till it doubles in size. I then knead it a bit and if it is too sticky I add more flour. Put in a loaf tin and when it is the size you want put in to the oven (I have a fan oven and don't preheat it) for 1/2 hour on 200C and then turn the oven down to 180C and bake for another 1/2 hour.

I hope I didn't forget anything as I don't have a written recipe, I just try to remember it all. let me know how you get on.

Kamila