Bread-making Help Please [Flour & Yeast]

[AkenMahaf]

Hi :-)

I'm used to making bread by hand in the UK and have no problem with local bread whatsoever (love it!) but I've been brought six bread tins from Britain and have had the urge to make 'standard' bread loaves here.

I started about a month ago and bought standard flour (to start with) from Omar's to try - the loaves turned out to be more like bricks! LOL

So I found different dried yeast (Rehab) as opposed to the sachets and tried again - bricks! lol

I found the flour used for aish pheno and tried that (along with a friend's assistance and excessive amounts of yeast) - bricks again! :-(

I'd sifted the warm flour repeatedly and kept the yeast/s warm - in fact I tried both methods i.e. adding dried yeast directly to warm flour and also making a 'brew' of yeast with sugar and leaving it to start to do its stuff... nothing has worked so far :-(


I've NEVER seen "Strong bread flour" anywhere in Luxor - any suggestions would be very welcome indeed :-) Can it be bought here?

I'm fairly sure that the flour is just not right and isn't meant for making anything larger than pheno.... my thought is that the flours' gluten content (and processed state) isn't helping... but the dried yeast is the major problem I think :-(

I've tried many different sachets of dried yeast and the small can of 'Rehab' yeast and even trebled the amount stated on that tin, but no... 'building bricks' are still the result - the dough just doesn't ever double in size despite careful monitoring of temperature, fluid and humidity. In fact the dough barely increases in size at all, even when kept in a very warm kitchen with the oven on :-(

Has anyone used a yeast here that was good enough to make loaves....?
Or flour for that matter - I have a 20Kg sack of flour for pheno and I don't think it's going to work out unless I can either add something to it... or find an alternative flour and/or yeast :-(

If anyone has tips on making standard 'UK' bread in bread tins I'd be very grateful to hear from you as I now have 'orders' for loaves and more tins on their way (and a big oven) along with some expats trying to find an electric knife to make 'standard British' sliced bread.

Help, please! :-)

TIA :-)

[Connie Tindale]

Do you want a small tin of yeast bringing out from the UK so that you can try that? I am coming out on Monday and can bring some with me.

[AkenMahaf]

Do you want a small tin of yeast bringing out from the UK so that you can try that? I am coming out on Monday and can bring some with me.

Oh thank you so much! That would be wonderful :-)

I do ask visitors to bring stuff out for me but never thought about yeast.... plus I don't now have more visitors until the new year.

Thank you so very much - at least I could rule out whether the problem is the yeast :-)
I'll happily provide you with some loaves in return providing they don't turn out as bricks that is ;-)

Thanks!!! :-)

[Connie Tindale]

I shall pop some in my bag and we can arrange for you to have it when i get there.

[Countessa]

Good luck with the bread-making Aken A long time ago I tried making a loaf here but it was so hard it could've broken a window Hopefully the yeast will help - don't forget to let us know how you get on!!

On another point, if you are friendly with your local 'oven' they can sell you a quantity of prepared fino dough - I find it delicious to use when making a pizza base

Happy cooking!!

[Ess]

You could try makking what is known as "sour dough" bread. You'd need to get a lump of yeast-laced dought from a local bakers. Use your standard measurements for flour and add the dough to this. The important bit is to prove it SLOWLY.

Another tip is to cut the amount of sugar you are using in your recipe. Prove the dough slowly (that is - in as cool a room as possible). Then knock it back and prove it slowly again.

[WIZARD]

Must try that.

[FABlux]

This thread makes me think you could all get together a build an L4U wall out of all the bricks you are making

[HEPZIBAH]

This thread makes me think you could all get together a build an L4U wall out of all the bricks you are making

[face=Comic Sans MS]Or a footpath to pave the way for those who are on their way there. [/face]

[Connie Tindale]

I bought some Allinsons yeast today so we can see if we can get something nice and light out of that. Other than that the pavement outside my flat needs mending.

[Ladybird]

hi AkenMahaf


what way did u do the yeast?
when i made loaves there and baggettes i found that you have to soak the yeast for at least 20mins or so in luke warm suger water it should froth up kind of like a head on it.i hope this may help
lady bird

[FABlux]

This thread makes me think you could all get together a build an L4U wall out of all the bricks you are making

[face=Comic Sans MS]Or a footpath to pave the way for those who are on their way there. [/face]

You guessed I had an ulterior motive!
Barry reckons all the mud bricks beside the temples are the failed production from the local bakeries

[AkenMahaf]

what way did u do the yeast?

Hi Ladybird & Thanks

Can you remember what brand of yeast you used when you were here and making bread...?
What sort of flour did you use?

I've tried countless ways to coerce the yeast into actually doing something

I firstly tried just adding a sachet of dried yeast to warm, sifted flour and that was probably the best loaf - it was edible (just!) and I didn't break teeth LOL

Then I tried a fermentation, as you mentioned, and tried (initially) about a dessertspoon full of sugar and half a pint of warm/tepid water - the water was cool enough (judging by past experience) not to cook the yeast ;-) I left that brew for half an hour (kept it warm) and until I could see bubbles on the surface... but the fermentation didn't go too well and no real amount of bubbles appeared but it did work, a bit.

So then I doubled the amount of dried yeast (various brands and packets/tins) and added more sugar as a test (about an ounce) and that did seem to work as a brew but the bread failed to rise beyond a minimal level
The best brew I got was leaving it for three hours in the relatively warm kitchen, but the bread failed to prove

So then I tried using the double yeast amount brew and also dried yeast added directly to the sifted, warm flour.
Bricks again

I kept the dough warm (but not hot) & covered... and have never in my life failed to make so many loaves LOL

Maybe the dried yeast here is just so poor that it needs large amounts of yeast & sugar and much longer to drag itself together
I don't want sweet bread, obviously, but the yeasts I've tried just don't seem too keen to do any real work

I think the bread & 'brick' problem is two-fold - I CAN NOT get hold of "Strong" bread flour in Luxor and the yeast just isn't good/strong enough to do anything more than sit there!

I tried adding baking powder (and at another time) bicarb of soda, late during the first kneading - I knew they wouldn't work but I thought it was worth a go

What irritates me is that in the UK I didn't even measure ingredients or pay too much attention to the 'details' of bread making (e.g. temperature, proving & humidity, late salt addition etc) and yet now I'm looking at EVERY step of the process carefully and all I'm doing is preparing yet more bricks for LuxorLover's path LOL

I like to make different types of bread (savoury & sweet) and even though I love the local bakeries they wouldn't ever make the breads that I, and friends, would like.

LuxorLover is bringing me a pot of dried yeast when she flies to Luxor on Monday (Bless ya!) and I will be reporting back on this issue as it seems that a number of people are wanting to bake their own bread here

BTW I love the Ladybird name - do we get ladybirds in Egypt ::scratching head and thinking::


To sum it up, I have LAZY Egyptian yeast!
LOL

[FABlux]

Oh dear AM. If what LL brings you works, let us know & we will try to squeeze some more in to our bag in January if thats any help? Not coming until 29th I'm afraid.
I understand they are getting on well with the paving so you can stop producing bricks now Sorry I have a warped sense of humour, but the offer is genuine

[Connie Tindale]

I hope to be back again in January for L4u's 2nd birthday, so I could bring some flour with me then.

[FABlux]

Hopefully you'll still be there when we arrive then LL? Won't offer to take flour, too many other heavy things to take & leave for October, thanks to Stan's kind offer.

[drwho]

Problem Solved!
Forget Omars' start buying your bread from Aken Mahaf, should make a killing!
Mind you I quite liked the idea of 'moldy bread' and Salem Witches. Enticing to say the least.

[HEPZIBAH]

what way did u do the yeast?

I've tried countless ways to coerce the yeast into actually doing something

To sum it up, I have LAZY Egyptian yeast!
LOL

[face=Comic Sans MS]I'm no bread maker, indeed I too could be in the runnning for chief supplier of paving slabs! I do have an idea though!
One other thing you could try is to add some natural yogurt to your mix. Depending on the live cultures in the yogurt it often stimulates further the yeast fermentation. You shouldn't need much, start with not more than a dessertspoonful, which should be at room temperature ie not straight from the fridge. Add it at the same point you add your liquid to the dry ingredients, not to the yeast preparation itself. You may need to cut back a little on the amount of liquid you add to your dough, but not by much.

(I am assuming you can get hold of good natural yogurt in Egypt, not the sterilsed, homegenised, longlife, no possible relation to the real thing typee of yogurt that is often available in UK supermarkets. )[/face]

[Ladybird]

AkenMahaf
you have a great sense of humor i hadn't laugh so much thanks for that.
any way let me tell you leaving the yeast for more than 30 Min's will not prove the bread but here's a tip when measuring the ......! Egyptian yeast boil your 3/4 measurement in hot then the rest in cold water. :idea: :arrow: the yeast i used the local one from the supermarket in television st you know the vege market and the brand flour i used was horse which was sure a strong flour. the yeast here in Ireland i cant work properly so i went back to the continental shop to buy the one like you have in Egypt except its called abido.
the trick of fermenting the yeast is a :idea: table spoon of sugar into the perfect temperature fluid which can be half water and half milk or water only.

the other thing is if you feel the bread is not proving then you drop the idea of loaf and try pita bread.my chef friend say the perfect temperature is when the liquid is warm but the metal spoon may come away feeling warm if you know what i mean!!
any way best of luck love: ladybird

[AkenMahaf]

To sum it up, I have LAZY Egyptian yeast!
LOL

Well, it HAD to be the lazy Egyptian yeast and it is!
It still sits in the countless pots and sachets with ABSOLUTELY no intention of even raising a smile let alone a loaf of good bread!



I've used exactly the same plain flour (the same 15 to 20Kg sack) and changed nothing BUT the yeast which LL kindly brought from Britain (thanks!).

So, if anyone is still producing bread bricks I can tell you that it's just a matter of getting better yeast.

I had a few e-mails after my original posting about 'bread & flour assistance' - thanks to all for the suggestions but there's nothing to blame but the yeast
I also got a couple of e-mails to ask why on earth did I bother to make my own bread - it's quite simple, I like the taste of my own bread and I find the process of making it very therapeutic... plus I know I now have two large, wonderful loaves to slice for toast and sandwiches later Bliss!

Thanks LL and all

I'll go to sleep today dreaming of big spiced teacakes or hot cross buns... next on my list!