Upon having developed friendships with people who are allergic to certain barleys found in most breads and flours, I have undertaken a quest to find and possibly bake, Barley-malt free bread.
Mom made a ton of bread at home when i was a kid, so the process isn’t unfamiliar to me, but I never actually did the whole thing by myself before.
And I did fine! I made a couple of loaves (late last week) of Whole Wheat which were pretty damned good, if I say so myself!It’s a little dense, like cornbread, almost, but good! (I probably didn’t let it rise enough) Last night I repeated the performance by making some white bread, which turned out even better! I’m so tickled with myself!
So now i have to get some bread recipes. I already have a couple sent by friends, and I’m trying to find places that have different kinds of flour so I can do different things. But all in all, mixing, kneading, rising, and , then baking bread- the way the house smells, the whole thing, very, very zen-like. I’m impressed.
Billy, I bake for a living, so if there are any questions you want to ask, feel free. And for great recipes, Beard on Bread by the late, great James Beard is my favorite single book about breadbaking.
I do have a few questions- is there any commercial/consumer available bleached flour which is barley malt free? And how long will yeast keep? those little packets are horribly expensive, but I’m afraid if I buy the big jar at Sam’s club it’ll eventually die.
I will buy that book. I’m liking the idea of baking more and more.
I make my own bread too! Not as often as I’d like to, but it’s great when I do. It’s suprisingly easy, isn’t it? I always thought breadmaking was this mysterious process that you had to be initiated into the ranks of the Knowing to understand. But it’s simple!
Having got a great Italian cookbook for christmas, I’m going to have a go at foccacia soon. Rar.
I am assuming you are talking about the dry yeast from the packets or the jars and not the fresh yeast cubes found in the grocery store’s refrigerated section. Dry yeast will keep, unopened, up to two years from date of production. It will keep for 4 to 6 months after it has been opened if it is refrigerated (NOT FROZEN!).
A bit of a price war has erupted in the consumer yeast market so if you look around, the packets are not as expensive as they were a couple of months ago.
You were able to find jar yeast at Sam’s Club? The only yeast I can find there are two-1 pound vacuum-packed bricks plastic-wrapped together!
My mother was allergic to barley until her desensitization routine was done. During those 5 years, she baked fresh bread 2 times a week. She ground all her own wheat, to get barley free flour. I bet you could find some at a larger co-op market these days, though.
I bake my own bread, too. I love the smell and the taste. The more bread I make, the better I get at it. A couple weeks ago I made a beautiful braided Swedish egg bread. It was lovely, and made great toast. I use recipes from the King Arthur Flour website.
