our daily bread - take it literally

This is how I make our daily bread. I am sorry for the quality of some of the upcoming photos, as almost all the photos were made by my left hand AND I am a right-handed person.

The first step is: Preparation.

All the ingredients and necessary equipment are put on the kitchen table. Flours, a spoon, scales, a large bowl.

Also needed: some liquid. It can be water. Alternatively, I mix water with some kind of milk - be it sweet or sour, yogurt or kefir. More often than not, we have at least one of these types of milks at home. The liquid is in the pitcher (in the above pic, at 11.) What you see in my hands is the key factor in making a home-made bread. The point is that is NOT yeast. It is very much like dough, as described here. But in my case (and it is the same as bread has been made at home over the thousands of years of human history) actually it is a piece of the last bread I made. I tear it out before baking the bread and it is stored in the fridge - until the next bread is prepared. The first time I made bread I got this piece from a girlfriend. Friendship spreads this way :)

Step 2. Putting the ingredients into bowl. In the first photo, you saw various kinds of flours. I often mix flours to make bread. We have spelt (fine and whole-grain) and winter wheat (fine) and rye (fine) flours at home. All these are organic. Recently I have bought a small package of pumpkin flour (not organic) to give occassionally some special flavour to the bread. Pictured is the making of a ryebread hence are the seeds. As you probably know, ryebread's got its distinctive flavour by the adding of caraway seeds. In the centre, there is the 'dough' - freshly taken out of the fridge. Not visible, but inevitable: salt and oil. Don't forget about them.

Step 3. Put all unnecessary things away from the table. While your hands are clean :)

Step 4. Working. You add the liquid of your choice in little amounts and swirl around within the flour mixture. The 'dough' becomes larger and larger as you do this. It seems that it takes up the fluid and combines it with the flour. As it grows bigger, you might feel the need to put more and more energy into the making. Below are the first drops of water enter the mixture - the 'dough' is not really bigger than it originally was.

Now the 'dough' has taken up almost all of the fluid. The process of working is nearing its end.

At this time more energy is needed on your part. Depending on the amount of flour, of course.

Some more pushing and pulling - avoid the strap of the camera from getting dirty (in case you're picturing making bread, that is)

This one below is a nice picture. It indicates that the mixture is ready: it comes off of your hands and the bowl is almost clean as well. Note the caraway seeds within.

Step 5. Wash your hands. Put the lid on the bowl, or cover it.

Step 6. Wait. Depending on the temperature, the quality of 'dough' and flours, the amount of bread and on your patience, waiting may take sometime between 2-7 hours. The more the better generally applies, but one can over-rise the bread. This might result in a really fermented, sour and sticky raw bread, which is really hard ot work with in the final phase. During waiting you can do anything. Go work, clean the house, have a rest - you might even go to a night's sleep.

Step 7. Preheat the oven. Prepare the pan by spreading a non-adhesive paper on the bottom.

Step 6. Put a little 'dough' away for the next bread. Inevitable step.

Step 7. Place the bread into the pan. When I make a double amount, that is, two breads: to avoid them from baking into one another, I cleverly put a paper roll, covered with non-adhesive paper all over, between the two raw breads. I'm so clever I invented this! Ok, I know I did not, but for myself, yes, it was a problem I solved.

Unfortunately, this is not in the pictures. I think I put it between them after I made the photo...

Step 8. Slice with a knife so that the air that is produced during baking can leave the bread. Without slices, the gas tends to find its way trhough the raw bread anyway - resulting in a torn apart, ragged appearance of the end product.

Step 9. Place into oven. Don't forget to put in the paper tube - my clever intention!

Step 10. Baking takes about an hour. Depending on the amount of bread, the heat, and the way you like your bread.

Step 11. Enjoy. I suggest putting the hot bread on something that allows airing. Otherwise the hotness results in dampness at the bottom of the fresh bread.

Step 12. Once cooled off, slice the bread to taste. If you have seemed to have made more bread than you directly need, don't hesitate to freeze it. I always do that. The result? One-day 'old' bread, fresh bread all the time...

Next session: what to spread on the bread. If you follow me, you'll see that too.