Ingredients

So - what is this?   It is a list of potential ingredients (partial) for bread.  The objective of such a list is  to inspire people to 'give it a try'.
Comments -
 --- the numbers are not necessarily in order as the list was alpha sorted after the numbers were 'assigned'.
 --- the single x is an ingredient that I have tried and the double x is an ingredient I have tried and still use.

1	Bacon	x
2	Bacon grease	x
3	Beer - bold
4	Beer - light	x
5	Caraway Seeds	xx
8	Cheese - Parmesan	x
6	Cheese - Sharp Cheddar	xx
7	Cheese- Mozzarella	x
9	Coffee - instant	x
10	Coffee - super fine	x
11	Dried Apples	xx
12	Dried Apricots
13	Dried Cranberries	x
14	Dried Figs	xx
15	Dried Onion	xx
16	Dried Raisins
17	Eggs - raw	x
18	Fennel Seeds	x
19	Flax Meal	xx
20	Flour - chickpea	x
21	Flour - whole grain wheat	xx
22	Flour - whole rye	xx
23	Garlic Chunks	x
24	Garlic Powder	x
25	Granola - cooked?
26	Honey	xx
27	Malted barley or rye	x
28	Meat - Pepperoni
29	Meat - salami	x
30	Milk - powdered	x
31	Milk - whole	x
32	Millet - cooked
33	Millet - ground
34	molasses	x
35	nuts
44	Oats - Rolled	xx
36	Oats - Steel Cut	xx
37	oil - Olive	x
38	Olives - green	x
39	Olives -black	x
40	Olives -greek	x
41	Potato flakes	x
42	Raisins
43	Rice - cooked brown	x
45	Rye Flour	x
46	Scallions
47	Seeds - Flax	xx
48	Seeds - Sesame	xx
49	Serrano Chiles - sliced	xx
50	Spice - Basil
51	Spice - Cinnamon	xx
52	Spice - Dried Dill	xx
53	Spice - Oregano	x
54	Spice - Rosemary	xx
55	Spice - Thyme	xx
56	Spice - Turmeric	x
57	Vinegar - Red Wine	x
58	Vinegar - White	x
61	Wheat - Course Ground grain
62	Wheat - Hard Red Wheat flour
60	Wheat - Hard White Wheat flour
59	Wheat Berries - cooked whole	x
63	Wheat Bulgar

What Should One Expect From Their First Five Loaves of Home Made Bread?

OK -YOU are going to bake some bread - from scratch.  What should you expect?

Here is what a couple of loaves looked like from my oven this last week

Each weighs about 20 ounces.  The crust is crisp.  The top was slashed - here in a cross pattern.

Is this what you should expect??   Probably not.  Certainly, I am proud of this bread - but it's not what I baked in the beginning.  This bread is the product of a rise in a banneton (a bowl made from reeds), placed on a heated baking stone (this one is about 3/4 inch thick), with a pan of water at the base of the oven and the dough and stone misted every 8 minutes for 3 times to help give the dough an opportunity to rise while in the oven (before the crust forms) and then to give that crust a blistery surface baked at 500º.

The equipment and the technique evolved over time.  Since 1/1/16, I have probably used over a 1000 pounds of flour (99.9% in bread) - and that was after 6 months preparing for getting the permit.  So all this has pointed to the results you see.  It didn't start out that way.

The bread you see is a whole wheat bread with about 1/3 whole grain flour - course and fine ground wheat berries (red and white).  The whole grain flour was mixed with water and it was set to ferment for a day before the rest of the flour was added.  The longer fermentation period changes the flavor due to the enzymes that are allowed to develop.

Should you expect that?  If so, my 1000 pounds of experience don't really count.    So, no, while it is possible for you to get a similar looking loaf, you shouldn't expect that it will look like this at the beginning. For what it is worth, I tell my students that looks take a back seat to taste - a great looking loaf that doesn't taste good is worthless (except for photos) and a loaf that tastes great doesn't have to look good.  That said, you can do great - for a beginner.  Here are some photos of 'first loaves' from some of my students.

not bad, eh?  Reports are that they all tasted great.

Oh, there was one more

Yes, this one looks a lot like mine.  Yes, done by a student (with a good teacher?).


But, the bottom line - take it easy on yourself.

Practice the entire process - mixing, forming(and slashing) and baking.

You can do this.  And, they will all taste great, and they will get better and better looking with practice.