Just when I thought your videos were not amazing already .... this!! *And* you brought up pasties!! 🥰 Bread is intentionally used in so many different recipes in so many countries for it's very specific use at exactly *that* stage. Truly a beautiful thing!!
I'm retiring at the end of this school year from 44 years in the classroom, the last 31 in a middle school teaching English grammar and writing. Yeah, I know... everyone's favorite class. Not! But I just HAD to comment on your wonderful, enticing dialogue of descriptive lusciousness, Jack! The way you added adjectives to describe the different stages and uses of our homemade breads was masterful! You certainly do have a gift for words and thoughts ... and you make a might-fine teacher, too! Thanks so much for the little audio clip in response to my (finally) epic sourdough loaves during the Christmas holidays. My husband and I were both impressed that you would actually take the time to send a live, just-for-me message! You are precious! Keep on with the good work, Jack! Love you!
Only a person with passion for bread would do so well at articulating our appropriate relationship with bread. Your point is excellent-- enjoy bread fresh and learn to use it as it as it ages. I recently finished Apollonia Poilane's Masterclass and she has a whole lesson on using stale bread. I'm proud to say we no longer buy bread but make our own. I don't want to add junk to keep it fresh! That is why I don't buy their bread. But with planning we have fresh or frozen bread every day and don't waste any. Great video!
I thought you were going to teach me what I'd been doing wrong all these years ... and now I have learned the difference between store-bought 'bread' and the amazing fresh ambrosia you've taught me to make ... especially its ephemeral nature. I will bake pizza and raisin tea buns from scratch today and enjoy them *today* with my roommate and my neighbours. Because that's what they're for. Bread is community. The distribution of a fresh loaf or tray of scones *is* wealth.
I love this so much. I am getting ready to bake some honey butter rolls for a special needs friend that has requested them of me, and my heart is so happy just by knowing that the rolls I bake will bring him happiness. That truly IS wealth, isn't it?!
My bread is brilliant thanks to JACK. It took 5 months for my book to arrive from the UK to Cape Town, I was so determined to get it after watching all the videos. It was definitely worth the wait. From daily loaf to ciabatta to sourdough, all perfect. Thanks jack😊
Intelligent , funny , cool , well spoken , and people can learn easy ways to make homemade bread , that's why i enjoy your videos more than all the others .
Here I am, at 8 am, in cold, super snowy, frozen and dark Alaska, watching Jack. Suddenly I’m hungry for ramen and cake (I totally see the point of cake 😉) and planning to make delicious fresh bread after my breakfast and morning meeting that starts in 2 minutes. Thanks Jack! Love all you do!
YES! Yes, YES!! Jack, you’ve nailed it! Appreciating food at its best in the moment and then moving on to the next stage, and appreciating that. No place for disuse, scorn, or waste. So many parallels here. I wonder how many bakers *rise* to becoming philosophers? I’m eternally grateful for my months of sourdough failures to stumble upon your videos. They’ve been a huge help in getting me not to give up. Now that I’m making successful loaves, I realize what a sacred space my kitchen has become when plunging my hands in dough, knowing the result will be something magnificent. Thanks, Jack!
Have so missed your videos Jack, so it's good to see you back. I save the heel of the bread for breadcrumbs. I freeze them until needed then I just defrost what I need, whizz in my mini food processor and voila! fresh breadcrumbs. Also great to tear up for a quick bread and butter pudding. Husband likes to butter them and eat them with soup during winter and I just tear them up and drop them in the soup. I love soft, soup soggy bread ❤ Never any wastage here. There's so many different ways to use our homemade bread. Thanks for a great video!
Oh Jack. I have missed that performance. Really one of your best and had me smiling and laughing throughout. It is why we bake bread. It’s not a hobby, it’s not even a passion. It is an obsession because it makes us happy. Just great.
Passionate people being passionate about their passion are such fun to watch and this is right up there with the best of them. Treat your bread like chicken - a brilliant analogy.
Yes, you are right and great way to get your points across. Really like the idea of slight undercook to freeze and one i am going to use. Means i could make double quantities, freeze one and eat one. Saving electricity too!
Usually I can’t bear with the people that go on and on.. I just want them to get to the point! You, on the other hand, I love the twists and turns and delightful opinions and facts you weave together for these videos. Refreshing and interesting!
This makes so much sense. Thank you! I bake gluten free so I'm not your target audience but I really enjoyed this video. After years of lackluster results, I've finally near- perfected gf bread-making. Finally I make homemade bread worth keeping fresh. I'll work thru some of your videos in search of tips, but gf baking really is counter to many traditional methods. Still, if your other videos are like this, it will be a pleasure regardless.
Freezing bread is the easiest solution with my family, I make 4 baguettes at the weekend and freeze 3 to use up during the week. They defrost quicker than an uncut loaf and no need for wonky pre-slicing efforts. A game changer for me recently was using the inner bags from empty cereal packets to store them in the freezer, instead of buying more plastic. They are more robust and can be reused many times. Reuse cereal bags! Bread is cereal. Cereal bags for frozen bread! You know it makes sense. Please spread the word ;-D
I love this video and your choice of examples/analogies are inspired! I've been making increasingly higher hydration doughs lately. The latest at 93% (750g flour 700g water), the bread is wonderful, I find it's great once it's completely cooled down on the first day, and strangely enough it's best on day 2. Day 3 is still great for bread and day 4 is toast day. I fancy knocking up a soup and frying off some croutons now on this cold winter day. BWJ is the best.
The balance between keeping air away from your loaf and letting is breath varies with location. My mother's home in cornwall has moisture laden air, not only does bread go mouldy if confined, but so do wooden bread bins, spatulas and spoons. Using the same method in a cottage in Wales, with a coal fired Aga (came with the house), coal or ash fall out would pepper the bread. I keep mine in a cupboard that has the central heating pump behind it. Bread tends to dry out, but putting it in a box with the lid askew, means I can adjust the drying depending on time of year. Thanks for the video, good to see you back.
Oh Jack! I only have one life, I'm not a bread scientist, and I wish I could think cake is pointless but I can't. Now you have made me want a cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake.I'll think about chicken another day.😉
I love these philosophy classes and it’s glorious how eloquent you are without a script! (Maybe there are thousands of takes and gazillions of seamless unseen edits but that’s also a great achievement.) The life cycle of bread is like a living organism 💯 and its character develops over time. Even its dry husk of a loaf corpse can be resurrected in a bread pudding. And that, apart from the first warm crusty slice, is my favourite time for bread (oh yes, bread and butter pudding using slightly stale bread to absorb more). Never buy bread pudding from a high street bakery chain because they throw cake in and destroy the texture. If it’s fluffy it’s not right. IMHO. I based my BP on Delia’s but reduced the sugar and added an overripe banana or two (size dependent). No one tastes any bananariness and it’s a wee bit more nutritious and healthy(ish). Never used to have any bread left over until my long slice toaster died. The new ones can’t fit my loaves so I cut off the extra inches, let them dry and keep them in an airtight bucket safely for weeks until I’m ready to do another BP marathon. Might extract a few now, though, and try making doughnut croutons… 😋🤤
Hey Jack, while watching this video two bloomers can't wait to get baked in some minutes. Your videos helped me a lot to get back or to stay on my bread baking journey. Thanks a lot! Your beginner sourdough recipe is a great start for everyone in central European climate with about 20-22°C room temperature. Over the last weeks I baked 12 of those loaves and still tweaking to get better and better. Your 217 milk bread became a staple since it's first bake. It's soo good! You nailed the point of this whole keep stuff fresh forever topic. Treat bread like a chicken!! Make the best of each part and enjoy it. I don't ever through bread away. If some is getting stale I cut it into cubes, dry them with retained heat after baking and crush them in a blender, do bread dumplings, bread pudding. Toasted sourdough bread and leftover gravy, great combination. Grilled cheese with pickles... I'm getting hungry. I really like your enthusiasm and passion on this. Keep up all that great work you are putting into your content. Greetings from Germany, Tim
Wow, thank you Jack, you are so right even though I never looked at it this way! How you simplify what can seem so confusing and complicated is VERY appreciated! You're a wonderful teacher. Cheers!
"Treat your bread like a chicken." 😂😂 I get what you're saying completely, but that moment was golden 👌 Conversely, I have a cat that will eat my bread given the opportunity. She loves the smell of dough & I have to make sure she can't get at it while it's proofing. Just makes life a little more exciting, lol.
I bake two large loafs of sourdough bread a week (550g white whole wheat, 550g bread flour, 803g water, 100g dark rye 100% hydration starter, 22g salt), having learned how to do so when the whole world was shutdown and I discovered Jack working his magic on this channel in March, 2020. I watched and rewatched Sourdough 101, until a month later, when I was finally able to procure the flours I needed. And my bread journey began. Tonight, I finished the final shaping of my next two loaves, tucked them into the fridge for an overnight retard, and what to my weary eyes should appear on my phone, but Jack waxing poetically about the magic of this process. Godspeed to you Jack. Yours will be my first and last video of the night, and I'll wait with patient anticipation for your next. Meanwhile, tomorrow it's fresh bread for me and my family, and one for the freezer. Real food, made at home. Thank you!
Jack…I was just having a cuppa while my dough finishes proving ….what a lovely homage to the stuff of life ! Thanks for this and all your posts . XRuth
Love your bread recipes. The best slice is the first slice when it still slightly warm. The crust is crunchy, the Center is light and soft. This is the slice I look forward to the most. The only thing is that there are two of us in this household and I have to share it!!!
This seriously helped my enjoyment of baking bread. No longer tooth breaking bread, which tasted great in the morning but in the evening in the shop's plastic bag in the fridge, was very unpleasant. Bread needs to be in the fridge as our temperatures in home is soaring and unlike Europe and USA, we don't have central heating or homes built for the weather. Store-bought bread turns green moldy if left on the counter. Or on the fridge in the bread bin for that matter. I do confess I did not follow you Jake in all the other parts of the video, English is not my first language, and you do speak at breakneck speed in this video. Yet this has been the one thing that gives me new hope for baking bread again. Thank you. I immediately put my cookies in a glass jar, now house members or guests don't have an excuse to finish the packet in one go.😀 So amazing, I looked up at the breadbin and saw the popcorn there. bought a popcorn airfryer because the hard kernels broke my microwave popcorn machine. The stuff is so darn dry, no one wants to eat the popcorn. Thanks again Jack for this rapid speaking video - I can slow the speech down, but I think I get it.
I make bread once a week and when it is totally cold we slice and freeze it. Then we just take out the slices we want exactly when we want them! Lovely fresh bread all week! By the way, the lucky slicer gets the privilege of eating the crusts( the best bit) with honey as a reward!
Really have missed your “rant” lectures Jack! So spot on! Thanks!! Store bought bread in plastic bags usually tests positive for mold. Bakery bread (allowed to breathe) usually is free of mold.
Best video ever. What are we trying to keep away from our bread? A fly? A cat? Thank you for this. I was searching for ways to keep bread and I've decided let it rest on the chopping block cut side down. It's best fresh and enjoyed soon, not preserved long. Gives me an excuse to bake more often and get better at it.
Thank you, Jack. The fact that home made [sour dough] bread have a short yummy-yummy window is important to realize making it equally important that you bring it on as a topic. The argument I hear from most home sour dough bakers that drops off, is that they cannot keep the bread fresh that long. Wrong expectations and what you address here. In my opinion there is a 12 hour window at best, after which I put the loafs in the toaster or on the pan with butter. cheese, ham etc. Also highly appreciated in our household. I am digressing. Thank you [a lot] for all your brilliant videos, the work behind and the abundance of experience and knowledge that you share. /Per (Denmark).
I was watching your 3 Bread Basics videos. One thing that you rarely hear about on bread channels when making bread is the age of your flour. I've been making bread for decades and only recently discovered that older flour (more than 2 years old) can result in the bread flattening during the baking process. Would be great to see a video on this subject.
I've been going down this thought path myself lately. Thank you for saying what I needed to hear - and for doing it eloquently and hilariouslyrics! Yes! Treat bread like chicken! ❤😂 👏
The perfect video lol.. I've been trying to figure out how to keep my self made bread fresh / store it.. You crack me up ! Thanks for the information ..
My trick for sandwiches: Toast the outside of both slices of bread, let them go cold and make your sandwich. When you eat it, the inside remains moist and tender but the outside is toothsome and keeps a firm texture, making your piece easier to handle. You can make really wet sandwiches like this as the bread won't soak all the way through.
I don't think there was anything in that video that I didn't already know. However, it was great to be reminded of all those points and ideas. It was great to have that info presented the way you did. That made me think about what you said and I will definitely being applying it, to bread, chicken, and probably other types of "leftovers". Thank you.
I agree with you, Jack. I don't buy store bread no more. I am making bread everyday just for practice and eating it too. And it's so much better. I think i'm gonna join your club on baker's club thanks again jack
Thanks Jack. That brings together random thoughts and ideas about our lovely home made bread into logical order. The concept of accepting and enjoying the different stages after the baking makes sense. Baking bread is a real luxury but I will continue to indulge.
Being fairly new to your channel and your take on all things bread, I am not at all sure what you just said, it sounded good and following your videos I can make passable bread, so thank you Jack and keep em coming !!
Thanks Jack. I have always wondered about this. You have clarified it so well -as always. And I do like cake as well as bread and biscuits. Always great with a cuppa. I live in a very humid hot climate and unfortunately the best way to keep bread is in the freezer.
Loved your video! Have missed hearing from you. Thank you for the wonderful encouragements (though I shall admit that I have a "wicked" yogurt blueberry muffin recipe that would put to rest any doubts about the interest of eating muffins!).
3:01 New merchandise idea: Bake with Jack cloth bread bags! Anyone else down for it? Edit: autocorrect changed cloth to clutch. I guess I write about mechanical things too much…
The day after baking, I cut and freeze my bread in pairs of slices, then in the morning before work I get a pair out, and it doesn't matter that it's still frozen when I make the sandwich, because by lunchtime it's good to eat 😉
If the last slice of bread becomes really hard - you can always recycle it. Next time you bake soak it in as much water as it can absorb (which is a lot) and add it to your new dough (squish it with your hands or use a mixer). This will allow for a higher total hydration and keep the new bread "fresh" for longer.
I made a killer loaf of crusty sourdough yesterday, I don’t want it to last forever, but we are 2 older people who would like to keep the crunchy crust as long as possible. I just leave it in the empty oven to keep it out of the way, or wrapped in a tea towel in the oven. I guess that’s about as good as I can keep it. I’m now thinking I should take my sourdough bread recipe and cut it in half before preshaping and underbake one of the smaller loaves to freeze. Thanks for the idea (and matter how obvious it seemed) 😜😬
Great video as usual, I avidly look forward to seeing the latest offering. I don’t‘buy’ bread anymore ever since I came across your channel. Bought the book and the kit, wife thinks I’ve lost my ma blues but loves the bread. I keep ours in the microwave, it’s a handy sized little cupboard that we don’t use much. Keep up the good work. 😎
Phenomenal, Jack! A mundane topic turned into a tour de force. Would that I had even a gram of your talent - not for making bread (I can do that, thanks to you) but for extemporaneous, if structured, talk to the camera. Or to an audience. Marvelous!
This video deserves a record in the archive of what's left after the inevitable nuclear war. Bread can be perfected. Life can be made as beautiful as is, no level up after that. Accept the status quo, that, whatever is the best thing that will happen to you during your lifetime, cannot be improved. If it can, not by much, and most certainly most of us won't be able to tell the difference.
The cut side down on the chopping board is the only way I keep my bread. Sourdough at my house can stay fine for up to 4 days, could be more if I used any oil in the dough. Thanks Jack for this video. I thought I was the only one that keeps bread that way - as most homes have some kind of bread box. Though wooden bread boxes might be ok'ish as untreated wood breathes.
Mom didn't have time to make bread, too busy with 5 kids, gardening vegetables, laundry using a wringer washer and clothesline, cloth diapers too, cooking everything from scratch, preserving, baking potica, strudel and homemade raised donuts, yummers! But the Italian bakery down the street, fresh bread still warm, never fully made it all the way home intact('mom, mice ate the insides'🤣) Bread was ABSOLUTELY never wasted, each day a different use, yes, with meals, sandwiches, French toast, mlecin kafe(bread, rockhard, soaked in hot cafe au lait, as kids we LOVED it) and then the ultimate, breadcrumbs, for the very ending Weiner Schnitzel, yum again! Trying desperately to make all our own bread, already muffins, pies, cakes, pizza, for sure homemade. I've made your focaccia a dozen times, best ever, family and neighbours approved. Bread just doesn't last long enough, in our house, to get too stale, all the better! Thanks Jack.
Nice video. I took a bagel in to work for my lunch this week with some bread sticks and hummus. The bread sticks lost a bit of crunch. Hmmm lesson learnt.
"There's more to bread than a really lovely sandwich and then 6 or so disappointing ones that follow" Perfectly describes the dinner rolls I made last week. How does he know??? Definitely going to try out the freeze and reheat strategy. I've just been putting them in the fridge in tupperware and it hasn't turned out great.
This tip may be contrary to everything in this video but a bread baker told me to store his bread, or my homemade bread, in those waxy bags that are inside boxes of cereal... It's not airtight but it keeps our bread nice for the couple of days that it lasts after baking.
I've been baking bread and pizza using "Rice Kōji Starter or Saka-dane酒種" (also called Kōji Sourdough Starter). The result is amazing: soft inside, crispy outside, tasty and last long. I use store-bought dry Rice Kōji, freshly cooked rice and water. Mix ingredients and fermentate in a Yogurt maker. Yes, "Rice Kōji Starter or Saka-dane酒種" was invented in Japan. As they are SO GOOD, I cannot go back to regular bread or pizza.
Just an update on those moldy green bread, white. I have neighbours all around me that share the same rubbishbin and I find 3/4 loaves or 1/2 at least bread from the shop in the dustbin, in our sweltering heat in the homes. Where do they leave it, I asked one. One the countertop. Thank you seriously Jack, I now have hope for my treasured baked bread, that it will last longer and be at least chewable. They otherwise leave it in the fridge in the plastic bag from the shop. Still, it molds, in this humid climate.
Great video. I'm currently proofing some pitta dough from a recipe in your book (Xmas gift and I'm loving it). Home by 5.30 from work and getting on with it. Cheers Jack
Am I the only one who thinks of Rodney on Only Fools and horses whilst he talks? I lived in Hammersmith for many years and I really have the giggle when Jack gets excited. Lovely video mate and always appreciated. 🙏🍞
after seeing your other video, i tried just setting my bread face down on the cutting board. all was going well but then suddenly the crust got incredibly hard, even difficult to slice. now i store it face down with a plastic bag loosely over the top. seems to be working. a little air exchange under the loose fitting plastic seems to be just enough to keep the crust nice. This was a basic white sandwich loaf. Baguettes and ciabatta never make it to the next day in our house
G'day, can you put half a sliced loaf in the oven to revive the crusty crust and keeping the fluffly crumb? I'm fearing that if I put a sliced half loaf in, the moisture draws out of the crumb through the little airgaps tween each slice and I just get left with half a loaf worth of toast.
Dying laughing at this one bloke skit. The Sunday roast..are you partial to potatoes roasted in goose fat with yours as well? I needed this good time today. Bless you love.
Nice one! But have you tried freezing sandwiches? A whole fresh loaf sliced up and made into sandwiches - Sharp Cheddar cheese and chutney or cheese and apricot jam or marmalade - then wrapped individually and frozen. Grab one as you leave in the morning for work and by lunchtime it's thawed and ready to eat. If your willpower fails at elevenses it's an interesting experience tasting each component as they thaw in your mouth at slightly different rates: bread then chutney then cheese! Fresh bread and these relatively dry high fat fillings don't seem to end up soggy but I wouldn't try tomatoes or other things with a high water content.
Just when I thought your videos were not amazing already .... this!! *And* you brought up pasties!! 🥰 Bread is intentionally used in so many different recipes in so many countries for it's very specific use at exactly *that* stage. Truly a beautiful thing!!
Exactly! It’s where so many delicious dishes organically evolved from! AND It would have never happened if bread was always what it is today… 🤯
New book! Life lessons with Jack! Great metaphor - and really how to appreciate our homemade breads. ❤
I'm retiring at the end of this school year from 44 years in the classroom, the last 31 in a middle school teaching English grammar and writing. Yeah, I know... everyone's favorite class. Not! But I just HAD to comment on your wonderful, enticing dialogue of descriptive lusciousness, Jack! The way you added adjectives to describe the different stages and uses of our homemade breads was masterful! You certainly do have a gift for words and thoughts ... and you make a might-fine teacher, too!
Thanks so much for the little audio clip in response to my (finally) epic sourdough loaves during the Christmas holidays. My husband and I were both impressed that you would actually take the time to send a live, just-for-me message! You are precious! Keep on with the good work, Jack! Love you!
Brilliant analogy with the chicken! I now have a whole new appreciation for how versatile ONE loaf of bread can be over the span of several days!
This is an outstanding lesson in both baking and mindful living! Thanks, mate!
Only a person with passion for bread would do so well at articulating our appropriate relationship with bread. Your point is excellent-- enjoy bread fresh and learn to use it as it as it ages. I recently finished Apollonia Poilane's Masterclass and she has a whole lesson on using stale bread. I'm proud to say we no longer buy bread but make our own. I don't want to add junk to keep it fresh! That is why I don't buy their bread. But with planning we have fresh or frozen bread every day and don't waste any. Great video!
Jack, you are truly a breath of fresh air...informative with humor... important lessons with a new approach...a joy to watch...thank you ☺️
That’s really kind of you thank you ☺️🙌🏻
I thought you were going to teach me what I'd been doing wrong all these years ... and now I have learned the difference between store-bought 'bread' and the amazing fresh ambrosia you've taught me to make ... especially its ephemeral nature. I will bake pizza and raisin tea buns from scratch today and enjoy them *today* with my roommate and my neighbours. Because that's what they're for. Bread is community. The distribution of a fresh loaf or tray of scones *is* wealth.
I love this so much. I am getting ready to bake some honey butter rolls for a special needs friend that has requested them of me, and my heart is so happy just by knowing that the rolls I bake will bring him happiness. That truly IS wealth, isn't it?!
My bread is brilliant thanks to JACK. It took 5 months for my book to arrive from the UK to Cape Town, I was so determined to get it after watching all the videos. It was definitely worth the wait. From daily loaf to ciabatta to sourdough, all perfect. Thanks jack😊
Intelligent , funny , cool , well spoken , and people can learn easy ways to make homemade bread , that's why i enjoy your videos more than all the others .
Here I am, at 8 am, in cold,
super snowy, frozen and dark Alaska, watching Jack.
Suddenly I’m hungry for ramen and cake (I totally see the point of cake 😉) and planning to make delicious fresh bread after my breakfast and morning meeting that starts in 2 minutes.
Thanks Jack! Love all you do!
I am also in the cold, super snowy, frozen and dark Alaska, about to pop some bread in the oven.
@@alexanderschwartz4235 fresh baked bread on a cold winter day. Perfect!
Mmmmm, with a steaming bowl of homemade turkey noodle soup!! Wish it was frozen and snowy here in PA!
YES! Yes, YES!! Jack, you’ve nailed it! Appreciating food at its best in the moment and then moving on to the next stage, and appreciating that. No place for disuse, scorn, or waste.
So many parallels here.
I wonder how many bakers *rise* to becoming philosophers? I’m eternally grateful for my months of sourdough failures to stumble upon your videos. They’ve been a huge help in getting me not to give up. Now that I’m making successful loaves, I realize what a sacred space my kitchen has become when plunging my hands in dough, knowing the result will be something magnificent.
Thanks, Jack!
Have so missed your videos Jack, so it's good to see you back. I save the heel of the bread for breadcrumbs. I freeze them until needed then I just defrost what I need, whizz in my mini food processor and voila! fresh breadcrumbs. Also great to tear up for a quick bread and butter pudding. Husband likes to butter them and eat them with soup during winter and I just tear them up and drop them in the soup. I love soft, soup soggy bread ❤ Never any wastage here. There's so many different ways to use our homemade bread. Thanks for a great video!
Oh Jack. I have missed that performance. Really one of your best and had me smiling and laughing throughout. It is why we bake bread. It’s not a hobby, it’s not even a passion. It is an obsession because it makes us happy. Just great.
Passionate people being passionate about their passion are such fun to watch and this is right up there with the best of them. Treat your bread like chicken - a brilliant analogy.
Yes, you are right and great way to get your points across. Really like the idea of slight undercook to freeze and one i am going to use. Means i could make double quantities, freeze one and eat one. Saving electricity too!
Usually I can’t bear with the people that go on and on.. I just want them to get to the point! You, on the other hand, I love the twists and turns and delightful opinions and facts you weave together for these videos. Refreshing and interesting!
Wow thank you 🤗
This makes so much sense. Thank you! I bake gluten free so I'm not your target audience but I really enjoyed this video. After years of lackluster results, I've finally near- perfected gf bread-making. Finally I make homemade bread worth keeping fresh. I'll work thru some of your videos in search of tips, but gf baking really is counter to many traditional methods. Still, if your other videos are like this, it will be a pleasure regardless.
Freezing bread is the easiest solution with my family, I make 4 baguettes at the weekend and freeze 3 to use up during the week. They defrost quicker than an uncut loaf and no need for wonky pre-slicing efforts. A game changer for me recently was using the inner bags from empty cereal packets to store them in the freezer, instead of buying more plastic. They are more robust and can be reused many times. Reuse cereal bags! Bread is cereal. Cereal bags for frozen bread! You know it makes sense. Please spread the word ;-D
Love your recycling idea.
The wisdom shared by you feels like a vivid and colorful adventure! Thank you!
I love this video and your choice of examples/analogies are inspired! I've been making increasingly higher hydration doughs lately. The latest at 93% (750g flour 700g water), the bread is wonderful, I find it's great once it's completely cooled down on the first day, and strangely enough it's best on day 2. Day 3 is still great for bread and day 4 is toast day. I fancy knocking up a soup and frying off some croutons now on this cold winter day. BWJ is the best.
The balance between keeping air away from your loaf and letting is breath varies with location. My mother's home in cornwall has moisture laden air, not only does bread go mouldy if confined, but so do wooden bread bins, spatulas and spoons. Using the same method in a cottage in Wales, with a coal fired Aga (came with the house), coal or ash fall out would pepper the bread.
I keep mine in a cupboard that has the central heating pump behind it. Bread tends to dry out, but putting it in a box with the lid askew, means I can adjust the drying depending on time of year.
Thanks for the video, good to see you back.
Oh Jack! I only have one life, I'm not a bread scientist, and I wish I could think cake is pointless but I can't. Now you have made me want a cup of tea and a piece of Christmas cake.I'll think about chicken another day.😉
CHRISTMAS cake is a WHOLE different category of deliciousness 😋😋😋
I love these philosophy classes and it’s glorious how eloquent you are without a script! (Maybe there are thousands of takes and gazillions of seamless unseen edits but that’s also a great achievement.)
The life cycle of bread is like a living organism 💯 and its character develops over time. Even its dry husk of a loaf corpse can be resurrected in a bread pudding. And that, apart from the first warm crusty slice, is my favourite time for bread (oh yes, bread and butter pudding using slightly stale bread to absorb more).
Never buy bread pudding from a high street bakery chain because they throw cake in and destroy the texture. If it’s fluffy it’s not right. IMHO. I based my BP on Delia’s but reduced the sugar and added an overripe banana or two (size dependent). No one tastes any bananariness and it’s a wee bit more nutritious and healthy(ish).
Never used to have any bread left over until my long slice toaster died. The new ones can’t fit my loaves so I cut off the extra inches, let them dry and keep them in an airtight bucket safely for weeks until I’m ready to do another BP marathon.
Might extract a few now, though, and try making doughnut croutons… 😋🤤
100 percent agree! No premade sandwiches. Use all the bread you make in its various stages of life and Cornish pasties are AMAZING!
Hey Jack,
while watching this video two bloomers can't wait to get baked in some minutes. Your videos helped me a lot to get back or to stay on my bread baking journey. Thanks a lot! Your beginner sourdough recipe is a great start for everyone in central European climate with about 20-22°C room temperature. Over the last weeks I baked 12 of those loaves and still tweaking to get better and better. Your 217 milk bread became a staple since it's first bake. It's soo good!
You nailed the point of this whole keep stuff fresh forever topic. Treat bread like a chicken!! Make the best of each part and enjoy it. I don't ever through bread away. If some is getting stale I cut it into cubes, dry them with retained heat after baking and crush them in a blender, do bread dumplings, bread pudding. Toasted sourdough bread and leftover gravy, great combination. Grilled cheese with pickles... I'm getting hungry.
I really like your enthusiasm and passion on this. Keep up all that great work you are putting into your content.
Greetings from Germany, Tim
Your bread advice is great life advice!
Thank you Jack. An excellent rant. Just watched it, early morning. Set me up for digging my garden.
Wow, thank you Jack, you are so right even though I never looked at it this way!
How you simplify what can seem so confusing and complicated is VERY appreciated! You're a wonderful teacher. Cheers!
Thank you Danielle 🤗🤗🤗
"Treat your bread like a chicken." 😂😂 I get what you're saying completely, but that moment was golden 👌
Conversely, I have a cat that will eat my bread given the opportunity. She loves the smell of dough & I have to make sure she can't get at it while it's proofing. Just makes life a little more exciting, lol.
I found my cat sitting on my baguette dough. Thank heaven it was well covered! Pain a La Moggy!
Remains very inspirational. Thanks Jack. Am enjoying the shorts too.
Fantastic video, full of information this gal who has baked bread over 50 years really appreciates and some never heard before. 😍
I bake two large loafs of sourdough bread a week (550g white whole wheat, 550g bread flour, 803g water, 100g dark rye 100% hydration starter, 22g salt), having learned how to do so when the whole world was shutdown and I discovered Jack working his magic on this channel in March, 2020. I watched and rewatched Sourdough 101, until a month later, when I was finally able to procure the flours I needed. And my bread journey began. Tonight, I finished the final shaping of my next two loaves, tucked them into the fridge for an overnight retard, and what to my weary eyes should appear on my phone, but Jack waxing poetically about the magic of this process. Godspeed to you Jack. Yours will be my first and last video of the night, and I'll wait with patient anticipation for your next. Meanwhile, tomorrow it's fresh bread for me and my family, and one for the freezer. Real food, made at home. Thank you!
Yessssss John, this is so lovely 😊, enjoy your sourdough in the morning!
You are simply great. Knowledge, ability to get your message across, and real value to us amateurs.
As always “Brilliant” description of Why I love making my breads. Thank you my friend.
Jack…I was just having a cuppa while my dough finishes proving ….what a lovely homage to the stuff of life !
Thanks for this and all your posts . XRuth
Perfect timeing :-) You're welcome!
You've just got a new subscriber. Loved the video and planning to see more. Very educational and entertaining. Thank you.
Love your bread recipes. The best slice is the first slice when it still slightly warm. The crust is crunchy, the Center is light and soft. This is the slice I look forward to the most. The only thing is that there are two of us in this household and I have to share it!!!
This seriously helped my enjoyment of baking bread. No longer tooth breaking bread, which tasted great in the morning but in the evening in the shop's plastic bag in the fridge, was very unpleasant. Bread needs to be in the fridge as our temperatures in home is soaring and unlike Europe and USA, we don't have central heating or homes built for the weather. Store-bought bread turns green moldy if left on the counter. Or on the fridge in the bread bin for that matter. I do confess I did not follow you Jake in all the other parts of the video, English is not my first language, and you do speak at breakneck speed in this video. Yet this has been the one thing that gives me new hope for baking bread again. Thank you. I immediately put my cookies in a glass jar, now house members or guests don't have an excuse to finish the packet in one go.😀 So amazing, I looked up at the breadbin and saw the popcorn there. bought a popcorn airfryer because the hard kernels broke my microwave popcorn machine. The stuff is so darn dry, no one wants to eat the popcorn. Thanks again Jack for this rapid speaking video - I can slow the speech down, but I think I get it.
I make bread once a week and when it is totally cold we slice and freeze it. Then we just take out the slices we want exactly when we want them! Lovely fresh bread all week! By the way, the lucky slicer gets the privilege of eating the crusts( the best bit) with honey as a reward!
Really have missed your “rant” lectures Jack! So spot on! Thanks!!
Store bought bread in plastic bags usually tests positive for mold. Bakery bread (allowed to breathe) usually is free of mold.
That was the most entertaining explanation of bread and freshness I’ve ever watched. 😀 Love it. ❤️👍
Best video ever. What are we trying to keep away from our bread? A fly? A cat? Thank you for this. I was searching for ways to keep bread and I've decided let it rest on the chopping block cut side down. It's best fresh and enjoyed soon, not preserved long. Gives me an excuse to bake more often and get better at it.
Thank you, Jack. The fact that home made [sour dough] bread have a short yummy-yummy window is important to realize making it equally important that you bring it on as a topic. The argument I hear from most home sour dough bakers that drops off, is that they cannot keep the bread fresh that long. Wrong expectations and what you address here. In my opinion there is a 12 hour window at best, after which I put the loafs in the toaster or on the pan with butter. cheese, ham etc. Also highly appreciated in our household. I am digressing. Thank you [a lot] for all your brilliant videos, the work behind and the abundance of experience and knowledge that you share. /Per (Denmark).
I was watching your 3 Bread Basics videos. One thing that you rarely hear about on bread channels when making bread is the age of your flour. I've been making bread for decades and only recently discovered that older flour (more than 2 years old) can result in the bread flattening during the baking process. Would be great to see a video on this subject.
I’m glad we live in a world that has both bread and cake.
I've been going down this thought path myself lately. Thank you for saying what I needed to hear - and for doing it eloquently and hilariouslyrics! Yes! Treat bread like chicken! ❤😂 👏
It is great to see you in such good form. That was a really fun video. Thank you!
The perfect video lol.. I've been trying to figure out how to keep my self made bread fresh / store it.. You crack me up ! Thanks for the information ..
My trick for sandwiches: Toast the outside of both slices of bread, let them go cold and make your sandwich. When you eat it, the inside remains moist and tender but the outside is toothsome and keeps a firm texture, making your piece easier to handle. You can make really wet sandwiches like this as the bread won't soak all the way through.
Love your style and content. I’m waiting for my starter to be right to make my sourdough journey again. Stopped for a year, health reasons.
Love this lesson on why we keep bread various ways. Definitely gonna start to think of my bread as a roast chicken!
I don't think there was anything in that video that I didn't already know. However, it was great to be reminded of all those points and ideas. It was great to have that info presented the way you did. That made me think about what you said and I will definitely being applying it, to bread, chicken, and probably other types of "leftovers". Thank you.
I agree with you, Jack. I don't buy store bread no more. I am making bread everyday just for practice and eating it too. And it's so much better. I think i'm gonna join your club on baker's club thanks again jack
Thanks Jack. That brings together random thoughts and ideas about our lovely home made bread into logical order. The concept of accepting and enjoying the different stages after the baking makes sense. Baking bread is a real luxury but I will continue to indulge.
Being fairly new to your channel and your take on all things bread, I am not at all sure what you just said, it sounded good and following your videos I can make passable bread, so thank you Jack and keep em coming !!
Thanks Jack. I have always wondered about this. You have clarified it so well -as always. And I do like cake as well as bread and biscuits. Always great with a cuppa. I live in a very humid hot climate and unfortunately the best way to keep bread is in the freezer.
Loved your video! Have missed hearing from you. Thank you for the wonderful encouragements (though I shall admit that I have a "wicked" yogurt blueberry muffin recipe that would put to rest any doubts about the interest of eating muffins!).
Thank you for changing my my perspective!
3:01
New merchandise idea: Bake with Jack cloth bread bags! Anyone else down for it?
Edit: autocorrect changed cloth to clutch. I guess I write about mechanical things too much…
Someone told me about you! You are great! Thanks for the advise, I usually bake brioche and Focaccia and they keep well on those freezer bags..
I still miss the music but this was an OUTSTANDING lesson in mindfulness with bread. You are a treasure.
The day after baking, I cut and freeze my bread in pairs of slices, then in the morning before work I get a pair out, and it doesn't matter that it's still frozen when I make the sandwich, because by lunchtime it's good to eat 😉
If the last slice of bread becomes really hard - you can always recycle it. Next time you bake soak it in as much water as it can absorb (which is a lot) and add it to your new dough (squish it with your hands or use a mixer). This will allow for a higher total hydration and keep the new bread "fresh" for longer.
The first person on earth that used a knife to open biscuits 😂
Love you Jack!
😂😂😂 now the WHOLE WORLD will 😜
I made a killer loaf of crusty sourdough yesterday, I don’t want it to last forever, but we are 2 older people who would like to keep the crunchy crust as long as possible. I just leave it in the empty oven to keep it out of the way, or wrapped in a tea towel in the oven. I guess that’s about as good as I can keep it. I’m now thinking I should take my sourdough bread recipe and cut it in half before preshaping and underbake one of the smaller loaves to freeze. Thanks for the idea (and matter how obvious it seemed) 😜😬
Holy rant! You've mentioned SOOOOOO many different good ideas!! Great video once again 🎉
Great video as usual, I avidly look forward to seeing the latest offering. I don’t‘buy’ bread anymore ever since I came across your channel. Bought the book and the kit, wife thinks I’ve lost my ma blues but loves the bread. I keep ours in the microwave, it’s a handy sized little cupboard that we don’t use much. Keep up the good work. 😎
THANK YOU JACK!!!! Again, a masterpiece of a video. I cannot get over how much ive learnt from you. :)
Phenomenal, Jack! A mundane topic turned into a tour de force. Would that I had even a gram of your talent - not for making bread (I can do that, thanks to you) but for extemporaneous, if structured, talk to the camera. Or to an audience. Marvelous!
This video deserves a record in the archive of what's left after the inevitable nuclear war. Bread can be perfected. Life can be made as beautiful as is, no level up after that. Accept the status quo, that, whatever is the best thing that will happen to you during your lifetime, cannot be improved. If it can, not by much, and most certainly most of us won't be able to tell the difference.
It’s is amazing how many followers you have now!! I remember when you had less than 100 thousand…go you!!! 💚
The cut side down on the chopping board is the only way I keep my bread.
Sourdough at my house can stay fine for up to 4 days, could be more if I used any oil in the dough.
Thanks Jack for this video. I thought I was the only one that keeps bread that way - as most homes have some kind of bread box. Though wooden bread boxes might be ok'ish as untreated wood breathes.
Great video as always. I’m a big one for freezing freshly baked rolls. I’m never sure however do you defrost it in the bag or out of the bag?
Oh My Goodness! Thank you so much! Hilariously entertaining and delightfully true, seriously!
This right here is why I tell folks to look YOU up online !! ❤
Mom didn't have time to make bread, too busy with 5 kids, gardening vegetables, laundry using a wringer washer and clothesline, cloth diapers too, cooking everything from scratch, preserving, baking potica, strudel and homemade raised donuts, yummers! But the Italian bakery down the street, fresh bread still warm, never fully made it all the way home intact('mom, mice ate the insides'🤣) Bread was ABSOLUTELY never wasted, each day a different use, yes, with meals, sandwiches, French toast, mlecin kafe(bread, rockhard, soaked in hot cafe au lait, as kids we LOVED it) and then the ultimate, breadcrumbs, for the very ending Weiner Schnitzel, yum again!
Trying desperately to make all our own bread, already muffins, pies, cakes, pizza, for sure homemade. I've made your focaccia a dozen times, best ever, family and neighbours approved.
Bread just doesn't last long enough, in our house, to get too stale, all the better! Thanks Jack.
Very well put Jack and worth remembering the different uses for bread. I like a garlic croutons as a nibble with a drink.
Yum 😋
Thank you for your great channel and content.
You’re welcome 🤗🤗🤗
Haha love all the metaphors. There is a delicious purpose for every stage of good bread
I'm not going to watch another video, cos I've got to go and get my starter going so I can make bread in the morning! Excellent video Jack, well said.
Nice video. I took a bagel in to work for my lunch this week with some bread sticks and hummus. The bread sticks lost a bit of crunch. Hmmm lesson learnt.
You, sir, are a philosopher at heart🥰🤣
I do love crispy crust, but i also enjoy a good chewy crust too. As long as the center is still ok. After that it is toast.
Excellent as always. Thank you.
"There's more to bread than a really lovely sandwich and then 6 or so disappointing ones that follow"
Perfectly describes the dinner rolls I made last week. How does he know??? Definitely going to try out the freeze and reheat strategy. I've just been putting them in the fridge in tupperware and it hasn't turned out great.
This tip may be contrary to everything in this video but a bread baker told me to store his bread, or my homemade bread, in those waxy bags that are inside boxes of cereal... It's not airtight but it keeps our bread nice for the couple of days that it lasts after baking.
I've been baking bread and pizza using "Rice Kōji Starter or Saka-dane酒種" (also called Kōji Sourdough Starter). The result is amazing: soft inside, crispy outside, tasty and last long. I use store-bought dry Rice Kōji, freshly cooked rice and water. Mix ingredients and fermentate in a Yogurt maker. Yes, "Rice Kōji Starter or Saka-dane酒種" was invented in Japan. As they are SO GOOD, I cannot go back to regular bread or pizza.
Brilliantly stated. Story with a purpose.
Should I freeze a loaf of French bread before shipping?
Just an update on those moldy green bread, white. I have neighbours all around me that share the same rubbishbin and I find 3/4 loaves or 1/2 at least bread from the shop in the dustbin, in our sweltering heat in the homes. Where do they leave it, I asked one. One the countertop. Thank you seriously Jack, I now have hope for my treasured baked bread, that it will last longer and be at least chewable. They otherwise leave it in the fridge in the plastic bag from the shop. Still, it molds, in this humid climate.
Thanks Jack!
Oh my! I haven't made French toast in forever! Yum! French toast for dinner? Sure! Why not! 😄
Blessings! 💜
Great video. I'm currently proofing some pitta dough from a recipe in your book (Xmas gift and I'm loving it). Home by 5.30 from work and getting on with it. Cheers Jack
Wicked sense of humor AND informative
Am I the only one who thinks of Rodney on Only Fools and horses whilst he talks? I lived in Hammersmith for many years and I really have the giggle when Jack gets excited. Lovely video mate and always appreciated. 🙏🍞
Was this video about bread or life I couldn’t tell but I loved it
after seeing your other video, i tried just setting my bread face down on the cutting board. all was going well but then suddenly the crust got incredibly hard, even difficult to slice. now i store it face down with a plastic bag loosely over the top. seems to be working. a little air exchange under the loose fitting plastic seems to be just enough to keep the crust nice. This was a basic white sandwich loaf. Baguettes and ciabatta never make it to the next day in our house
G'day, can you put half a sliced loaf in the oven to revive the crusty crust and keeping the fluffly crumb? I'm fearing that if I put a sliced half loaf in, the moisture draws out of the crumb through the little airgaps tween each slice and I just get left with half a loaf worth of toast.
Dying laughing at this one bloke skit. The Sunday roast..are you partial to potatoes roasted in goose fat with yours as well? I needed this good time today. Bless you love.
Brilliant and even if I can’t use the last crumb I know the birds in the garden will enjoy
Nice one! But have you tried freezing sandwiches? A whole fresh loaf sliced up and made into sandwiches - Sharp Cheddar cheese and chutney or cheese and apricot jam or marmalade - then wrapped individually and frozen. Grab one as you leave in the morning for work and by lunchtime it's thawed and ready to eat. If your willpower fails at elevenses it's an interesting experience tasting each component as they thaw in your mouth at slightly different rates: bread then chutney then cheese! Fresh bread and these relatively dry high fat fillings don't seem to end up soggy but I wouldn't try tomatoes or other things with a high water content.