A Morning of Baking

Acequiamadre
Acequiamadre Posts: 269 ✭✭✭
edited October 2020 in Baking

Long ago, I read a baking book called the Jewish Baker. In this book, he laid our several plans for a morning of baking that lasted 2-6 hours. During this time, he baked enough breads, muffins, etc. for a week or two. He mapped out all the stages (for example: start bread doughs and then make muffins and quickbreads while the doughs were rising).

Does anyone have their own Morning of Baking where you make several things in a few hours? I am hoping to make more of our bread and other baked good by prepping and planning.

Comments

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I hope you find information for this @Acequiamadre . Sounds like a great plan to put in place

    Many years ago Mother earth news had a so called TV dinner plan to make fast easy frozen meals but healthy. I would like to find that link too. Some times life get so busy its hard to find time for meal prep

  • Momma Mo
    Momma Mo Posts: 138 ✭✭✭

    Sounds like a wonderful plan. Everything takes me longer than I think it will anymore! LOL

  • JodieDownUnder
    JodieDownUnder Posts: 1,483 admin

    I don't have a scheduled morning of baking but reasonably often, I will make a cake to last up to a week and while I'm at it, make either a lasagna or a curry or some such dish and it will feed us for 2or 3 nights. That way I can spend more time outside, come in later and know dinners only a reheat away.

  • Silkiemamuska
    Silkiemamuska Posts: 99 ✭✭✭

    I do not think there is an easy answer to your question.

    Perhaps a different question is what recipes do you like and want to bake? Then organize them by how much preparation is needed before they go into the oven. For example, sourdough items may need the starter fed and the dough ferment and rest for a day or more.

    Starting slowly with a few items and then adding as you progress in your experience with all the work involved might be a good idea.

    Be sure to keep in mind the different baking temperatures and how you want to handle that. Start with the lowest temperature items and then increase temperature as you progress through the recipes?

    Do a little bit this time, and a little more next and so on until you are happy with the results. You may find that you do not need as many goods each week, or the opposite more!

    Good thing the freezer is an option so nothing spoils.🙂

  • Angel
    Angel Posts: 61 ✭✭✭

    I make all of our bread, and often, while the bread is rising, I will bake something quick like muffins. That way, the kitchen is a bit warmer during the rise, and I am using less energy to heat the oven, since I will be baking 2 things. The main trick is to have 2 timers, one for the bread, and one for the muffins, and to remember which is which!

  • Acequiamadre
    Acequiamadre Posts: 269 ✭✭✭

    Sorry--I didn't specify that I baked like this in the past, when I could spare a chunk of time. I realize that I didn't say that! I was wondering if other do baking marathons and what they bake and in what order. I find that it often takes me the same time to cook 4 things as 2!

    I am hoping to update or make my Baking Morning more efficient.

    @Angel I love the timer idea.


    Here is an example of one of my baking mornings:

    Start long rise, no knead sough dough. This takes all day but mostly sits there. I have to wake and feed the soughdough the day before..

    Start sponge for milk bread (e.g. white bread) or whole grain sandwich bread

    Make muffins, quick break, or challah and bake. Double batch if I want to freeze them or have them later in the week.

    Mix up Milk bread when sponge is done. Consider loaves or rolls.

    Eat breakfast (hot muffins and coffee)

    Bake milk bread when muffins come out and oven free

    Mix up pizza dough. I use a slow dough, so it mostly sits around all day. Something has to--my family sure don't got time.


    Evening: bake sough dough and make pizza (or save pizza dough for another weeknight dinner).


    Time is about 4 hours, with time to read, clean, etc. It always takes me 4 but I sip coffee and space out. Covers family's baked good needs for a week--when I can find the block of time.

    When I bake bread or a cake, I almost always double-bake the recipe and toss the extra in the freezer.

    Who else has a time saving approach (I guess 4 hours of baking ain't saving much time!)?

  • COWLOVINGIRL
    COWLOVINGIRL Posts: 954 ✭✭✭✭

    A morning of baking sounds really nice!

  • water2world
    water2world Posts: 1,177 ✭✭✭✭

    No baking for me.....my oven has gone out!! :(

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    One way I have done bread in the past since I work an odd and changing schedule was to use the "Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day" recipes. Basically you are making the dough in advance and the dough stays in the fridge. When you want bread you take out enough for a loaf or two. Shape it quickly. Let it rise and bake. It worked well for us and there are recipes for all kinds of breads, rolls, dessert doughs etc.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin


    Haha, @MommaMo! Me, too! I have to laugh at some recipes' estimated prep times -- like, something that says it takes 20 minutes to prep will take me twice that. I don't think I'm particularly slow in the kitchen, either. All I can think is that this is how long it takes if you make it all the time and have your processes down pat?

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My marathon isn't in the baking, but rather of the prepping numerous recipe components for exceptionally quick turn around times in and out of the kitchen:

    cookies

    cakes

    meat dishes

    soups

    and on and on..

    For baking I combine all dry ingredients into separate contianers and store in the freezer.

    For meat dishes and soups the same as above.

    For ice tea, I cold brew..never heat brew again as it always turned out bitter...it never does with cold brew. My methoed is to place a quart jar with 3 cups of water, and 3 family tea bags, ice to raise water level ..almost to the top of the jar and place in fridge until it is good and cold..and sometimes over night if I get too busy to deal with it for that dinner meal..

    The rest is done according to the item and the time for prepping..

    This has made a huge difference in how quick I can throw a very good meal on the table...And I almost always freeze the meat dishes no later than 2 days, in individual servings for an even quicker meal...and very little to no waste.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @Acequiamadre I have done this in the past. It saves on dishwashing...which I detest. I liked the challenge of using the same bowl (and pans) for many things.

    As far as baking, I would start with things with less flavor & make my way into more flavorful. Sweet was kept separate from savory.

    I really don't remember how I did it. That was so long ago...also when I had time.

    If I was in the middle of something baking, I would do prep things like various cookie doughs or pastry for the freezer.

    In all the wonderful chaos, though, it is best to label clearly. If you forget, you just might end up with cookie dough crusts for your quiche, like I did once!

  • Acequiamadre
    Acequiamadre Posts: 269 ✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning 

    "As far as baking, I would start with things with less flavor & make my way into more flavorful. Sweet was kept separate from savory."

    Love this idea. With fall, I suddenly want to bake, so I am wondering if it is worth dusting off this "spend hours on Sunday" or just incorporate baking more into my dinner making routine. The nice thing about baking while making dinner is I can justify a glass of wine--something I don't do at 8am on Sunday. I am also experimenting with having an ongoing "no knead" bread to pop in the over every other day. There is nothing like homemade bread during the cold soup months!

    @lewis.mary.e  I will have to add the fruit roll-up idea. It goes in the oven!