The Big Bread Experiment

[Alison Wright Profile]

A new three-parter starts tomorrow Sat 25th. BBC2 12:45 - 1:45pm.

http://www.keofilms.com/production/big- ... xperiment/

[jeral Profile]

It does seem like the bakers are flogging a dead horse in Bedale with fancy flavoured bread - i.e. anything that's not steamed white sliced, although an expert in the area did say he sold a lot of white rolls/bread buns.

See, I'm with him for that clientele - there's any number of white rolls and I luv 'em all, be they soft baps, crispy cobs or knotted rolls (and a few others) I don't really "get" fancy bread, never have. Granary seeded loaf is wonderful, except for some people's teeth and gut so a bit debatable as a money maker. Maybe the bakers can turn fancy flavoured breads into basic bread pudding?

The renovation to get the old water mill turning was interesting.

[mark111757 Profile]

i enjoyed the first part....seems like that the flavoured bread/seeded bread is a niche item in alot of cases....if they can make a go of it., more power to 'em....


some recipes would have been nice too....look forward to the 2nd part

[jeral Profile]

It's the 2nd part I watched today (Sun 26th 1.30pm BBC2).

I didn't understand that scheduling of episodes as Sundays are usually repeats of what has been shown already before Sunday, yet the first ep was shown only yesterday Sat.

Ep 3 of 3 is scheduled for Sat 1 Feb 1.15pm BBC2, but I can't see a repeat of that on Sun.

Hope you manage to catch all three eps - however difficult they've tried to make it to do so

[Alison Wright Profile]

I started to watch the first ep & couldn't stand the women's raucous screeching, turned it off & cancelled the series.

I'm not a real bread-maker except for flatbreads, pitta's & pizza's, but I picked up a pack of Wright's Mixed Grain Bread Mix in Lidl/Aldi (?) & made it at the weekend. I let it rise slowly in a cold room for much longer than stated & it made the most wonderful crusty loaf with a lovely open crumb, & it makes fabulous toast too. I'll buy it again.

[mark111757 Profile]

greets all

caught the first part...so far so good.....i liked the seasoned citizen who said that she did not like/care for flavoured bread...i chuckled on that one.

where i am here in the states...the closest made from scratch bakery is 30 minutes away.....i hear that they made a divine brioche...

the supermarket here in town has a bakery dept but i dont know how much is made there on the spot and how much is frozen dough that is shipped in.....there is Aldi's and all there bread is packaged and shipped in and the mom and pop store is the same way....

there a branch of a supermarket chain in the city where the scratch bakery is and i suspect that alot of theirs is frozen dough that is shipped on and baked on the premises...that being said tho, they offer a very nice ciabetta bread and a very good homestylefarmers loaf that might be good for rachel khoo's croque madame muffins....

i might buy more but the cost is a point too.....i get the "pap" (as was described once by the fab baker boys) from aldi's for $1.29 or so a loaf and a 12 grain bread for $1.89 a loaf. (gotta love the roughage)...

i wish them good luck and well....

[mark111757 Profile]

did anyone else notice on Iplayer that the epi labeled part 2 was part one, at least as of sunday..... DOH!!!!!!!

[jeral Profile]

On cost, in the 2nd episode, a seasoned baker explained how easy it was to double or triple prices if one used the same amount of dough but made it somehow special. I'm sure that is true in places where people have the money to pay inflated prices without a second thought; not sure otherwise (ignoring snob value), though they are planning to sell "fresh" (which to non-converts could equal "goes hard quickly") so will have to wait for Ep.3 to see how successful.

Same here on "frozen/shipped in". Even so-called local bakers just reheat in the same way that supermarkets do and as such must still have the same preservatives etc. I found this out when I asked one if they had any fresh yeast I could buy. They looked at me as if I were speaking a different language.

Anyway, back to the programme. The first rule of selling is to know your market and I'm sure the bakers will find out quickly once they see what sells or doesn't. Looking forward to ep.3 as there's usually at least one happy ending in progs like this.

Eps 1 and 2 are both up on iPlayer - Ep.2 does seem to be Ep.2 at time of writing.

[mark111757 Profile]

i completely enjoyed all the series....i sure wish we had more bakeries like that here in the states where "real" bread was more readily available....