Convection Oven

[bill48]

How is the convection/ microwave oven to bake bread. What is the best,smallest and cheapest piece?

[bobconnie]

Get a bread maker! it makes better bread and uses less power ! Just our 2 cents

[Amapola]

We have a Sharp microwave/convection oven. I believe it was less than $200. I love it for baking. I have an Oster bread maker for bread though. I bought it at a thrift store for $5.

[David M]

I have never had bread from a bread maker that tastes right. It does not have that doughy-yeasty flavor. It tastes more like the stuff you get in the plastic wrappers at the grocery store. You can cook bread in a convection oven. I don't know if it will work combined with microwaves. Bread needs time to rise while baking and a microwave might cook it too fast for it to rise properly.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by David M

I have never had bread from a bread maker that tastes right. It does not have that doughy-yeasty flavor. It tastes more like the stuff you get in the plastic wrappers at the grocery store.

+1

I agree. And I've had it in different countries in different decades -- always has a kind of cardboard taste. Diametric opposite of most homemade bread.

In the UK, good bread is a problem in the stores, too. It's all like what we used to get in the US 30 years ago -- utterly lacking any texture, and hardly any flavor either, consistency of Wonder Bread, even the supposedly "whole wheat" bread. It's weird, because just 100 miles across the Channel is some of the best bread in the world.

Maybe it has something to do with the flour? I remember the story about how the Soviets had a really bad harvest one year, in the '60's or '70's, I guess it was. They bought a huge quantity of wheat from the U.S. When it arrived, the Soviets decided they were cheated, and it was a huge scandal -- you couldn't make bread from it that a Russian would be willing to eat -- that grade of wheat they use only for animal feed. But it was our best wheat. Don't know if the story is true, but it sounds about right.

Might need to start making bread on board. Another reason to change out my built-in micro/grill for a micro/convection oven -- maybe need to move that up the list.

[Dockhead]

P.S. One type of bread which is exceptionally easy to make, and comes out really well in a convection oven, is cornbread. Because of where I grew up, we had hot cornbread on the table almost every evening when I was a child. Never made it on the boat, and one obstacle is that you need a cast iron skillet, something awkward to keep on a boat.

Proper stone-ground cornmeal is hard to get in Europe, but polenta is a good substitute.

In continental Europe, there's no problem getting the other main ingredient of cornbread -- buttermilk or kefir. But in the UK, THIS is almost impossible to find -- you just can't win over here -- guess I have to forget about any kind of bread -- need to just give in and switch to Yorkshire puddings and scones and so forth and forget about it . . .

[Blue Crab]

I doubt it's "good for you" (what is?) but French flour ought to be easily obtained. No?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I doubt it's "good for you" (what is?) but French flour ought to be easily obtained. No?

I don't know. I'm not so sure. I haven't baked bread in quite a few many years. Whether it's the flour, or how they mix it up, I don't know. In any case, their bread is something different. Not just in France, but all over continental Europe. German and Italian bread are also fantastic. It would be interesting to hear from someone who really knows.

[mub]

I can lend some credence to the bread flour idea. I regularly travel to Canada... Oh about 30 miles... And the bread flour I get there makes far better tasting bread than anything I can find in the USA

I have found that a lot of the Europeans buy food on taste.
In the UK and USA I think people buy food on price.

This leads to big differences in food quality.

But back to the overn question...

A convection oven does nice bread.
A boat oven also does a nice job

The Dickerson is my favorite but then I learned to cook on a Rayburn.

[goboatingnow]

Good bread is easy to find in the UK.

For European style bread flour , you need a flour high in gluten. ( a hard flour) know as type 550 in Germany and type 55 flour in France ( type 45 for croissants ) it makes all the difference.
The other thing ( I used sail with a baker) is that a conventional domestic oven simply can't bake bread like a bakers bread oven.

It can be got readily in the UK.

[Irish rambler]

I know you won't believe this but my company transports frozen pre-cooked bread(baguettes from a factory in South London to France ! after discharge the truck is reloaded just around the corner in the same industrial estate with ? frozen pre-cooked bread for the UK/Ireland. Pre-cooked frozen baguettes for a well known Sub sandwich chain are made in Northern Ireland and distributed around Europe. I don't want to give the name for obvious reasons (it's my cruising money).

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

For European style bread flour , you need a flour high in gluten. ( a hard flour) know as type 550 in Germany and type 55 flour in France ( type 45 for croissants ) it makes all the difference. ...

I knew it couldn't be good for you! Gluten-free is a growing theme in the US. As is wheat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, even fancy-free, I guess.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I knew it couldn't be good for you! Gluten-free is a growing theme in the US. As is wheat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, even fancy-free, I guess.

Pleasure free seems to be the key nowadays LOL. Inducing the fear factor is a popular trend. If you get plenty of fresh air, exercise, love and laughter, I think you can basically eat and drink what you like .

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Pleasure free seems to be the key nowadays LOL. Inducing the fear factor is a popular trend. If you get plenty of fresh air, exercise, love and laughter, I think you can basically eat and drink what you like .

Amen to that. Furthermore, if you get plenty of fresh air, exercise, love, laughter, sex, regular but moderate doses of alcohol, and food which is enjoyable to eat, you would prefer that kind of life even if you didn't live as long!

In any case, I don't think that gluten is harmful unless you have celiac disease. So bah, humbug to cardboard, low-gluten bread, as far as I'm concerned!

[ohdrinkboy]

google "bread in 5 minutes a day" it's really easy and makes good bread. I cooked two loaves this morning.