[libertarian27]

*Note: Metal utensils or bowls will inhibit or kill yeast. Adding flour after first rising will discolor bread. After kneading, bread should have a feeling of being “alive” which comes from the multiplication of the yeast. Too much flour gives a dry loaf with less flavor. Too little flour or not enough cooking time gives a loaf that is raw and sticky in the middle.

Your notes are a keeper!
I'm not a great baker and anything with flour I just struggle to get correct.
I made Cuban bread for the first time yesterday and it tasted great but the texture came out just OK -but your Notes clued me into the potential problem (I left the metal spoon in the yeast rising dish-duh)
I don't like the feel of flour on my hands but I'm getting into kneading bread lately - it's like a big huge stress relief ball...lol....Thanks for the notes - it's time to experiment more with bread making.

[Judith Anne]

I made bread once every couple weeks for a year before I got a loaf I was happy with. My gram taught me how to make it, and hers was always light, high, smelled yeasty, and tasted perfect. Finally, mine started to get that way. There’s always more to learn, though, and even this past year, I finally became able to predict if a loaf was going to be spectacular or just good, by the feel of in as I stirred the flour/yeast water mix with the wooden spoon.

I have a rough time making decent light biscuits, though. My daughter in law makes perfect ones, effortlessly, it seems. She has found the knack. I need more practice, I’ve rarely made them.

I’m not too bad at pie dough, the secret to that is to not worry if it seems crumbly in the bowl, go ahead and roll it out anyway, pretty much as thin as possible, on a big sheet of plastic wrap (then lift up the wrap, and invert it over the pie pan, gently coax the thin dough off).

The neat thing about bread though, is that the taste IS great. Smells wonderful too, when baking. ;-D Even failures are wonderful, just out of the oven, LOL!