After my first try, also a dismal failure, I bought a thermometer so I could measure the temperature of the liquid (usually water but sometimes milk). It made a big difference to use liquid that wasn’t too warm. (I know I"m repeating myself but really, this was key.) That was about 20 years ago. I no longer use a thermometer because now I have a sense of what’s cool enough by touch (my finger!).
If any of you like Jenna Fischer (Pam from The Office) and are on Instagram she has become a bread making ADDICT the last couple of months. She is hilarious to watch but also takes her bread making very seriously and her loaves are generally BEAUTIFUL! She is using this book - swears by it: https://www.amazon.com/Bread-Baking-Beginners-Essential-No-Knead-ebook/dp/B07HPF3W6N
Follow her if you like bread and are on Instagram!
@MaterS the hardest thing for me about slicing homemade bread is waiting for it to completely cool.
So true, House - I’ll get in there and cut one or two slices of a hot loaf but that’s as much as I can manage - there’s a cloud of steam and the loaf wants to collapse.
^^^ and around here, we always decide that would be such a shame and end up devouring it while it’s still warm!
@JHS can you post your schencken recipe? Sounds good. I tried to google it but can’t seem to fund it. Thanks!!
@MaterS - you definitely need a serrated bread knife. I also use a special cutting board - it has slats that allow the crumbs to fall into the tray below so it’s not so messy.
That said - it simply gets better with practice. The more often you do it, the easier it becomes. I can slice a loaf of bread completely evenly , but then I’ve been doing this for a couple decades now.
How did I miss this thread?! I’ve been baking our bread for over 2 decades. I raised my 4 kids on homemade, whole wheat bread. I have an electric mill that I use to mill my flour (I can mill about 5 lbs of flour in about 5 minutes). Then I immediately use that flour to make bread. I use a Magic Mill mixer. It’s like a Kitchen Aid mixer, only much bigger. I’m able to mix a dough for 5 loaves of bread in it.
Now that it’s just the two of us at home, I am starting to experiment with 2 loaf recipes. It takes us too long to go through 5 loaves of bread. The no knead bread recipes (where you bake the bread in a very hot oven in a Dutch oven) are fantastic.
I do love the dutch oven no knead recipes. What are your favorite variations/add-ins?
We have done cheddar/herb often.
Lemon and a mild white cheese - harvarti or swiss.
I’ve baked the no knead bread a few times but have better luck with the kind you knead. Our family’s favorite is challah, I make it into rolls and freeze the extra. Sometimes I send it to the kids as a care package. I’m not a fan of sourdough and use grocery store yeast without any problems.
@abasket - I haven’t done an add-ins yet. I’ve just made the standard version and we love it. Frankly, I"m not a huge cheese mixed with herbs fan.
@HMom16 - I"ve made challah a few times but all that braiding is too much fuss for me to do on a regular basis. My kids do get excited when I make it (and they get to take the leftovers home!).
I buy the large package of yeast at Costco. Super inexpensive as compared to the packets at the grocery store. I keep some in my fridge and the rest in the freezer. I’ve never had it go bad on me.
I have a serrated knife but I just can’t slice the bread thinly and evenly. Maybe I should stand on a chair so I am working from above.
Have made the no-knead dutch oven bread and am now trying a similar recipe that does not require 18 hours of rising time. Finishing up a two hour rise at room temperature and it will rise once more once I form a loaf. I’ll let you know how it works out 
I want to try and make crumpets. If I’m ever able to get out of this house that is…
I bought some at Trader Joe’s and I thought they were delicious. But I’m pretty far from TJ’s and they don’t sell them at my local grocery store.
Those TJ crumpets are very good. It’s on our “must buy” list each trip. Twice toasted. 
@deb922 almost all grocery stores carry crumpets in the dairy section.
Thanks, @MaterS, I looked but only saw English muffins in the dairy section the last time I was at my grocery store. I’ll look again
@bookreader When I’m not in the mood to braid I just make challah rolls - so easy - just take about a piece, roll it into a snake and then knot like a pretzel.
My no-knead recipe says 8-18 hours rising time, meaning just let it go at least 8 hours. I usually mix it up sometime after dinner and bake it the next morning. I never time the rise because overnight means well past eight hours, and it always turns out great. I always use beer instead of water, and if you add a tablespoon of grated parm and a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar, you get a bit of a sourdough-like tang. I always mix in some type of fresh chopped herbs as well or, if I’m lazy, a tablespoon of dried Italian herb mix. My husband is always impressed by the look of the loaf with its crusty “ears.”
Well, this recipe calls for minimum two hour rise and anything beyond that is fine. It can also rise at room temperature or in the refrigerator. The recipe says it makes 4 loaves and I made one tonight leaving the rest of the dough in the refrigerator for tomorrow. I let mine rise for the minimum two hours and it was great! It’s a recipe I found in the NY Times - google Simple Crusty Bread.