A few years ago I acquired a rather handsome breadmaker, the intention, of course, being to produce quality bread and maybe even save a few bob. Funny enough I didn’t get around to buying the ingredients straightaway so the machine was banished to a kitchen cupboard.  Every so often I’d open the relevant door and remind myself that I should really try it out.

Some time later, months, probably, I decided that I really would like to taste some delicious home-baked bread, so I brought the machine out of exile, dusted it down, and put it in a prominent place in the kitchen; no going back!

I even managed to find the instruction booklet, selected a simple recipe and

purchased the necessary ingredients.

That first loaf was awful!  I couldn’t understand why.  I’d followed the instructions to the letter – correct ingredients, accurate measurement, the right programme – but what I’d produced was heavy, stodgy and not at all appetising.  Even the dog turned up her nose.  The bread simply hadn’t risen! Disappointing or what!  I tried again shortly afterwards, thinking that I must have made a simple mistake, yet the result was the same – heavy and stodgy.  Somewhat disillusioned I put the breadmaker back into exile and continued to buy bread from the supermarket.

You may remember the summer of 2008 – record levels of rainfall and a disastrous harvest.  The price of flour and bread rose dramatically, unlike my bread.  I thought of my futile attempts at breadmaking and decided to re-analyse the instructions in case I’d missed something.  I read the booklet line by line, word by word: ingredients ok; quantities ok; order ok.  Yet hang on, there was mention of tepid water.  I’d been using cold water.  Could this be the missing link?

Continued tomorrow…