[Sca-cooks] Baking Bread for Feasts (was Fair feast budget)

[Micaylah]

> I think an awful lot depends upon the size of the feast, and the
> determination of your bakers.  For a large feast, it might well
> not be worth the trouble.  For a small feast, say 50 people or
> under, its doable, and according to our bakers,  enjoyable.

I find it enjoyable to bake bread from scratch but when it comes to
big-small feasts, food groups, etc. I rely on my bread machine to help.
(Yes, I just heard the collective gasp of the bread purists - lol)

I get 2 one pound loaves with each batch I make. While I don't "bake" the
bread in the machine (I use the dough setting), I do let it do the hard
work. I take it out tho and complete the bread by shaping and baking. Then
I freeze them in vacuum sealed bags.

We don't seem to be a huge bread eating Kingdom so its not looked down on
if its commercial. I suppose there's enough to fill up on with everything
else. I usually figure 1 one pound loaf per 8 folks. I do make extra though
as there are always exceptions to the rules and people do sometimes ask for
another loaf. I do notice though that when the bread is not commercial it
almost seems to be appreciated more by the diners. However, with food
groups, I tend to overdo it with the bread. You never know in that small
group who's going to be finicky, or is a bread and peanut butter camper, or
a bigger eater than you thought possible.

Would I make bread for 50 from scratch? If I had a precook/party and did
them ahead of time, then yes.

Micaylah
Grand Poobah of the supporters of par...errr...pre-cooks :)