Does Anybody Make Their Own Italian Bread?

Helen Holland

Helen Holland

Community Member
Jul 24, 2013
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I stated elsewhere that I watch a lot of cookery programmes and love watching bread making programmes.

I often make my own bread but the only Italian bread I have ever made is a round loaf, filled with olives, onions and herbs.

However, I am often tempted by ciabatta (which I love), focaccia etc. but get scared away from making them. Does anyone make their own breads and have success with them, do you have any tips?

I have made breadsticks which are ridiculously easy and my husband occasionally makes pizza from scratch :)
 
I don't know what exactly Italian bread is but I have had attempts to make bread and pizza on my own :) And it worked too!

I learned how to bake my own bread when I arrived here. I didn't like the sliced Italian bread since i found it to be too sweet for my taste. It's easy to make it, you just mix flour, water, oil, yeast and salt to your taste. It takes about 2 hours to finish though.... I used to make my own until I found other types of bread in supermarkets though, and then I stopped making it because it needs to much time to bake and it's messy too.

But as far as pizza doughs go, I still make those myself. There are numerous pizzerias but I find that many times they are either in a hurry because they have too many clients waiting and they burn the dough, or they stopped making it as good as they used to :(
 
Well I have used a bread machine as well and tried several different recipes.
The results have been only OK.
Edible and not bad but probably not worth the effort given that the local supermarket has their own bakery and has fantastic focaccias for reasonable prices.
 
I have made Focaccia from semi-scratch. Does that count? I think the hard part is getting the bread to rise. It is tricky and its a hit or miss for me.
 
Yeah,I've made Crusty Italian Bread, The Ingredients:
1 package (1/4 ounce, 2-1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1-1/4 cups warm water (105°-115°)
3 cups unbleached flour or all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
cornmeal for dusting
 
Helen Holland said:
I stated elsewhere that I watch a lot of cookery programmes and love watching bread making programmes.

I often make my own bread but the only Italian bread I have ever made is a round loaf, filled with olives, onions and herbs.

However, I am often tempted by ciabatta (which I love), focaccia etc. but get scared away from making them. Does anyone make their own breads and have success with them, do you have any tips?

I have made breadsticks which are ridiculously easy and my husband occasionally makes pizza from scratch :)
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For me i don't really make my own bread rather i prefer to purchase already made bread. This is because i don't really know the recipe that's why.
 
I love focaccia too much for me to make my own and ruin it. I would like to try, but it does take time and patience which right now I don't have! I have seen many programs on television ( The Great British Bake Off especially) that show you how, but it is time consuming with the proving. I like onions and peppers on mine, so one day I will do it, but I imagine it will leave a messy kitchen.
 
It's been a while since I replied here :P Meanwhile, I got myself a bread machine. Many Italians have one, I didn't know this, I always thought they were more traditional people and would never think to buy one, but when I mention I have one at home and actually use it, most of my colleagues say they keep theirs hidden in the kitchen cabinet! haha!

Until I got the bread machine, I used to buy bread, I found a few types that were quite good! For instance, I usually got the baguette, it's not Italian bread, but some supermarkets make it and it's really good (until it hardens). I also used to get bread rolls, different types, some with different seeds, some simple. Whole wheat bread is also good, I don't know if it's typical Italian though, but it's good.
To sum up, for good Italian bread, you should check out the bakeries, even the supermarket bakeries, the usual bread you find on the shelves is not that great.

However... I now make my own bread at home. And my Italian friends and colleagues love it! The recipe book my bread machine came with actually has a recipe for Italian bread, but I adapted my usual recipe as I saw fit. I make simple white bread, and add some bran to the mixture. The final result is so good, I managed to convince a few people to actually use their bread machines :)
 
Unfortunately, no. I don't really make ANY bread at home to be honest! The only things I'll bake are cakes, cookies or cupcakes. I've tried making bread before, and for some reason, it's always turned out horribly! We actually even had a bread maker once, but I hated it, since the bread that came out was always gross tasting, not to mention it's hard to use it for sandwich bread when it's got two big holes going through the entire bread. Yeuch. If I get any sort of Italian bread, I'll buy it from the grocery store. And if I have some extra spending money, I'll try and get it from a bakery. I live in NJ, so lots of genuine Italian bakeries! :D
 
I don't know how to make my own Italian bread. So many recipes around, but still, I prefer ordering them than making them on my own.
 
Growing up my mom would make a lot of homemade bread. It was definitely some of the best tasting I’ve ever had, especially when it came out of the bread maker. She now uses it to make a lot of homemade pizza dough. I think it tastes a lot fresher than buying it from the store.
 
I must admit I've never tried to make my own bread of any kind, and while I'm sure it will taste a lot different to the shop made varieties you can get, I'm not sure how much better it will be.

Even in the supermarkets now you can find a range of fresh bread that's baked in store, and for someone like myself who isn't an expert, I'm sure they taste just as good as the home baked versions?
 
It's really cool that you make your own bread. I've never even thought about doing that even its a pretty simple thing to do. I guess after I learn how to make bread I'll start thinking about how to make Italian bread.
 
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