I never bake challoh!

sl18

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 4:21 pm

Pardon my ignorance...does that mean you freeze right after kneading the dough (no rise at all before freezing?)

Also, if that is the case, how much time do you leave for rising until you bake? I'm assuming longer than usual.

TIA ( I have only baked challah once while married but hoping this method will help me bake more often with less stress...)

Metukah

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 6:55 pm

My mother always baked challos. She would do it once in a few weeks and make a big batch.

She always kvetched about it so much and complained about how it took the whole day and off course there was no food on that day, that I decided I was never making challos.

Fast forward to one and a half years after my wedding, ds was 5 months and I was bored on 9 av. I ventured into that very dangerous territory and what should I say, I haven't been able to get out. I realised that it wasn't all that frightening.

I have not bought challos (when we are home not away) since that day 9.5 years ago. I even started making homemade rolls for every day. I used to bake once in 3 weeks and fill the freezer. About 2 years ago I got a bread machine and since then I have only made big batches of dough on erev rh, erev YK and shabbos after pesach.

I make a dough in the bread machine ; set it on Thursday night for Friday morning, braid it and bake it. I freeze it on Friday morning and rebake just before shabbos.

We usually have fresh bread or rolls as well during the week, which I also set overnight. I have not bought store baked bread/rolls in a really long time.

ssspectacular

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 7:10 pm

When my children were very small I never baked challah. After abt 15 yrs of marriage I started to bake challah and fell in love with this mitzvah (I don't enjoy any other baking)
I bake once in 2 wks and we love the homemade challah.

amother

Papaya

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 9:56 pm

I really try to make challah. I mean 5 lb kind: hafrasha.
Otherwise I don't feel like there's a poubt. It's delicious but it's also a mitzva.
My batch lasts a few weeks, makes around 7 challos. (I use matza for 3 seudos)
When do I not make challah?
After birth, for a few months every few years
When I am overwhelmed, for a few weeks, around two times a year
When my husband wants a change and buys store challah, a few weeks, around two times a year.
so most of the year we eat Mommy challah!! My kids like it BH.
I just learned from a friend to skip the fancy braiding and plop balls into round land to make pullapart challah. That cuts 30 minutes from the time it takes me to make chalkah, so I don't know when I'm going to go back to the braids...
And I make it by hand.
And yes, we have an extra freezer.
Oh yeah - I also will miss a week or two a year when we stocked up on some freezer food (chicken/kugel) and have no room to put challah

etky

Wed, Nov 07 2018, 12:55 am

ssspectacular wrote:

Yup, that's me!
When the kids were small I didn't even attempt it. Tasty challah is the easiest thing to buy here so I figured why waste the time on that.
When they got older (also about 15 years into marriage) and I had more time to cook/bake without distractions then I began.
I have a bread machine. I do the dough whenever I feel like it and freeze it in portions.
Friday morning I defrost, shape and let rise before baking.
I make enough for 2 weeks at a time so every other week I have off.
I only buy when I don't have dough in the freezer and am really pressed for time.

zaq

Wed, Nov 07 2018, 8:18 am

Rutabaga wrote:

Have you seen this? I haven't tried it myself because I don't bake challahs but I have a friend who does it and says it saves her a lot of time.

Wow! Gonna have to try it. I would expect the cuts to heal themselves and vanish, but we’ll see. Still, my limiting factor is not the braiding but the kneading. I enjoy forming the loaves, esp. trying different types of braids and different shapes. Mixing and especially kneading by hand is something I could live very well without.

sdk

Sun, Dec 09 2018, 5:32 pm

So of course don't feel pressure and do what works for you, but I sometimes tell myself, challah is a mitzvah whereas kugel and cake are not a mitzvah! So maybe it's better if I buy the cake and kugel and make the challah! I probably make my own challah about a third of the time. A few ways I've found that make it easier for me, less daunting: make a small batch, about 1.5kg, enough to take but not enough for bracha, which is still the mitzvah. Squash 4 medium challahs into one tray, so it doesn't take over my whole oven or use every oven tray or he to be done in batches. Don't stress about egging them - in a pinch you can use water if you're pushed for time although egg is nicer. Don't stress about how pretty your braids are. Also I converted the cup measures in my recipe to weights and do the whole thing on the weighing scales which I find faster than cups. And use a mixer to knead! If you do all that and it's still too much, so buy it guilt free! You tried! Try again in a few years 😀

amother

Brunette

Sun, Dec 09 2018, 8:14 pm

When I got married I never baked since dh wats white and I eat whole wheat. My mother bajes every week and I just took from her and dh bought. When I moved to my current house 5 years ago. I bought myself a Bosch mixer the day I moved and decided I will bake. Bh I developed a great recipe for both white and whole wheat and I love baking challah. I bake as often as I need probably once a month anout but I just baked 300 bilkes for shabbos Sheva brochos and three simcha challos. I really enjoy it. Since I moved to my house I only bought challah white challah one time.