If I take the time to make the bread it’s not much harder to make two and I prefer to share. Having said that I see the value of having defined a technique for a single loaf. I still prefer two however.
Prefer 2 as well. If you decide to use single loaf recipes, I’ll just double it when making mine. I put in enough time that I want two loaves for the effort.
I don’t mind freezing. And if the results are good, always fun to give a loaf away.!
I like the one loaf default, as there have been many times it's taken me a while to realize a recipe is for two loaves. A solution to the stand mixer problem would be to proclaim in the headnote that this is for two loaves, and halving it to make one may not work well. And, perhaps give hints about what to do with the second loaf.
In general, I agree with Todd that if you're bothering to bake, it's not that much more effort to make two loaves, and once you've retrieved all the ingredients and equipment, why not just bake a second loaf. But, it's nice to provide the reader the flexibility.
Another approach might be to have double columns for the amounts, and let readers decide for themselves. When I'm halving recipes, I often do that with a pencil, so I don't get confused.
Same here! I usually make two doughs at the same time, then let one rest in the fridge overnight so there’s a second load the next day. Three kids eat a lot of bread 😂
I prefer two as well. There is almost no difference in time. When I heat my oven I want to get the most use from that energy as possible. And giving bread away is one of the joys of baking bread.
I am also in the 2 loaf camp. The work involved is pretty much the same. Also having two loaves in the oven at the same time is more economical than firing the oven up twice.
I selfishly vote for one loaf recipes. It is only my wife and I, and there is only so much bread we can eat. Baking one loaf at a time encourages me to bake more often and to try new recipes more confidently. I know it is only arithmetic, but I find it easier and less error prone to double a single recipe than to halve a double recipe.
I agree with Todd Lee below; additionally, I bake semi-professionally in a very small bistro so doing many loaves at a time is no biggie when I'm there. That said, at home I like to bake a little more than I need so that I can share with friends and the folks who snow blow my driveway! Giving recipes scaled to 2 loaves, as long as they are in grams, makes the math easy should I want to scale up. One thought: if you're writing about a "heavy" recipe, a note of "warning" about maximum weight wouldn't be out of order (I'm thinking of one very heavy multigrain I did back when I was a newbie to this; I scaled it up to 4 loaves and blew the worm gear in my home machine because it was just too dense and heavy) (lesson learned!). In hindsight, I should have only doubled the formula, and saved myself a trip to get the mixer repaired. Being experienced, I'm much more aware of the upper limits, but am thinking of newbies who (like I was all those years ago) might overlook this rather important thing.
I usually bake 1 loaf at a time. It’s just 2 of us & we live in a very rural area with few neighbors. I usually break down 2 loaf recipes into 1. Plus most breads I bake proof overnight & I don’t always have room in the refrigerator for 2 loaves.
Mark me in the two loaf column. Making a good loaf of bread takes time and effort. Frozen and properly thawed bread is excellent and a godsend when I don’t have time to bake. Making two loaves isn’t even marginally more difficult than one loaf. I know, I can multiply by 2 or 4 to increase the volume, but I find two loaf recipes easier. Finally, I think there’s a sustainability/ climate argument to be made for baking two loaves in the oven which needs to be heated in any case for one loaf.
If I take the time to make the bread it’s not much harder to make two and I prefer to share. Having said that I see the value of having defined a technique for a single loaf. I still prefer two however.
Prefer 2 as well. If you decide to use single loaf recipes, I’ll just double it when making mine. I put in enough time that I want two loaves for the effort.
I don’t mind freezing. And if the results are good, always fun to give a loaf away.!
I have no problem with two loaves. I enjoy having an extra to freeze or share!
I like the one loaf default, as there have been many times it's taken me a while to realize a recipe is for two loaves. A solution to the stand mixer problem would be to proclaim in the headnote that this is for two loaves, and halving it to make one may not work well. And, perhaps give hints about what to do with the second loaf.
In general, I agree with Todd that if you're bothering to bake, it's not that much more effort to make two loaves, and once you've retrieved all the ingredients and equipment, why not just bake a second loaf. But, it's nice to provide the reader the flexibility.
Another approach might be to have double columns for the amounts, and let readers decide for themselves. When I'm halving recipes, I often do that with a pencil, so I don't get confused.
Yes! One loaf would be awesome and involves less brain-stressing baker's math to scale it down!!! 😂
I'm in the 2 loaf camp as well. I have 3 kids so bread rarely lasts long and I find myself making it far more frequently when I only do 1 loaf.
Same here! I usually make two doughs at the same time, then let one rest in the fridge overnight so there’s a second load the next day. Three kids eat a lot of bread 😂
As a FreezerHead I actually welcome a full loaf in my freezer—especially if it means the recipe is a little easier on me
I would love to be able to bake two, but I appreciate explicit guidance on how to manage the fact that I only have one basket, pan, dutch oven, etc.
Bread is to share. I vote for two. I give bread to my 95 year old neighbor who is always happy to see me at his door.
I prefer two as well. There is almost no difference in time. When I heat my oven I want to get the most use from that energy as possible. And giving bread away is one of the joys of baking bread.
I am also in the 2 loaf camp. The work involved is pretty much the same. Also having two loaves in the oven at the same time is more economical than firing the oven up twice.
Two is fine for pan breads or freeform on stone. Two Dutch oven loaves is a little crowded, but can be done.
I selfishly vote for one loaf recipes. It is only my wife and I, and there is only so much bread we can eat. Baking one loaf at a time encourages me to bake more often and to try new recipes more confidently. I know it is only arithmetic, but I find it easier and less error prone to double a single recipe than to halve a double recipe.
I agree with Todd Lee below; additionally, I bake semi-professionally in a very small bistro so doing many loaves at a time is no biggie when I'm there. That said, at home I like to bake a little more than I need so that I can share with friends and the folks who snow blow my driveway! Giving recipes scaled to 2 loaves, as long as they are in grams, makes the math easy should I want to scale up. One thought: if you're writing about a "heavy" recipe, a note of "warning" about maximum weight wouldn't be out of order (I'm thinking of one very heavy multigrain I did back when I was a newbie to this; I scaled it up to 4 loaves and blew the worm gear in my home machine because it was just too dense and heavy) (lesson learned!). In hindsight, I should have only doubled the formula, and saved myself a trip to get the mixer repaired. Being experienced, I'm much more aware of the upper limits, but am thinking of newbies who (like I was all those years ago) might overlook this rather important thing.
I usually bake 1 loaf at a time. It’s just 2 of us & we live in a very rural area with few neighbors. I usually break down 2 loaf recipes into 1. Plus most breads I bake proof overnight & I don’t always have room in the refrigerator for 2 loaves.
I would prefer one - it’s only the two of us here at home (with somewhat limited space in the freezer) and only one of each loaf pan/Dutch oven.
Mark me in the two loaf column. Making a good loaf of bread takes time and effort. Frozen and properly thawed bread is excellent and a godsend when I don’t have time to bake. Making two loaves isn’t even marginally more difficult than one loaf. I know, I can multiply by 2 or 4 to increase the volume, but I find two loaf recipes easier. Finally, I think there’s a sustainability/ climate argument to be made for baking two loaves in the oven which needs to be heated in any case for one loaf.