Emma BBC Maestro courses bring experience to your own home
I have recently started an online bread-making course with BBC Maestro. It’s perhaps not the first thing you would think of learning online from home, however with an iPad or laptop in the kitchen, watching Richard Bertinet himself taking you through each stage of making bread is easy to do. And if you’re unsure about something or make a mistake then you can watch that stage again, as many times as you want.
There are a variety of courses on offer from Ivor Novello winner Gary Barlow teaching how to write songs, one about succeeding in business from the Dragons Den’s Peter Jones, and 3-Michelin starred chef Marco Pierre White teaching how to cook delicious food simply. These aren’t just one-time lessons either, there are 29 from Gary Barlow, 35 from Marco Pierre White and 40 from Peter Jones! The lessons are accompanied by downloadable course notes filled with hints, tips and a breakdown of each Maestro’s course.
So what is a BBC Maestro course like?
The Richard Bertinet Bread Making BBC Maestro course starts with an introduction to his processes and thoughts on bread making.
As you can see from the image above, he then moves on with lessons on how to make the dough, and how to use the dough to make various types of bread whether that be a tin loaf, a baguette or a pizza.
I have made bread before but still consider myself a novice so looked forward to starting with the basics and taking it step-by-step to learn expert advice on bread making. Richard is an excellent teacher, although I think he could read out a shopping list and I would still listen intently! His manner is relaxed and I really did feel as if I was getting a one-to-one lesson on breadmaking. Being able to repeat the lessons as often as I wanted was handy. So you can go over any areas you aren’t sure of, without feeling the embarrassment of a class situation.
Here are the results from the first three lessons. The same dough is used in different ways. Two tin loaves and two free-form loaves.
I was very impressed with the way my bread turned out. All rose to a good size, fluffy bread and, I must say myself, delicious. I’m now looking forward to completing the other lessons and enjoying more bready goodies afterwards!
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