Mash v Liquidised

[Rusty]

I have searched the forum for this but the words “bread” & “mash” appear in numerous threads so forgive me for taking the direct route.

 

I’ve liquidised fresh bread before with good results as a feed, it breaks down into fine particles in a time dependant on how hard you squeeze the ball. Squeeze hard and it floats for longer before it suddenly disintegrates into a lovely cloud of tiny bread bits, a not so hard squeeze results in less time before disintegration.

 

Bread mash I’ve not used before but there are two loaves sitting in my landing net in the shed gradually going stale in readiness for the weekend (probably the most weight the net has had to deal with recently). I’m not sure what to do with it next and, importantly, why it’s different to liquidised bread. I’ve googled and various preparation methods come up but if they all result in a ball breaking down into small particles wouldn’t liquidising fresh bread be easier (don’t have to wait for it to become stale)?

 

I’d be really grateful for some advice and/or an explanation as to the difference between the two methods of preparation and the end result. There must be a difference if one of them requires fresh bread and the other stale.

 

Thank you.

[ayjay]

If you use fresh bread to make mash you will end up with a horrible slimy goop.

 

Stale bread will give you a nice usable mash so long as you squeeze out as much water as you can.

 

If you have the time make it well in advance with the minimum amount of water, twice by weight works OK but it needs much longer to soak in, but then there is much less squeezing out to do.

 

Mashed bread is used in much larger quantities than liquidised and is therefore much more filling. One sliced loaf (with the crusts cut off) liquidised will easily last me a whole day feeder fishing, I use liquidised when I don't want to feed too much, and I will use mash if I'm roving and prebaiting swims.

Edited January 6, 2011 by ayjay

[Dick Dastardly]

A good question Rusty.

 

For me "liquidised bread" has always been a delicate ground bait which Ive used either high in the water during the warmer months for speed fishing for small fish or deep in the winter.

 

For summer use I mix it with dessicated coconut and milk powder.This gives a very good "active" mix (thanks to the coconut re hydrating) and excellent cloud "hang" properties.I use it "dry" (ie add no water to the mix) and simply squeeze it together in one hand to put out.Fresh bread is best for this. I use maggot/caster or artificial hook baits with this. In the winter I find just the liquidised bread on its own a great light feed for use with punched bread for roach on canals and still waters.Used in small amounts and

once again dry.

 

"Mashed" bread is a much heavier feed that I use mainly in running water when I am using bread on the hook. I prefer to make it from stale (dry) bread as if you use fresh it doesn't mash up as well do to being "doughy" I soak it in a bit of water (experience teaches you how much) and use a plastic spud masher to break it up.Some the drain but like I said you can get used to the amount of water to add with use. Wet enough to bind it together enough to put out but will still break up.Being ready soaked it gets down quickly even when broken up.

 

Im sure others may use both differently but for what its worth thats how I do it.

[Anderoo]

Good timing Rusty. I was chatting to a fellow angler the other evening, and he asked the same question. Although he's a very experienced angler, he'd never used mashed bread properly before, and wondered how you made it so it didn't turn into porridge! So I thought I'd do a little photo-based 'how to' at the weekend and ask Elton to put in on the site.

 

As you rightly say, mash needs stale (dry) bread and liquidised needs fresh. The differences between them are that mash is heavier and sinks quicker; liquidised is made up of much smaller pieces and so is less food; and mash is more 'milky' in texture, rather than an explosion of tiny bread particles like liquidised.

 

Feeding by hand, I would usually use mash. In a feeder, liquidised is better.

 

Liquidised is just fresh bread whizzed up in a food processor and squeezed together using its own moisture.

 

Mash is dry bread (I have 2 torn up loaves of cheap white sliced bread hanging up in landing nets now, ready for the weekend) which is soaked in water (I tip the dry bits into my landing net and submerge in the river until the bubbles stop), the excess water squeezed out, then the resulting wet bread mashed up by hand in a plastic bag. When it's right, you can squeeze it into balls but when it reaches the bottom it breaks up into a lovely flakey, milky bread soup in the water. The chub love it

Edited January 5, 2011 by Anderoo

[lutra]

Bread mash I’ve not used before but there are two loaves sitting in my landing net in the shed gradually going stale in readiness for the weekend

I would go and rip them open so they can be drying out better or they may still be fresh inside come weekend. As said it will just go gloopy if its not dry and you try to make mash with it.

[medwaygreen]

Very good thread to read, I use liquidised bread almost all the time for my River fishing for hand feeding when just lightly squeezing, just enough for instant sinking with immediate dispersal, I find that you can also control the feed rate in a cage feeder with the amount of pressure used when packing and it also allows you to pack in the middle other loose feed such as maggot or caster for slow release.

I also like budgie add other ingredients such as, powdered milk, ground rice,semolina,soya flour and sweetener or a combination all any of these and of course colouring if required, it makes for such versatility depending on the time of year and conditions, as a tip I have found that that best bread to use is the Tesco value white for both cost and texture once liquidised.

I have not used mash for a long time now as I only used it in the past to carpet still waters and do not find myself fishing very many stll waters these days.

[Grumpalot]

"Stale" isn't the sme as "dry", and definitely not the same as mouldy!

Bread can be staled quickly by storing in the fridge overnight. Really good, fresh Baker's bread may withstand such treatment a bit longer, but your supermarket cheapie should then be crumbly enough to mash, without the risk of mould growing on it.

Staling is a strange processs, in that it happens fastest at about five deg. Celsius - unlike most chemical processes, which accelerate with heat, or biological ones which tend to peak at 20-30 Celsius.

This means bread for eating should be stored at room temperature, or frozen; nothing in between.

To check if bread is mashable, rub a bit between finger and thumb; if it smears into a "bogey", for want of a better term, it's far too fresh. If it would hold onto a hook just about long enough to be used as flake, it's a bit too fresh, if it's too crumbly for the hook, it'll mash well; if it gouges holes in your fingers, it's bone dry and will require a long soak!

 

Additions:

BRAN:

Don't run off with the idea that bran is just "roughage" with no nutritional value, it's about 10-12% protein. It also smells and tastes good!

I've been through loads of old books to try and find the magic formula for Bread-and-Bran as used by early writers; the only firm guidance I could glean was a peck of bran to a loaf of mashed bread. As a peck is two gallons, bran-and-bread would seem a better term. You end up with a dark brown, fluffy porridge of flaky bran JUST held together with bread-paste. Drop a ball in flowing water: it should settle and dissolve from the outside (as opposed to burst into fragments) releasing a stream of nosh. It should also smell nice enough to eat!

The reason for the authors' vagueness was surely that it's a very "forgiving" recipe; less bran makes a stiffer mix; two gallons per loaf is about the limit of bran that can be held together for throwing.

 

Do not try to add dry bran, hoping it will be dampened sufficiently by the bread; it will float as it peels off the ball, and every duck for miles around will want to be your new best friend.

I know whereof I speak, and my voice still gets a hysterical waver to it when I recall it verbally.

There are a lot of ducks at Holwell Hyde.

 

Of course, if you want to distract the ducks, bran's awfully cheap and they love it...

 

GRAVEL: builder's, not aquarium grade, unless you're obscenely rich; a gravelly plum-duff sinks well and stays put, rather than trundling off downstream as it shrinks, taking the fish with it.

 

Big thanks for the coconut/milk powder idea for liquidised bread. I must try those with mash some time, too!

[Rusty]

Thanks for the responses everyone, it’s cleared up my confusion.

 

I’ll try it this weekend, I’ve a swim in mind where trotting maggots has only produced one chub for me despite loads of attempts. I’ll have to admit defeat and try another method, everybody I talk to at the venue suggests bread….the penny’s finally dropped.

[ayjay]

One more little tip about mashed bread: if you get the chance for an impromptu session and don't have any stale bread, fresh wholemeal bread will mash OK without going slimy, (but I'd still use fresh white for hookbait).

[grumpybum]

I use a lot of mashed bread. So much so I now hang 2 old keepnets in a shed. Into these I place all the stale bread we generate. I allow the bread to dry out completely. When dry I break each slice in to smaller pieces and store in a plastic tub.

 

When needed I fill a bucket with the bread and soak in water for a few hours. This is then turned out on to a large groundbait sieve. Gentle pressure squeezes out the water. I then mash with either my hands or a spud masher.