Making bread.

[toffeeboffin]

Does anyone have a foolproof recipe for baking bread?

Seen lots of people seem to do it, it seems so difficult though?

450ml Water (300ml cold/150ml boiling)
1 level dessert spoonful dried active Yeast
350 pm Strong Wholemeal Flour
350 gm Strong White Flour
1.5tsp salt
1 table spoon olive oil
1 table spoon golden syrup

Mix together and knead, stretching the gluten until smooth. Leave in a bowl covered with cling film in a warm place to prove until doubled in size.
Knock back, knead again and roll up, placing in a 2lb loaf pan until rising above the top of the pan, score the top of the loaf with a very sharp knife and place on the middle shelf of a very hot over (220deg.+) for 40 minutes.

Works for me.

I go simpler:
550g flour
350ml water
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt.

Knead until soft and pliable. Let rise until double. Put in tin. Rise again. Bake at 220C for 35mins.

I use this all the time. You can mix it up by altering the liquid, so using part or all milk makes the loaf softer, you can use beer too for flavour. Any flour will work. Add in raisins, 1 tsp sugar and a shake of cinnamon for raisin bread, or some chopped olives, sundried toms and grated cheese for savoury.

Thanks so much for both of the ideas, I'll try both 🍞

Captain, at what stage do you add extra flavor ingredients like olives etc?

You can add them right at the start with all the other ingredients if you want them in little bits all through the bread (the kneading breaks them up). Or if you like proper big bits then knead them in after the first rise.

I add raisins in after the first rise to keep them whole. A little bit of extra yeast is a good idea if adding extra ingredients as some of them (eg cinnamon) can inhibit the yeast a bit. Just a small bit, like a heaped tsp rather than a flat one.

I use a simple recipe too

500g strong flour
7g fast acting yeast
7g salt
300ml water

Knead for 4 mins, rest for 10, knead for 4

Leave to prove 1 hour approx or until doubled in size - at this point you can freeze it

Knock back, shape, leave to prove another 45 mins

Bake

Dead simple

Thanks Captain, although a heaped tsp is quite a lot extra, no?

The thing with bread making is that it's easier than cake making but it needs to be left to rise (so people think it takes loads of time). If you leave it to rise slowly by using cold water ( and or putting in the fridge) it means you can go out for the day or leave till the morning etc. Paul Hollywood does this.

It also makes the bread much nicer. I use all types of lower gluten flour like spelt or a rye mix(because dh is intolerant to wheat gluten) and do this.

On the subject of time, as raised by ppeatfruit I tend to use the 'half-sponge' method with the recipe I gave above. I mix half the flour, all the yeast and all of the water together and leave overnight (or mix at breakfast time and leave untyil I get home from work) and only add the remaining flour and other ingredients when I am ready to get down to making the loaf. The slow ferment helps develop the flavour. It doesn't matter which flour you use first (or last).

the basic loaf is simple.
I use
500g bread flour (half/half white/wholemeal)
300ml water
1 tablespoon oil
half a table spoon dried yeast (or a sachet)
half a teaspoon salt

mix all together then knead until you can form a smooth ball.
put in greased tin.

leave until tin is filled (30 min to 1 hour depending on how warm it is)

bake at 200 (conventional) for 45 min (I don't preheat).

Interesting Ppeat... So if I made it with cold water, and left overnight for the initial prove, in the morning I'd just knock it back, shape, 30 min prove then in the oven? Is that right?

would take
longer than 30 min for second prove probably as cold

Doje you could do the second prove in the fridge overnight and then just bake in the morning, take the bread out of the fridge while you preheat the oven and then bake.

in short, try a basic recipe.
when you have mastered it you can go all out, try a sweet type of dough, sourdough, seeded...

Yes Doje As PinkSwim says 2 long proves make better bread. You would have to leave it for longer than 30 mins probably.

I have got a rye sourdough pre leaven stage, on the kitchen table as we speak It's an experiment I keep thinking I'll try making sour dough so here we go!!

You can get all the information you need on line toffee Though it's sometimes a bit over complicated IMO.