Please help me bake my first loaf of bread

[timmette]

I have made some soup and decided it needs home made bread. So I have dried fast acting yeast and flour - does anyone have a recipe they have used - or can they link to one they have used and knows it works - I am a competent cook but have avoided making bread for some reason.
And I'll be doing it the old fashioned way in the oven - lol

Is there a recipe on the flour packet? It's dead easy TBH, warm water + yeast, mix with flour, knead and allow to rise then cook. I don't do it very often, but I tend to be a bit slapdash and it works just fine.

I just had a quick look for a plain bread recipe on the net but they all seem to be fancy ones.

Agree with above recipe but follow (slightly adapted) bake method from the river cottage book which works so well!

After rising for a couple of hours, punch air out and shape into a round. Place on floured baking sheet. Leave to rise for 30-45 mins.

Meanwhileheat oven to its highest setting and place a baking tin in the bottom of oven. Boil a kettle, then fill the tin with water to create steam.

When dough risen place in oven for 10mins. Then turn down to 200c and bake for 30 mins.

Makes the bread rise loads more nad gives a lovley crust.

Great thanks for the recipe - I did look online but they were for bread a bit more complicated.

cluck does the bread not steam then.

Not at all because the oven is so hot! The steam just helps the bread stay light and rise lots.

Commercial ovens often have steam in them too

Can I just say my bread is currently baking and smells very nice. Thanks

It tasted good - maybe needed a little more salt. I will do it again but the crust was a little too hard so maybe I will try the water in the oven option.
What temp do you suggest for the oven?
I also need to buy a bread knife it can get quite dangerous without one.

Oven needs to be full whack for 10 mins then 200 degrees for 30 mins with the water in the bottom! The water makes all the difference. been baking all our bread for 3 years and only discovered the water trick this summer. It really works!

Also river cottage basic bread recipe that I use is slightly different to the one above.
500g strong flour
300ml water
5g dried yeast
10g salt
no sugar
fat optional but 10g oil or butter.

Thanks Cluck will try that this week. Your recipe and the water.