Bread Recipe

Ingredients

The great thing about making bread is that every person who makes it adds a little bit of uniqueness to every loaf they make. But you need to bake a few loaves first to understand the process.

It’s quite easy but takes time for each process to happen.

First you activate the yeast, next you mix the ingredients and wait for the dough to rise and then repeat the knead the rise and finally bake the loaf.

The ingredients are specific in this recipe for ease of use for the first time baker. If you haven’t made bread before and you follow this recipe you should make a decent loaf of bread.

Activating the Yeast

Put a sachet of fresh yeast in a bowl with a teaspoon of sugar and pour on a little luke warm water. (up to about 100ml if you worried about quantities)

Yeast is a living thing that is activated by warm water and a little sugar. If the water is too hot it may kill the yeast. If it is too cold the yeast may not activate and rise properly. The water should be warm to the hand but not scalding.

Yeast must also be fresh and airtight for storage don’t use old yeast as it wont work.

Next mix the flour salt and a knob of butter together in a separate bowl and wait for the yeast to activate

Wait. . .

Waiting is part of the skill of making bread

When the yeast has got a nice frothy head on it and you can see it bubbling every so often its ready.

When this happens add the yeast to the mixed ingredients. if it doesn't produce a `frothy head' it is not fresh and won't raise the dough.

Making and kneading the bread dough

Mix the yeast mix into the bowl of mixed flour, butter and salt gradually adding water that is poured in a little at a time until the mix sticks together in a ball.

Pull the ball of dough out and put it on a floured or lightly oiled flat surface and start working the dough.

There are many thoughts on the kneading process and again is part of the skill of bread making.

But the best advice here is to have a go yourself for your first bake.

You want to try to get the dough elastic and with some spring in it, so for that you need to get that yeast kneaded well in.

If it sticks to your hand too much you can sprinkle some oil or flour on it until the mix feels right.

When you think its elastic enough put the dough back in the mixing bowl cover with an lightly oiled bag or cling film and wait. . . .

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Waiting for the bread dough to rise.

If your making bread for the first time put the bread somewhere warm (room temperature).

You want the dough to rise with its own pace - too warm and it may rise very quickly and form a hard crust on the dough.

This is not the same as the crust on a cooked loaf and will need to be re mixed before a second rise.

Too cold and the dough will not rise well

Just be patient with the rising process and it will rise well of its own accord in its own time.

It usually takes between 3 and 5 hours for my dough to rise, but the best practice for first time bread making is to check it at regular intervals and see if its doubled in size.

Punch the dough and knead again

When it has risen punch the dough down with your fist and watch that dough sink down.

Using a little oil or flour pull the dough back into a ball and placing the dough back onto a work surface knead the dough over again.

You can make it any shape you like here but this recipe is for a loaf tin so I shape it into a rough rectangle.

However you can place it on a baking tray if you want to make a basic artisan round loaf if you don’t have one.

Rub a small amount of fine flour over the top of the dough for a great coloured top crust.

The loaf tin should be oiled to stop it sticking before the dough is placed in it.

Waiting for the bread dough to rise for the second time:

Place the oiled bag over the top and allow the bread to rise again in the loaf tin.

The reason for the oil on the bag is to stop it sticking if the dough decides to rise quickly and touch the bag.

Some bread makers suggest that the bread should be left in a slightly warmer place every time the dough is made to rise but leaving the dough in the same temperature has not caused me any problems.

It will take less time for the second rise where the dough will form into the final loaf shape.

It’s ready when it looks like the size of loaf you want to bake and eat.

Patience is called for here as its up to you to decide when its ready.

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Baking the bread:

Pre heat the oven to 225 and place a baking tray or Pyrex lid with some water in it.

The water in the tray will create a little steam and this makes the crust go that lovely brown colour.

When the oven has reached temperature, put the bread in the middle of the oven and close the door quick to keep the heat in.

If you can keep the door closed for the entire 30 minute bake, but if you need to check it you can turn it after 15 minutes to keep the bake even.

When the bread has been baked, knock the bread out of the loaf tin onto a wire rack to cool it.

You can gently tap the base of the bread at this stage and it should sound a little hollow.

The Finished Bread Loaf

When it’s cooled it can be eaten fresh or frozen.

You should be able to cut the cooled loaf in half and check your baking skills.

If the bread has an even crumb and tastes like great bread, then congratulations. You’re a baker.

After trying out combinations and variants of this recipe including mixing kneading, Proofing (also called proving), temperature and baking times this method seems to be the most consistent and easiest.

Fresh bread will not keep as long as mass produced loaves so freezing the loaves makes this a viable way of producing home made bread for yourself or your family without having to make it every day.

If you follow this recipe you should have success at your first go, but if it doesn’t work out then you can tell which part has gone wrong by examining the stages of bread making.

If the bread didn’t rise is most likely caused by temperature during the waiting period, not waiting long enough or bad yeast.

Always use fresh yeast (dried is the easiest for me) that is within date and until you are confident have patience in waiting for the bread to rise at its own pace.

Big air pockets and split crusts are a symptom of a rise that has happened to quickly

If it’s to hard it has probably been over cooked.

if the bread has started to stale overnight, sprinkle a little water over it and put the loaf into a warm oven for 10 minutes and it will freshen up

Breads have been made for centuries in so many parts of the world that individual variants make bread baking an unique experience and almost an art form.

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