Bread a journey to sourdough
For the past year or so I have been baking my own bread and rolls to the point that we have only had to buy a couple of emergency loaves of shop bread.
Method
Melt the honey in the boiling water, add the cold water then stir in the yeast, leave to ferment.
Meanwhile mix the flour and salt in a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the yeast and water, which should be frothy. Bring the mixture together until it gets to a point where you can pick it up and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface (you may need more or less water, with experience and experimentation you will get to know how it should be). Kneed the dough until its smooth, about five minutes works for me, place the dough into an oiled bowl and leave to rise until doubled in size, about an hour in our kitchen.
Once the dough has risen its time to knock it back, turn the dough out on to the work surface and kneed for a minute or two.
Now it’s time to mould your bread or rolls, for bread I divide the dough into two and use Lakeland 2lb loaf tins, for rolls I make each roll from about 60g of dough. When you have moulded your dough into your desired shape(s) leave them to prove until they have doubled in size again, I leave them for an hour or more depending on how I feel, patience pays off.
When your bread or rolls are ready to be baked preheat your oven to 240c, I bake my rolls for 10-12 minutes and loaves for 20-25 minutes, they should sound hollow.
This is how I make my bread with timings for my kitchen and oven, I have been changing timings for kneeling, proving and the consistency of the dough. This to me seems to be the only way to make the best bread as you get to a point where you know by feel whether the dough is right or not.
Bread
My current bread recipe that I use to make two small loaves or 20 rolls.
Ingredients
- 750 g shipton mill bread flour
- 5 g of salt
- 30 g of netherend dairy butter
- 15 g of Allison’s dried yeast
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 450 ml warm water, 1/3 boiling 2/3 cold
Instructions
- Melt the honey in the boiling water, add the cold water then stir in the yeast, leave to ferment.
- Meanwhile mix the flour and salt in a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the yeast and water, which should be frothy. Bring the mixture together until it gets to a point where you can pick it up and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface (you may need more or less water, with experience and experimentation you will get to know how it should be). Kneed the dough until its smooth, about five minutes works for me, place the dough into an oiled bowl and leave to rise until doubled in size, about an hour in our kitchen.
- Once the dough has risen its time to knock it back, turn the dough out on to the work surface and kneed for a minute or two.
- Now it’s time to mould your bread or rolls, for bread I divide the dough into two and use Lakeland 2lb loaf tins, for rolls I make each roll from about 60g of dough. When you have moulded your dough into your desired shape(s) leave them to prove until they have doubled in size again, I leave them for an hour or more depending on how I feel, patience pays off.
- When your bread or rolls are ready to be baked preheat your oven to 240c, I bake my rolls for 10-12 minutes and loaves for 20-25 minutes, they should sound hollow.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
40Serving Size:
1 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 75Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 54mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g
Now I have got to a point where I’m comfortable with baking my own bread, I’ve started on a journey to bake sourdough, the starter has been created by my OH. And it’s journey can be followed on crums and corkscrews.
Happy baking
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