Everyday Bread

INGREDIENTS

Scald100g brown bread flour9g salt, not iodised- see note below👇10g sugar10g oil140g boiling water
Main Dough200g cool water½ teaspoon good quality yeast (purple packet Anchor is the best)400g white bread flour

METHOD

Make the scald by adding the ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix very well.
Add in the cool water and mix well. Dip a clean finger into the mixture to gauge it's temperature - you want it pleasantly warm, not hot. If it is OK, add in the yeast and mix well to incorporate. Make sure you are using good yeast. If it is dead, the bread will be horribly dense.
Finally add in your white flour. Mix lightly with a large spoon.
Leave to stand for 15 minutes.
Now give it a good knead in the bowl for a few minutes until it becomes a rough ball of dough. Don't add flour! Do the bounce test: press the pad of a dry fingertip, dusted in flour, against the dough. Does it bounce back or does it leave an indent? If it bounces back, you're ready for the first rise. If not, knead just a little more.
Place the ball seam-side down and cover well with a piece of Clingwrap.Leave it to rise in a cool place for 6-8 hours until the dough is about tripled in size and full of gas.

During this time, if you are so inclined, you may give the dough a fold. That just means tipping it onto a work surface, flattening it out then folding it back together into a ball. I have left this step out on many occasions. It just helps if your bread is not rising well or if you felt like the dough was not well-kneaded.

Prepare a large loaf tin (called the 900g tin) by lining it with baking paper-don't trust the packaging that your tin is non-stick!! Set aside.
Punch down dough and then turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
Now use your hands to press it down into the shape of a rough rectangle. Fold the edges into the middle then roll it up like a swissroll. Elongate it slightly by gently rolling the loaf, hands on it's edges, on the surface of the table. You may use a light sprinkle of flour now to stop the dough from sticking to the counter. Then place it carefully, seam-side down, into the prepared tin. (If you are unsure, Google 'how to shape a batard loaf'. I have also posted a picture in the comments.)
Dust lightly with flour then place a piece of plastic loosely over. Alternately, you may brush it lightly with olive oil.
Allow to rise until the top of the bread reaches the lip of the pan. This could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Now remove the plastic, give the bread a good dusting with flour again or another brush with the olive oil. Cover carefully and refrigerate until ready to bake (between 2-6 hours). >Note: If your fridge is very cold, like ours, you want to make sure that the bread is almost fully proofed before refrigerating. However, if your fridge is not set on the coldest setting, or you are expecting load shedding, then be careful as the loaf will still continue rising in the fridge. This takes a bit of trial and error to get right.

Half an hour or more before you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 190°c, fan assisted.
Remove bread from the refrigerator and take off the plastic in one quick, fluid motion. If it stuck to the bread, remember to put more flour/oil next time.
When oven is fully preheated, place bread inside and bake for 40-45 minutes until well golden brown. You can tap it lightly and it should make a hollow knocking sound.
Take out of the tin carefully and place on cooling rack. Peel of the baking paper. Cool for at least 30-40 minutes. If you slice while it's too hot it will crumble and appear gummy.
Enjoy sliced and smeared with fresh butter, honey and jam. Also makes delicious sandwiches when sliced thin! You may toast it if desired on the second day. It also makes fantastic croutons- just remove crusts, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with herbs and pepper. Bake till crisp.
Even the worst bread fail can be saved by turning the loaf into breadcrumbs!


Sample Schedule- mild Summer, 28°c10am: Make the dough 11am: Give it a fold- optional5pm: Shape into loaf 6-7pm: Dust well with flour and place into refrigerator 5am: Read Fajr and bake bread

INFO & TIPS

This recipe has been well tested! You can tinker with it until it suits your family's taste and schedule.
Remember, you are only using a little yeast so it needs long rising times. However, if your house is very humid, you might still find it overproofing-
in which case, reduce the yeast.
If it so happens that the loaf rises too much in the tin, bake it immediately. There's no good trying to refrigerate it.

Long rising times = the most delicious bread you have ever tasted!

Notes:
>Increase the water amount in the main dough in winter by 20g-50g.

>the salt is on point according to international standards but may be too salty for some South African palates. On the other hand, there are recipes out there calling for 11g salt/500g flour!
We usually decrease the salt down to 7g.

>You could use white bread flour in the scald if you don't have brown at home. We just love the nuttiness it gives the bread, and it's healthier too! Therefore, you could substitute some brown flour into the main dough as well.

>Do not add any flour at all when kneading. The best bread bakers have learnt the art of kneading whilst ignoring the feeling of
sticky dough. You can use a silicone spatula to clean your hands and then wash it thereafter!

>You must have a digital scale and bread flour to make good bread, there is no way around it.

>Scalding is an ancient technique that makes bread even softer. You can apply it to any yeast dough. Check the site Chain Baker for more information.

POSTED ON

11 Dec 2023

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