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Bread Bread making used to be part of the domestic routine of many households. Whilst bread making can be a rewarding activity if you choose it as an alternative to going to the gym, the thought of kneading 14 lb of dough every Wednesday helps explain the popularity of mass produced bread. This is a skill which improves with practice. If your first loaf leaves your hands stuck together with wallpaper paste and staring at a crumbling brick, try again. Once you get the hang of it, your homemade bread will be more popular than the factory stuff. Bread can be made with almost any plain flour ranging from the 4p/lb "economy" bags sold in supermarkets to the specialist "organic, stone ground, strong bread making flour" at 35p/lb. Dried yeast is simple and reliable and can be left in the tin until needed. Success comes from keeping the yeast, water and utensils warm during mixing followed by enthusiastic kneading. "Warm water" simply means water which is warm when you put your finger in it. The kneading process starts with forming the dough into a ball, stretching it into a sausage and rolling it back into a ball again. |
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Time
Activating yeast: 10 - 20 minutes Ingredients (Produces a single "large" loaf") Flour: 1 1/2 lb (750 gm) Equipment Large loaf tin, large mixing bowl, 1 pt jug. Method Grease a loaf tin. Warm a 1pt mixing jug, then add four tablespoons of warm water (1/4 inch in the bottom of the jug) and add the dried yeast and sugar. Beat the mixture into a cream using a fork (do this quickly or the yeast can form itself into a sticky ball). Place the jug in a pan part filled with warm water, after a few minutes, the mixture will start to foam indicating that the yeast has activated. While the yeast is activating, stir the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add additional warm water to the mixing jug containing the yeast so that it contains 3/4 pint, give it a stir and pour the contents on to the flour. Mix the flour and water together with a fork. Dust a clean surface with flour using your hands so that they too are covered in flour. Now knead the dough for 10 minutes. As you work the dough, it will change texture and become more elastic. Force the dough into the loaf tin. Leave the dough to rise until it is approximately two and half times its original volume. This takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours in a warmish kitchen, longer in a cool one. Finally bake in the middle of a moderate oven (gas mark 5) for 40 to 50 minutes. When the loaf is tipped out of the tin, it should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, if it does not, put it back in the oven for a few minutes without the tin and upside down so the solid top crust is resting on the oven shelf. Comment Mix and knead the dough on a Friday or Saturday evening, leave it to rise overnight, bake it early the next morning and there is fresh bread for breakfast. Page Updated: 22nd December 2000 |