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Phil, DH and I are just trying out your basic bread recipe and I will come back later to let you know how it turns out, but on your blog I noticed that you don't use any sugar! Is this deliberate?

Another question - when you have shaped your loaf, do you cover it again while it's rising or just leave it on the baking tray open? Sorry to be a pain but I'm hoping to get DH doing it on his own so will need to put the instructions down step by step!

Another question - could you use the same recipe in a loaf tin? If so, what size?

Well, it's done and looks remarkably like yours, Phil. Waiting for it to cool down so we can cut into it!

Couldn't wait until it was cold, but we managed warm! A dense texture without being heavy. I expected it to taste yeasty but it didn't! Nice and springy. I will definitely try it again but I'm going to put it in a loaf tin next time, not because there was anything wrong with it but to see if I can get it sandwich sized! Thanks, Phil!

Sorry, I'm rarely here before mid-afternoon.

No, I don't add sugar, the easy blend yeast has all the additives it needs! I cover it loosely with a clean tea-towel both during rising and proving.

!f it's dense, you probably needed to leave it slightly longer to prove. It's always a bit of a quandary as too long and it can collapse: too little and it's heavy.

...and of course you can use a tin:



The mix for 2 loaves was:

1kg strong white bread flour
640gm water
45ml (3tbsp) veg oil
17gm salt
14 gm 'easy bake' yeast - I use the Allinson's one. If you use sachets, that's two. It's cheaper to buy a tin, in which case you can save even more money by only using 12gm!

The bread may have a slightly lighter texture with slightly less oil. But, I add extra to make the bread keep longer as there's just the two of us now the kids have left home. (That said, there's not many days that we're not feeding one or other of them and their partners!)

HTH

Phil

Thanks for that, Phil! I have to say the flavour and texture were fine. What size loaf tins are you using? I know what you mean about feeding them still, even after they've left home! I thought the loaf could have done with just a while longer to prove, but I was worried about collapse, which is why I thought a loaf tin might be a better idea. Great recipe though, and I will definitely keep going with it!

A 500gm flour mix for a 2lb loaf tin is a good staring point..

Tin's vary a lot though in shape and size though. For my various tins that are meant to be 1lb tins, I need to use a 250gm flour mix in some, but 350gm in other!

Phil

I use a 9 inch round cake tin, brush it wth water and bung on loads of seaseme seeds. Printed and laminated it for my son as well.