Basic bread

I shall start my bread blog with my basic bread recipe. This makes 2 loaves or 12 rolls (or 1 loaf and 6 rolls).

800g strong wholemeal flour
200g strong white flour
10g dry yeast (I use Doves Farm quick yeast)
15g salt
20g light brown sugar
1 crushed vitamin C tablet (500mg)
350ml skimmed milk
350ml water
30g sunflower oil

The liquid should be hand hot which can be done with one third boiling water and the rest cold. Always check the temperature - if it is too hot to hold your hand in then it could kill the yeast.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and then mix in the warm liquid but not the oil. Mix with a wooden spoon. Leave for a couple of minutes for the liquid to soak in and then mix with your hands until all the flour has been incorporated into the dough. Then knead in the oil (still in the bowl).

Turn out the dough on to your work surface. Do not flour the surface as the dough sticking to it helps it to stretch as you knead. Knead for 10 minutes or so. Initially it will be very oily and then will become sticky but eventually you should get a nice smooth dough.

Oil a large bowl (I use the same bowl that I used for mixing having washed and dried it). Shape the dough into a round and put in the bowl. Cover it with oiled clingfilm and put in the fridge until the next day. I usually mix the dough in the evening and the next morning knock the dough back down and put it back in the fridge. The following evening it is ready to shape into loaves or rolls. I regularly leave it for around 20 hours.

Shape the rolls or loaves. Then leave covered with oiled clingfilm (you can reuse the piece that you used to cover the bowl) for a couple of hours to rise. I often put them in the oven set to 30C if the kitchen is a bit cool and I am in a bit of a hurry.

I bake loaves in tins with the oven set for top and bottom heat at 230C for 30 minutes. For the last 5 minutes I turn the loaf out of its tin and place directly on the rack in the oven.

I usually do rolls on two layers so have to use the fan oven. For this I start at 230C for 10 minutes and then 10 more minutes at 210C. I use a baking tray with holes but if you have a solid tray you may want to put the rolls directly on the oven rack for the last 5 minutes to crisp the base.

I always grease the trays and tins with butter. You can use oil but in a tin this can sink down and fry the base of the loaf.

I intend adjusting the recipe so check this blog to see how I get on. Ideas are:
- Reduce the yeast
- Use just water and not milk. The milk is supposed to make the bread softer.
- Use 100% wholemeal flour. The white is to help it rise.
- Eliminate the vitamin C. This is also supposed to help the loaf rise.