British Flour

Ideally I'd like to make bread with flour that's 100% organic stoneground wholemeal and British. There are a number of small mills producing flour that fits the bill but when I tried Gilchester Organics I didn't have much success. I've become more experienced since then and I have now tried a more local flour - Sunflours from near Ripon in North Yorkshire. I've tried the organic stoneground wholemeal - this isn't described as strong but on the packet it does says it is suitable for bread making. It gives the protein as 12g which is the same as Gilchester but lower than other strong wholemeal flours. To give it a good chance I made a loaf with 50% white flour.

350g Sunflours organic stoneground wholemeal flour
350g Marriages organic strong white flour
3g dried yeast
10g salt
11g butter
11g brown sugar
440g water (at about 30C)

I mixed the ingredients, kneaded for 10 minutes and put the dough in a 10 litre plastic box with lid. I left this at room temperature until the following evening (about 20 hours). I then tipped it out onto a floured worktop, pressed it down into a rectangle and rolled it up tightly to go in my large 2lb loaf tin. Covered with oiled cling film it went into the oven at 30C for 2 hours to prove. It crested the top of the tin so I took it out of the oven which I then set to its highest setting of 300C top and bottom heat (without fan). Once it was up to temperature (I check this with an oven thermometer now as I don't think the oven is fully hot when it says it is) I sprayed the top of the loaf with water and sprinkled with rye flour. Into the oven and the temperature down to 240C. It was in for a total of 30 minutes with the last 5 or 10 out of the tin.

This gave a nice amount of oven spring which I wasn't expecting - it seems this only happens when I'm not trying. I think the really hot oven helps this - trying to introduce steam seems to be a waste of time.

After the loaf had cooled I tried a slice - I was very impressed. Lovely flavour and nice texture. The only other flour that has tasted this good is the Marriages organic wholemeal although I need to do a comparison with the Waitrose organic using the exact same recipe. Despite the high white content the taste was superb.

So, a British flour that has worked well for me. The real test will be if I replace the Marriages white with the Sunflour white and if I increase the percentage of wholemeal. I shall also try the Gilchester again as I think the overnight bulk fermentation helps develop the gluten. In fact, I suspect there is no need to knead so much. As always there are lots of things to try.

Back to basics

I've decided to try some radical changes to see if I can make a better loaf.

The first is to increase the amount of dough I make. This is because my new tin is bigger than I had been using. It seems there is no such thing as a standard 2lb loaf tin. So, instead of using 500g flour, I am now using 700g.

The second is to return to a wholemeal/white mix rather than the oaty white that I am a bit bored of.

Finally, I am trying the most basic bread recipe possible - just flour, yeast, salt and water. No oil, sugar or vitamin C.

Here is what I have tried tonight:

400g wholemeal (Doves Farm strong wholemeal bread flour)
300g white (Waitrose Organic strong white bread flour)
465g water (this came from a cooled kettle so it was not warm but not as cold as tap water)
21g salt (Saxa table salt)
14g yeast (Doves Farm Quick Yeast)

The precise salt and yeast amounts were just the same baker's percentage as I always use.
I started with 450g water but added more as the dough was very dry. I suspect that other wholemeal flours might need even more water based on previous experience of Doves Farm wholemeal. I didn't use warm water as the dough went straight in the fridge. Slowing the rise down doesn't seem to be a problem when I won't be baking until tomorrow night.

I kneaded the dough in the usual way. It was less sticky than usual, probably due to the lack of oil. After about 12 minutes I was very happy with the windowpane test - it was much better than I have ever seen, even with white flour. Hopefully this is a good sign.

We will have to wait and see how the dough does overnight.

Gilchester revisited 3

The dough rose reasonably well in the tins in the fridge overnight. I took them out about 5pm and left them to rise further which they did. However there were some very obvious large gas pockets at the top. The loaves went in the oven at about 7.30pm. In an attempt to get some oven spring I preheated a grill pan and when I put the loaves in I poured boiling water into the pan to generate steam. I started the oven at 230C and after about 15 minutes turned it down to 210C and removed the grill pan. After 25 minutes I took the loaves out of their pans but they were not fully cooked on the bottom so they were back in the oven, out of their pans, for another 15 minutes (making 40 minutes total).

The resulting loaves taste good and are moist but have huge holes under the crust. I think this flying crust is probably due to the very long proving period and I suspect the dough was still too dry.

The undercooked bottom of the loaves would have been due to the grill pan under the loaf tins. Next time I will try using the fan oven (instead of top and bottom heat) so that the grill pan doesn't block the bottom heating element.

So my view of the Gilchester flour? I'm disappointed but not surprised. For the moment I shall stick with the more usual bread flours available. Once I have my technique perfected with these I shall try the Gilchester again.

Gilchester revisited 2

The dough hasn't risen as much as I would have hoped - in the morning I didn't bother to knock it back and this evening it still hadn't reached the top of the bowl. As it happens, this slow rise helps me as I didn't have time to put the dough in tins until late this evening. Instead of baking tonight the tins are back in the fridge and hopefully will have risen well enough by tomorrow evening. Even if they haven't, taking them out of the fridge and putting them somewhere warm is easy to do as soon as I get in. Tomorrow night will finally show if this has all been a success.

Gilchester revisited 1

My first attempt with Gilchester Organics flour was disappointing with a rather flat loaf and rolls. Tonight I tried again but with some changes to maximise my chances of a well risen loaf. Firstly, instead of my usual 80% wholemeal, 20% white mixture I used 50/50 wholemeal and white. I also used 50/50 water and milk, instead of just water although I don't think this makes any difference. I normally use 600ml liquid for white flour and 700ml for wholemeal, so for a 50/50 mix I used 650ml. Once again this produced a very dry dough so I added more water until the dough consistency was better. In total I used 700ml with my 1kg of flour.

The results won't be known until tomorrow evening but after a couple of hours in the fridge the dough is definitely rising so it seems promising. Watch this space.

More cheap flour

Asda are selling wholemeal (and brown) bread flour for £1 per 1.5kg bag. It's protein content is the same as  Allinson Premium Wholemeal Very Strong Bread Flour but whether this translates to the same gluten quality I don't know. If you want stoneground flour then Tesco Strong Stoneground Wholemeal flour is £1.29. If you also want it to be organic then Waitrose Organic Stoneground Strong Wholemeal Bread Flour is £1.49. This is also available online from Ocado (as well as Waitrose Deliver).

Gilchester Organics

Most bread flour sold in the UK contains at least some imported flour. This is because most wheat grown here is not strong enough for bread so the millers mix in foreign, often Canadian, flour to ensure there is enough gluten. Hovis claim that all their flour is British although it doesn't say this on the bags - their bread mixes and breads do state this on the packaging. However, Premier Foods have told me that their flour is 100% British.

The other source of UK bread flour are the many independent mills around the country, although getting hold of their products can be hard unless you can visit the mill. Booths supermarkets stock Gilchester Organics flours so I have tried their 100% whole wheat strong flour and unbleached white strong wheat flour. These are organically grown on their own farm in Northumberland and stoneground in their own mill.

I followed my standard recipe (80% wholemeal, 20% white) although I didn't use any milk, just 700ml warm water. The resulting dough was much paler than from other wholemeal flours that I have used and it was also a bit dry. Once I added oil it kneaded quite well and I did so for about 15 minutes which is longer than I usually do. It was then in the fridge overnight for its first rise. The next morning it had risen but not as much as usual. I knocked it back and left it in the fridge until the evening. Again, it hadn't risen as much as doughs from other flours. I shaped it into 9 rolls and a small loaf and left them to rise. After a couple of hours the rolls had spread like I would have expected. The loaf had done the same but hadn't risen as much as I would have liked.

After baking and leaving to cool I tried one of the rolls. The inside looked pretty much like the other wholemeal rolls I have made but a bit paler. They tasted good. They might have been a bit heavy but not as bad as I was expecting. The next few days will see how they fare, especially the rather flat looking loaf. I shall report back after a few breakfasts and lunches.

Next time I use this flour I will remember to use half milk with the water and I shall add more water until the dough is the consistency I expect. This might help it to rise better.