Home Bake - Simple Bread

I’ve recently been burdened with a need to put bread back on the agenda. Bread baking, that is. It’s been far too long in between loaves, and whilst I’m not imagining for a second that I will now bake daily, I’m at least $7 ahead thanks to yesterday's effort.

 

My dissertation on commodity prices a couple of weeks ago (Rich Farmers The New Stockbrokers) supports my underlying thesis of today - decent bread costs shit loads. And I do love decent bread. My Sydney-centric favourite go-to loaves, in descending order, appear something like this: Bourke Street Bakery Plain Sourdough, Bourke St Bakery Rye & Caraway Sourdough, Sonoma Soy and Quinoa (the only state in which I find quinoa digestible), Sonoma Soy Linseed, and for versatility and all round popularity in our house, The Rozelle Bakery Wholemeal Sourdough which produces flawless toast, and retains sufficient moisture to make it into the lunch box the following day.

I do like the Infinity Baguette, but my nearest available outlet is Norton St Grocer and if I go in for a loaf of bread, I know I’ll spend so much on other delectables, I’ll emerge with a BBB minus credit rating.

Imagine for a minute I bought one of these loaves each day (which I don’t, as I generally retain them until they resemble an attractive new product line for Boral Building Supplies, then toast them). But if I did - depending on the point of procurement and the particular product mix - my bank balance after 7 days would be around $45-55 worse off. That’s $2500 a year, or about 25% greater than an around-the-world airline ticket.

This was not the main reason I baked a loaf yesterday, but it does mean I’m $7 richer today. I phoned my sister to enquire whether she’d baked of late, and if so, which recipe she used. It turned out she had baked, and the recipe she used, was in fact my own; which I seem to have lost in my records - somewhere underneath my collection of handwritten letters from 1994, year 8 history books, my Sturt mini-league certificate, and family artefacts including my Grandfather’s boarding school tie box which I recently dated to 1916.

I took down my recipe she recited, and then made some minor tweaks. I set to work and Olivia assisted with the "heavy lifting". I’m extremely happy with the result, but intend to put this loaf up on blocks and tinker with the mechanics as I feel I can extract an even superior performance from future incarnations.

I’m not harbouring a yeast culture on the premises at the minute, so relied on dried yeast. Otherwise, it is a bit of a purists loaf in that it doesn’t include any jazzy stuff like oil or sugar. Follow it to a tee, and you will find it is simple to make, produces a clean and satisfying bread experience, will bolster your credit rating in these turbulent times, and provides a marvellous platform for a coating of butter.

Ingredients:

3 cups double zero or plain unbleached flour

1 cup wholemeal flour

2 x 7g yeast sachets and 1/3 cup of lukewarm water

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup lukewarm water

1)   Dissolve all yeast in 1/3 of a cup of lukewarm water.  Put both flours and the salt into a large mixing bowl and combine.

2)   Create a well in the center of the flour. When the yeast has started bubbling and the granules appear dissolved, pour the mixture into the well. Slowly stir the yeast mixture with the fingers of one hand to progressively bring the flour into the mixture, then gradually add the 1 cup of lukewarm water to make a dough. You may need to add more water if it feels too dry.

3)   Once you have a mass of dough (it may still be scrappy), tip it onto a lightly floured bench and get kneading. Knead dough for ten minutes until lovely and elastic. You must do the full ten minutes, and this also negates any need for dips in the gymnasium this week. Great tricep workout.

4)   Turn the oven on to create a warm place on the stove top. Put the kneaded dough back into the bowl and cover with a tea towel dampened with warm water. Place bowl in warm place on or near the oven. Once your loaf has doubled in size (approx 50 mins), remove from the bowl, place on bench, punch the air out of it and knead again for 5-10 minutes.

5)   Place into a lightly greased bread tin or baking tray and fashion to your desired loaf shape. Lightly score with a sharp knife and brush the loaf’s top with a little milk. Cover again with a tea towel and leave in your warm spot and allow to double again (approximately 25 minutes, but will vary).

6)   Preheat the oven to 225C and once the loaf has doubled in size, gently place it in the oven, ensuring you don’t bump any air out of it. Try not to smash the door closed. After 10 minutes, carefully open the oven and place a tray with warm water, below or next to the loaf. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes. When cooked, the crust on the bottom will feel firm and the loaf will make a hollow sound when tapped with a knife. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

7)   Reach for the butter.