Hello blogland!
Ok so the title is quite self explanatory. I recently did a little experiment with bread. I LOVE bread. No two ways about it, its one of my favourite things. I will never be skinny while there is fresh bread on this planet (Im ok with that...I like food too much!) My lovely Mr bought me a breadmaker for Christmas two years ago and I wasnt sure how I felt about it? Was it so easy as throwing all the ingredients in a machine and switching it on? Surely not! Well turns out, no its not that easy!
I recently found a super simple recipe for bread from Jamie Olivers website. Surely this one couldnt go wrong!?? So as a little experiment for my own amusement, I did the same recipe to the letter by hand and in the machine. What did I find???
Can you guess which is which??!! Well it probably doesnt need explaining but the one on the left is the one done by hand, the one on the left is the one the breadmaker did. Im slightly disappointed, I feel like I didn't win!!
Anyway, as I've said before, if Im going to follow a recipe I need to to be simple. So here is the recipe I used,,,
Simple White Loaf Recipe
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour
7g dried yeast (one packet)
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
300ml warm water
15ml oil
Method - Breadmaker (my preferred one!)
1. Put the flour and other dry ingredients into the breadmaker and select the programme you require.
2. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. As the breadmaker is mixing the flour add the water and yeast a bit at a time.
3. Once all the water is mixed in add the oil in the same way.
4. Close lid and leave!
Method - By Hand
1. Put the flour in a bowl and mix in all the other dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle of the flour.
2. Mix the yeast and warm water and pour in a little to the well.
3. Carefully "pull" the flour in towards the well and carry on adding the water a bit at a time, mixing well each time.
4. Once a dough has formed, put your dough on a floured surface and knead by hand for at least ten minutes.
5. Once you have a springy, silky dough, put back in the bowl, put cling film and a tea towel over the top and allow to prove (double in size) for about 40 minutes, preferably in a warm place.
6. After the dough has doubled in size, take back out of the bowl and knock some of the air out by kneading for around a minute (according to Jamie if you were going to add any flavourings like onion, sun-dried tomatoes, olives etc. you would do it know...but one step at a time, I need to master bread first!!)
7. Shape and put in a 2lb bread tin, cover again and leave to prove in a warm place. This time leaving for about an hour.
8. After an hour put in a hot pre-heated oven (around 220c) for ten minutes, then after ten minutes turn down to around 180c for another 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
If you've ever made bread, or walked into a supermarket when they're making bread, you dont need me to tell you that the smell on its own is worth giving this recipe a go for! Im not sure what I did wrong with the loaf I tried by hand. Maybe I didnt knead it for long enough or leave it to prove for long enough. I do feel a little bit beaten by it! Of course, it helps if you have a little helper....
So thats it, thats my very scientific experiment into which (for me) worked the best!!
Thank you for reading, would love any tips you have if you're a seasoned bread maker!
