Request: A simple bread recipe

[[70521]]

Now I have an oven on-board I am looking for a simple bread recipe.

I enjoy cooking, but baking is still a dark art, so I am looking for something very simple.

 

[sarabande]

give the supermarket bread mixes a go. They have done all the hard work in formulating the ingredients. All you need is (non-chlorinated ) water, perhaps some milk powder, and heat.

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/...Term=bread mix&beginIndex=0&categoryFacetId1=

 

[JohnGC]

I've been making this quick white loaf for years. It is basically the receipt from the side of the Allinson's flour bag minus the sugar.

500g Strong white bread flour.
7g quick yeast (that's one foil packet).
1 level teaspoon salt or to taste (I use about 1/3 level teaspoon which isn't much for most people's taste).
Approximately 280 ml water.
1 level tablespoon olive oil (optional - gives the bread a slightly closer texture and helps is last a little longer).

Mix the dry ingredients.
Mix in the oil if used.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture.
Slowly add the water and mix.
As the water is added the mixture will become very sticky.
Just keep going and adding water until mixing turns into kneading.
The more you mix the more glutinous the mixture becomes.
Aim for a dough that is just sticky (but don't worry if you've added a bit too much water, just note for next time).
Shape in to rolls or put in to a loaf tin.
Cover and allow to rise in a warm but not hot place. You're aiming to double the volume of the dough but don't let it rise so much it sags back down over the lip of the tin because it will be hard to remove.
Remove the cover.
Bake at 220C. Time for a single loaf is around 25 minutes. Shorter for rolls.
If in a tin, remove it immediately.
If you tap (flick) the bottom of the loaf it will sound hollow when cooked. If the sound is dull, put it back in the oven for a few minutes and try again.
Place on a wire rack to cool. It needs air circulation to allow some of the remaining water to evaporate. If it doesn't you could get a soggy loaf.

All ovens are different. They have hot spots and the correlation between the dial and the actual temperature varies. Adjust the time or temperature slightly next time if your loaves burn or are underdone. As Mary Berry says, "learn your oven".

 

[aussi]

JohnGC beat me to it, but here's a white loaf which takes a bit longer because I always use fresh yeast, which I think gives the best results:

For a 2lb loaf tin - 500g of strong white flour, 250ml of water initially, 8g of live yeast (Morrisons sell it, or ask at supermarket bread counter). 8g of yeast allows you to make a loaf in a few hours, if you have more time for proving then use less yeast - longer to make, but the bread will last longer.

Method:
Mix water with yeast
Mix salt and flour
Add yeast mixture to flour gradually, to form a dough. Keep mixing by hand, will probably need to add extra water until you get a dough that feels a little stickier than you would expect.
Turn dough out onto table, NO FLOUR OR OIL ON SURFACE! (therefore no mess in boat)
Knead dough by pushing away from you vigorously then turn 90 degrees, knead, turn etc. Usually about 7-10 mins. If the mix was right, nothing sticks to the surface, though you will have some stuck to your fingers. Rub them to get most of it off and mix it in.
Leave on surface for 5 mins
Knead again for about a minute. Dough should be smooth at first, then go a bit wrinkly as you knead.
Leave on surface for 5 mins
Knead again for about a minute.
Leave in bowl until it doubles in size (90 mins perhaps)
Turn onto surface, GENTLY fold and press, turn 90 degrees, fold and press, turn 90, etc until you don't hear bubbles popping any more (no longer than a minute, usually 30 seconds)
Leave for 2 hours. Longer if you used less yeast.
Form dough into shape for tin. There are various ways, this is the simplest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVk1wdhZkQE I do it a bit differently but it's hard to explain without being there!
Leave until dough has risen to fill tin.
Bake at 230 (non fan) for 35-40 mins. You might have to experiment as it's a boat oven. Loaf should sound hollow when you knock it - put it straight back in if it feels a bit soft and not hollow.

PS To give credit where it's due, I was taught this method by the fantastic Robert Swift from Swifts Bakery in Shropshire. I recommend his book too. No affiliation, just great recipes and techniques.

 

[pmagowan]

Now I have an oven on-board I am looking for a simple bread recipe.

I enjoy cooking, but baking is still a dark art, so I am looking for something very simple.

Flour, water, pinch salt, yeast!

Bash it together until nice and smooth and not sticky. Let it rise until double, bash it down again. Let it rise again. Cook in medium/hot oven until hollow sounding. Eat

 

[stranded]

They should all work. Just to add, if you like sourdough but can't be faffed with maintaining a starter,... I find that by incorporating a good glut of olive oil into the mix, and using the coarser dried yeast (rather than the easy bake type) and leaving the dough to rise in a cool place for 24 hours, or even two days, it is possible to make a pretty decent impression of the delicious Italian 'boats' they sold in the market where I lived before. Simply shape the dough into a pointy ended boaty shape, leave to prove until the odd bubble starts to appear in the skin, slit it lengthways, dust with flour, give it a 10 minutes blast in a very hot oven, then 190 for 25 minutes, and turn to max again for the final few minutes to taste (check regularly as it will overcook surprisingly quickly at this stage). Delicious, crusty, chewy Italian style bread that will remain good for 3-4 days fresh, plus a couple when it's perfect for toast. (The timings are for 1 1/2lb of strong or very strong plain white flour - remember that within reason it is best to err towards over cooking than undercooking bread).

 

[TQA]

Beer bread is easy to make and is very tasty.

No kneading rising proofing malarky required.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6717/beer-bread-i/

Vary beer type to taste. Newcastle Brown works well for me.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Soda bread is yummy and easy. No faffing around with yeast, either, which seems to lead inexorably to beards and smocks.

 

[stranded]

Soda bread is yummy and easy. No faffing around with yeast, either, which seems to lead inexorably to beards and smocks.

Oi!!!

I love playing with yeast and I have never worn a smock. And the beard only lasted as long as my Hoxton phase!

 

[Vara]

Bread mixes are good on a boat.
Most quick yeasts and strong flour bags have recipe for a basic white loaf.
If not using a mix, then buy a volume measure, easier than scales on a boat,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tala-10B11...55798&sr=8-2&keywords=dry+ingredients+measure

I mix and knead in one bowl, a knife to mix and a punching twisting action to knead. Then onto tray or into loaf tin, covered with oiled cling film to prove (grow to double size).

put into oven allowing plenty of headroom as you will get a second rise, and it makes a hell of a mess if it welds itself to the oven roof.

 

[Foolish Muse]

As suggested by others, baking powder biscuits are much easier to make and still give you a good place to put your peanut butter and jelly.

 

[stranded]

As suggested by others, baking powder biscuits are much easier to make and still give you a good place to put your peanut butter and jelly.

I don't understand all the references to alternatives being easier. At home, in the morning while the kettle is boiling for the first pot of tea I take the previous day's dough out of the mixer bowl where it has been rising and chuck it on a knocking down surface. I put the ingredients for a new loaf in the bowl and turn on the mixer. I then pour the now boiling water on the tea leaves and while the tea is mashing I knock down the dough, shape the loaf, put it on a non-stick tray and cover it with a tent made of lightly oiled tin foil (that can be used again and again). Switch off the mixer, pop the scales weighing pan on top of the mixer bowl as a lid and leave the new dough until the next morning or the one after. Pour tea, take a cup up to swmbo if it is a weekend, sit down and catch up with all the nonsense on here. Check the proving dough from time to time as I go about my day, and bung in the preheated oven when ready to bake.

The point is that it occupies virtually no labour time at all - pretty much everything being done while waiting for the kettle to boil or the tea to mash. On board I will need to do the mixing/kneading by hand but still reckon the total labour involved in each loaf to be no more than 10 minutes. And the bread really is very, very good.

 

[duncan99210]

I use supermarket bread mixes when the mood takes me. Remember that you're looking at a few hours for rising and proving before baking, so it's not a quick option. Don't forget that there's always the ultimate cheat: part baked rolls.

 

[wotayottie]

Now I have an oven on-board I am looking for a simple bread recipe.

I enjoy cooking, but baking is still a dark art, so I am looking for something very simple.

Messy making bread from basics on board. The recipe is easy. Proving is not. Best approach is to buy the part baked baguettes etc at the supermarket.

 

[pmagowan]

And make sure you do a full risk analysis as flour can be explosive when mixed with air. A liferaft is essential bread making equipment!

 

[[70521]]

Thanks all. All sorts of suggestions there

 

[ip485]

Used dried yeast - only because you will never have fresh when you want it.

If there is sun and it is warm will rise well in about four hours under the sprayhood with a damp towel over it - sort of good English summer weather and better - but if not the engine room works a treat!

Make the real stuff, it is so easy to carry the dried ingredients and it really is not that hard. You will put together a loaf in no time. Also dont bother with tins - just makes for washing up, just form up on a round on floured tray.

With just about any dough if you add a bottle of sun dried tomatoe before the final rise with all the oil it prodices a very good tomatoe bread.

 

[aussi]

And make sure you do a full risk analysis as flour can be explosive when mixed with air. A liferaft is essential bread making equipment!

Talking about risk analysis, bear in mind that if you're bread making at anchor, you'll need to make sure you have enough rode out and consider carefully your mix of chain and warp…

 

[Foolish Muse]

I don't understand all the references to alternatives being easier. At home, in the morning while the kettle is boiling for the first pot of tea I take the previous day's dough out of the mixer bowl where it has been rising and chuck it on a knocking down surface.

The key part of your note is "at home". Baking break, or pizza, or cookies, or anything else is easy at home when you've got lots of counter space and your kitchen isn't rolling under your feet. It's much more difficult on the tiny counters of most boats, even at anchor. And if you happen to be actually sailing then the problem is magnified. That's when baking powder biscuits are valuable. You can mix up just enough dough for a couple of biscuits and bake them in a minute without waiting for the dough to rise or anything else.

Like I said earlier, a good place for your peanut butter and jelly, or anything else you would normally put on a sandwich.

 

[Capt. Clueless]

I don't understand all the references to alternatives being easier. At home, in the morning while the kettle is boiling for the first pot of tea I take 2 slices of ALDI's thick sliced white bread and pop it in the toaster. Jobs a good'n.
The point is that it occupies virtually no labour time at all -

I slightly altered your post to fit in with my own ideas on bread.