About this bread
I’m a huge fan of The Great British Baking show (GBBO) @BritishBakeOff and all the cast members, from Mary Berry, Mel and Sue, Sandy Toksvig, and even NoahI’ve watched every episode at least twice and I bought Paul Hollywood’s 100 Breads cookbook because I love bread despite the fact that carbs seem to be public enemy number one. Bread is as unpopular as eggs were in the seventies. But I remain a devoted follower. I love baking, and couldn’t decide which of the 100 Great breads to make first, so I decided to start with #1 and work my way through the recipe book.
The recipe seemed a bit vague, kind of like the GBBO’s dreaded Technical Challenges, so I ended up baking three loaves to compare and modify. Since Hollywood’s recipes have been converted from metric to American Standard, I wonder if they are accurate. A loaf of bread with a full tablespoon of salt? What about water temperature? How long should I knead for? Do these things matter?
Loaf #1
Here’s what I did:
I measured out all ingredients into my Kitchen Aid mixer, being careful to separate the yeast from the salt, because he cautioned against this, and chose to heat the water to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit and let the dough hook mix and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough was gorgeous and smooth. It looked and felt like Play-Doh.
The dough took well over an hour to rise, and then another full hour for the final rise. After it was baked, the flavor was nice, a bit salty if I’m honest, and quite a dense loaf. Maybe too dense. Did I do something wrong?
Loaf #2
Loaf #2 took a really long time to rise, but I was expecting that and it seemed perfect when I put it in the oven for the bake–but didn’t rise as much.
Ultimately, it was a brick. A slightly doughy brick.
Loaf #3
Loaf #3 got a modification. I used half the salt, added a tablespoon of sugar (sorry Paul!), and kneaded it myself, since I wondered if I’d over kneaded. How do you know??
This loaf is the winner. Everything went to plan and had a lovely rise in the oven. The result was a crusty loaf with a lovely even crumb and nice flavor.
Next time I might add a smidge more water.
Bread #1 - White Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups white bread flour his recipe says scant (what does that mean?)
- 1/2 tbsp salt (2 teaspoons)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 package yeast I used 2¼ teaspoons of instant yeast
- 1¼ cup water I heated it to 115 degrees F.
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together, in a Kitchen Aid if you have one.
- Knead for 5 minutes.
- Let rise for 1 hour (until double in size)
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (I didn't need to flour it; the dough didn't stick) and form into sausage shape. Place in oiled loaf pan, and let rise for another hour. (He says 30 minutes to 1 hour but I needed all 60 minutes.)
- Preheat oven to 450° F. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and bake for about 35 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped (I really don't know what that sounds like, but all the recipes say it).
