Puff the Magic Loaf
By Corey Coleman · February 18, 2017 · Originally published on makingsomedough.wordpress.com
A lot of people think the same thing when it comes to bread: “you get it from a store or bakery.” But those of us that have made it know that bread is not just some baked paste, bagged, tagged and thrown onto your near by supermarket shelf. It is that very process and the ingredients used for its quick production that give bread a bad name. Bread is not just something to hold the contents of a sandwich. It is bursting with flavor, texture and smells.
I wanted to make bread from scratch because I am typically very bad with yeast and I’ve learned a few things about it since this process. The yeast should never put it in water that is too hot since yeast is a living thing and overly hot water will kill it. Don’t mix it with salt straight, much like a snail, if you pour salt on it, it will shrivel and die. Also, unlike the wicked witch of the west, when you pour water on it will not melt into a puddle like an ice cream cone in the Sahara; no, it bursts forth with vigor and a renewed sense of purpose for life!
Bread is a very kneedy baked good, when you kneed it that activates the notorious gluten. Gluten is really just a protein and is what gives bread dough the elasticity that it is known for.
Bread is really not that hard to make, it has few ingredients and the only reason people don’t make it by hand anymore is (a) its rather time consuming, with anywhere from 2-5 hours of rising time, and (b) it’s pretty labor intensive if you don’t have a mixer or bread machine. In the old days, when you just had to kneed bread with your hands, bakers were strong people. Kneeding large quantities of dough by hand seems simple, but you start to feel the burn after a while.
All in all I did a pretty decent job in the recipe, execution and shaping (sort of). The bread was soft and pillowy inside, and crisp on the outside. It was for all intents and purposes the perfect sandwich bread.
Basic White Sandwich Loaf
This is the plain pan loaf of American and British home baking: a lightly enriched dough with a little milk, butter and sugar for a soft crumb and a thin golden crust. It is the best first bread to learn, because it teaches kneading, shaping and judging the proof in a forgiving dough.
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g bread flour (about 4 cups)
- 200 g whole milk, lukewarm (3/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp)
- 125 g water, lukewarm (1/2 cup)
- 25 g granulated sugar or honey (2 tbsp)
- 10 g fine sea salt (1 3/4 tsp)
- 7 g instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp, one packet)
- 40 g unsalted butter, soft (3 tbsp)
Finish
- 15 g unsalted butter, melted, for brushing (1 tbsp)
Method
- Combine all the dough ingredients and mix until no dry flour remains. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes in a mixer on medium-low speed, or 10 to 12 minutes by hand, until the dough is smooth, elastic and springs back when poked.
- Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at 75-78°F (24-26°C) for 60 to 90 minutes, until doubled.
- Turn the dough out and press it into a rectangle about 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in), with a short side facing you, pressing out the large bubbles.
- Roll it up tightly from the short side, pressing the seam in with each turn, and pinch the final seam and the ends closed. Place seam side down in a buttered 23 x 13 cm (9 x 5 in) loaf pan.
- Cover and proof for 45 to 60 minutes, until the centre of the dough domes about 2.5 cm (1 in) above the rim and a floured fingertip leaves a dent that fills in slowly.
- Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 35 to 40 minutes, until well browned and 195-200°F (90-93°C) in the centre. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the base.
- Turn out of the pan at once, brush the top with melted butter for a soft crust, and cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Chef’s notes
- A loaf with a gap under the top crust was overproofed or loosely shaped. Roll the dough tightly and bake when it is about 2.5 cm over the rim, not higher.
- A dense, short loaf with torn sides was underproofed. Give it more time. In a cool kitchen, proofing can take 90 minutes.
- Slicing warm bread compresses the crumb and makes it gummy. Wait the full hour.
- Weigh the flour. A cup scooped straight from the bag can weigh 20 percent more than a spooned cup, which is the usual cause of dry, heavy bread.
Drawn from the methods of
- King Arthur Baking Company
- Peter Reinhart, The Bread Baker's Apprentice (2001)
- Rose Levy Beranbaum, The Bread Bible (2003)
Corey has not published his own formula for this piece. This reference recipe is compiled from the published methods of the chefs and bakers listed above, written in our own words.
