# My bread blow by blow



## Romany123 (Nov 15, 2006)

I have been making bread for many years and will ever find it a pleasure.
In our house nearly everything is made from scratch. I am fortunate that I have the time (or make the time) and inclination to have an intense interest in what I and my family eat.
This is “Shambles” staple bread and the way I prepare it, using my equipment and a sponge starter
You can if you like take the final stage of the procedure one stage further.(putting the dough into the bread tins) Put the dough into the refrigerator for its final rise overnight. It is good for about 10 hours that way. Let it stand at room temperature for about an hour and bake in a pre heated oven. I like to do this when we have guests, or at weekends. I hope I have covered all the stages in enough detail for you all to make successful bread


Makes two loaves.

Sponge starter

500ml hand warm water 
100g Granary flour. (UK Hovis)
150g strong bread flour (UK Allinson’s)
½ tsp dry yeast powder
3 tsp Honey
3 tsp malt extract.

Add all the above to the bread mixer (all times and speeds refer to a KitchenAid mixer) and mix with the flat beater on speed one fort one minute. Meanwhile weigh out

200g Granary flout.
350g Strong white bread flour
1 tsp Dry yeast powder. (mix yeast into flour before adding the salt as contact will kill the yeast).
2 tsp Salt.

Sprinkle the flour and mixed in yeast over the sponge starter (still in the mixer bowl) so that it is all covered and leave for at least one hour, or up to 6 hours at room temperature ( at this stage it is very flexible and could be left in the refrigerator over night) . you will find that the sponge starter underneath the flour will bubble through, this is quite normal.

Attach the dough hook

Mix the flour one speed one for one minute until sponge and flour mix ate incorporated. Leave covered for about 20 minutes.

Now at speed 4 using the dough hook knead for 7 minutes. The dough should be quite sticky in the beginning but will stiffen up as the kneading proceeds. The dough should be clinging to the dough hook and just sticking to the bottom of the bowl towards the end of the 7 minutes. 

Note 
If it is two stiff you may need to add a little more water and conversely if it is to wet little more flour. This judgement comes with time.

Now remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with a cloth.
When the dough has doubled in size (depending on room temperature, anything from an hour to a couple of hours). Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into two equal portions. Knock out the air with the heels of your hands and stretch out the dough. Fold the dough from left to right half way and then from right to left covering the previous fold. Tuck in both ends and turn seam side down and pat into shape. (It should look like a loaf shape by now) and turn into two 9” by 4” by 3” Loaf tins seam side down. Cover with oiled sheets (I use a freezer food bags cut into two single sheets).

Allow to double once more, the second rise is usually quicker that the first. When the dough rises just proud of the loaf tin I whack on the oven as high as it will go (this on my oven takes about 20 minutes to reach temperature.

Remove the oiled sheets spray the loaves with water ( I use a spray bottle bought for the purpose) add any seeds that you like to the top of the loaf, could be sesame. Poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, or a mixture of all.
Pop into the middle of the oven and set the timer top 10 minutes after 10 minutes turn to oven down to 180c (350f) and cook for another 26 minutes.

Note 
If you want to have a thicker crust, spray the oven with water after the 10 minutes of cooking time and at the finish of the cooking time turn of the oven and leave the loafs in for a further 10 minutes with the oven door slightly ajar. 

Sound long winded but it only takes me 5 minutes to prepare.

Good luck


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## Gretchen (Nov 15, 2006)

Sounds wonderful, as any home baked bread truly is.  You should, just for laughs, try the bread recipe from the NYTimes that is circulating on this board and all over the internet.  I am not at all suggesting it will be as good as yours is, but as an experienced bread baker you might find it interesting.


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## Romany123 (Nov 15, 2006)

Good morning Gretchen
Did a search but could not find it


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## Gretchen (Nov 15, 2006)

Just a few posts below yours.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f23/nytimes-bread-recipe-what-fun-28893.html


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## cjs (Nov 15, 2006)

Wow Dave! You little old breadmaker you! This is the perfect weather to make and smell bread baking....thanks! (I even keep a converter at hand for when you post recipes...  )


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## subfuscpersona (Nov 27, 2006)

hi Romany123

Sounds like you're my kind of bread baker! Thanks for posting your recipe. I will definitely try it.

I would be interested in the US equivalent of one of the UK flours you mention. Do you know what the US equivalent of Granary flour is or could you describe it?

Thanks so much.


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## Romany123 (Nov 28, 2006)

Morning Jean.
Sorry I missed your post,   but as you know it is my busy time of year. After Christmas I should be back to normal....thank goodness.

subfuscpersona

You could use King Arthur bread flour or gold medal bread flower. As regards to the granary flour I can only point you to the website description to see if you can find an equivalent replacement.

http://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/britishfood.asp?id=ZZ0003

Let us know if you succeed, as one or two other people have asked the same question.
Now there is a challenge.


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## subfuscpersona (Dec 7, 2006)

*About "Granary Flour"*

found a link explaining "Granary Flour"- here it is



> Granary is a brand of brown flour with malted wheat grains. It is milled by Rank Hovis Limited, "the UK's leading flour miller."...it includes only about 85% of the original grain. Some bran and germ have been removed. But that's not the interesting part. The malted wheat flakes are what make Granary flour special... According to our helpful source at Rank Hovis, bread made from Granary flour has a distinctive "malty" and nutty taste. It gives a slightly lighter result than whole-meal flour, and, like strong white flour [bread flour], is ideal for making loaves, rolls, and "deliciously different" pizzas... we don't know of anything similar available in the United States. You might try experiment with mixing whole-wheat flour with a little all-purpose flour and a bit of malt powder in the hopes of approximating Granary flour on your own.


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