The Perfect Loaf
2010 April 20
Well, of course it’s not perfect. But it is the best loaf I’ve made yet in my short bread baking career. A considerable improvement on an earlier loaf shown here. It’s a simple loaf:
150 g strong wholewheat flour
350 g strong white flour
320 ml warm water
10 g sugar
7 g dried yeast
7 g salt
That’s it. Kneaded and left to rise for a good 45 minutes, then a brief second knead and left to rise for half an hour on the tray. Lastly, I slashed the top and sprinkled with a little more wholewheat flour. Cooked at 240 °C for 35 minutes with a tray of water in the bottom of the oven.
The latest loaf
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Ok but try this: same ingredients but divide the flour into two piles. Leave one pile aside and mix up the rest. It’s a sloppy mess. Leave it overnight. Then add the rest of the flour and continue as you did before.
The essential difference is that the yeast has been growing in half the flour for many hours. The loaf will taste better and be more nutritious. It’s called the ‘sponge method’. See also http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/
For your information, next week happens to be Real Bread Maker week:
http://www.ooffoo.com/listing/National-Real-Bread-Maker-Week.aspx