Bake Off

The morning after – leftover breads cosy up on the cutting board. JIm’s white, my wheat.
Jim and I got together yesterday to trade bread-making secrets. His bread is always chewy and crusty. Mine is small crumbed and even. I like his better; he prefers mine. So we baked a loaf each and I took notes. His secrets: no oil, bake at a high heat for a short time. My secrets: I don’t have any, but it seems to be the oil that gives the bread its fine crumb.
After we baked, we watched a great video on bread making, produced by a community college in Pennsylvania near where we grew up. It has some great tips in it, and a lot of silly local jokes: You’re The Chef, #712: Bread Baking .
Here are recipes for both loaves. Jim’s White Bread and Kristen’s Wheat Bread.
Jim’s White Bread
makes a very large loaf
2 cups water at about 40 degrees
2 tsp instant yeast
sprinkling of flour
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
Mix the yeast and water, sprinkle with flour. Allow yeast to bloom for about 10 minutes. Add flour. Stir until the dough forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (add more flour as necessary). Knead for about 4 minutes, or until you stretch a small ball into a translucent pizza without breaking it. Let rise at room temperature for about an hour (or until doubled) in an oiled bowl covered with a cloth. Punch down and form loaf. Allow to rise until doubled again. Slash bread and dust with flour. Starting from a cold oven, bake at 250C/480F for about 20 minutes.
Kristen’s Wheat Bread
makes one huge loaf
2 cups warm water
2 tsp yeast
1 Tbsp flour
4 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Combine water and yeast, sprinkle with flour and let yeast bloom for ten minutes. Add flours, oil and salt. Stir until dough forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl (add more flour as necessary). Knead for about 4 minutes, or until you stretch a small ball into a translucent pizza without breaking it. Let rise at room temperature for about an hour (or until doubled) in an oiled bowl covered with a cloth. Punch down and form loaf. Allow to rise until doubled again. Slash bread. Bake for 20 minutes at 250C/480F.