Thanks to everyone who has commented and asked questions about the crusty white loaves I occasionally share on social media… I’ve been trying to make simple white bread for the last few years – I don’t have the time or the energy to start into the sourdough starter world, so I’ve been looking for something very simple, and this recipe seems to work a treat for me. I borrowed it from someone else on Instagram, and simplified that recipe even slightly more. It takes a little bit of attention over a few hours, but I think it’s worth it.
The finished loaf is about the size of a rugby ball, so it’s pretty substantial. Of course that depends how many of you there are waiting at the breadboard. There’s just the two of us, but we seem to go through it in a matter of two or three days. It’s a crusty, country kind of bread, so I’ve never used it for sandwiches, but it’s great for toast, for spreading with things, for serving with cheese, a bowl of soup etc.
You’ll need a large metal cooking pot with a lid, something that’s big enough to contain the dough and act as a ‘Dutch oven’ (essentially an oven within your oven). This should be a pot that can go into the oven with the dough inside - and the lid on. I usually throw one of those cake tin liners in the bottom of the pot, so the dough doesn’t stick to the bottom.
For forming the dough, I would also recommend a large plastic bowl with a lid, so you can put the dough in there, put the lid on and leave it to rise.
Ingredients:
650g of strong white bread flour
7g quick acting yeast (the little tear-open sachets are perfect)
Half a tablespoon of salt
450ml of lukewarm water
Mix the dry ingredients together in your bowl and slowly pour in the water. Mix the whole thing together to form a dough – it’s very sticky and heavy, so use a wooden spoon. It can sometimes look like a bundle of rags, so add a little more water at a time as needed, until it forms a sticky, messy ball. It doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it kind of… hangs together.
Cover it with the lid, and leave it alone for half an hour. From then on, at half hourly intervals, or whenever you get time, take the lid off (wet your hands, so the dough won’t stick to you so much), pick the dough up and fold it on itself a couple of times - and put the lid back on and leave it for half an hour to an hour.
Repeat this several times through the day (maybe three or four times) – it doesn’t have to be at regular intervals, just lift the lid off and fold the dough on itself a few times. It will gently get bigger the longer you leave it.
After a few hours, set the oven to 250 degrees with the pot and lid inside and the cake liner in the bottom. While that’s heating up, take the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it thoroughly – literally fold it in on itself, east over west, north over south, about 20 times, Add more flour to your work surface if the dough starts to stick. Form it finally into a ball and let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes. In my experience, it spreads and flattens out quite a bit.
Take the hot pot out of the oven and remove the lid. Pick up the ball of dough, form it back into a ball shape as much as you can and drop it into the hot pot (be careful) in to the cake liner if you can. Use a knife to gently score some lines across the top of the dough and sprinkle it with a little flour. Put the lid back on and put the pot into the oven.
Bake it in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid on, then open the oven, quickly take the lid off the pot, close it up again and let it continue to bake for another 15 minutes. After that, take the pot out and turn the loaf out (tap the bottom and make sure it has that hollow sound) and let it cool on a wire rack.