Bread Machine & Oven Loaf

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Bread Machine & Oven Loaf

If you have a bread machine you'll already know how easy it is to put it on last thing at night and wake up to the smell of fresh bread. But what if you want something that looks a little more like a real loaf of bread?
In this recipe I use the bread machine to produce the dough and then let it rise in a bread tin and finally bake in the oven.
Why make your own bread when it's so easy to buy it at the supermarket? Just look at some of the potential ingredients listed in the notes below.
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CourseBread

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water perhaps a little extra water if using whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Pinch salt
  • 8 ounces bread flour
  • 6 ounces whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsps traditional yeast

Instructions

  • Add the ingredients to the bread machine insert in the order listed.
  • Use the dough making cycle on your bread machine.
  • When the dough cycle finishes turn the dough out on to a liberally floured board and knock back.
  • Shape into a rough loaf and place in the bread tin. Cover and allow to rise/prove.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 350℉ and bake the bread for 30 to 25 minutes.
  • When done tip the baked loaf onto a cooling rack. If you tip the loaf over and flick the bottom it should sound a little hollow. If you don't think it's fully baked put it back in the oven for another five minutes.

Notes

Why weigh the flour?

Weighing flour rather than using cups when baking bread is preferred because it provides accuracy and consistency. Here’s why:

1. Flour Density Varies

  • The weight of flour in a cup can vary significantly depending on how it’s scooped or packed. For instance:
    • Scooping with a measuring cup can compact the flour, resulting in more flour than intended.
    • Sifting or fluffing the flour before measuring can make it lighter.

2. Precision is Critical in Bread Baking

  • Bread recipes rely on a specific balance of flour, water, yeast, and salt. Too much or too little flour can affect:
    • Dough hydration: Too much flour results in a dry, dense dough; too little makes it sticky and hard to handle.
    • Texture: Inconsistent measuring can lead to bread that is dense, gummy, or crumbly.

3. Easier to Scale Recipes

  • Weighing ingredients allows you to accurately scale recipes up or down without guessing.

4. Consistency Across Batches

  • Weighing ensures that each batch of bread turns out the same, especially important when baking regularly or for others.

Example: How Much Does a Cup of Flour Weigh?

  • A cup of all-purpose flour is commonly said to weigh about 120 grams (4.25 ounces), but depending on the method, it could range from 100 to 150 grams or more.
By using a scale and following the recipe’s weight-based measurements, you’ll achieve more consistent, predictable, and professional-quality bread.

Knocking Back

 
In bread making, knocking back (also known as punching down) is the process of gently deflating the dough after it has completed its first rise. This step is crucial because it helps:
  1. Redistribute yeast and nutrients: The yeast gets redistributed throughout the dough, allowing it to ferment more evenly during the second rise.
  2. Remove large air bubbles: Large pockets of gas that have formed during the first fermentation are removed, leading to a more uniform crumb structure in the baked bread.
  3. Strengthen the dough: The gluten structure is realigned and strengthened, which helps create a better texture in the finished loaf.
  4. Prepare for shaping: Knocking back makes the dough easier to handle and shape into the desired form.
How to Knock Back Dough
  • Lightly flour your hands and a work surface.
  • Gently press or fold the dough to release the air.
  • Knead the dough briefly, typically for a minute or less, until it’s smooth and ready to be shaped.
This process doesn’t involve vigorous kneading—just enough to prepare the dough for the next stage, which is often shaping and the final rise.

Proving

In bread making, proving (or proofing) refers to the process of allowing the dough to rest and rise after it has been mixed and shaped. This step is critical for developing the texture, flavor, and structure of the bread. During proving, yeast in the dough ferments the sugars, producing carbon dioxide gas that causes the dough to expand.

Key Points About Proving:

  1. Primary vs. Secondary Proving:
    • Primary Prove: Happens after kneading and before shaping. The dough is left to rise until it roughly doubles in size.
    • Secondary Prove (or final prove): Happens after the dough is shaped. It’s the last rise before baking.
  2. Conditions for Proving:
    • Warm environment: Typically 75–85°F (24–29°C) to help yeast activity.
    • Moisture: Covering the dough (e.g., with a damp cloth or plastic wrap) prevents a dry crust from forming.
  3. How Long It Takes:
    • The proving time depends on the recipe, yeast activity, and environmental factors and can range from 30 minutes to several hours.
  4. Signs of Proper Proving:
    • For the primary prove: The dough doubles in size. With this recipe the first rise takes place in the bread machine
    • For the final prove: The dough springs back slowly when gently pressed.
  5. Importance:
    • Texture: Proving allows gluten to relax and creates a soft, airy crumb.
    • Flavor: Fermentation enhances the bread’s depth of flavor.
    • Structure: Proper rise ensures the bread doesn’t collapse during baking.
Mastering proving is essential for achieving beautifully risen bread with a great texture and taste.

Supermarket Bread Ingredients

Here are some of the ingredients you might find in a white supermarket loaf.
Fortified Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Water, Yeast, Salt, Rapeseed Oil, Spirit Vinegar, Calcium Propionate; Soya Flour, Mono- and Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids; Palm Oil, Ascorbic Acid.
 
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