80/20 White Brown Bread

 I have played about with bread for just over 12 months and think I have finally found the sweet spot. 

Flour - well it has to be good and fresh and must be bread flour but a mix of 80% white and 20% wholemeal helps to provide texture and a little flavour whilst keeping up the fibre for a good diet.

Yeast - goes without saying it needs to be "fresh" but when I say fresh I mean within the used by date and ideally as soon after buying as possible. I tend to use quick dried yeast (very fine balls) and keep it in the fridge. I suspect the fridge does very little but it makes me think I can keep it for longer!

Oil / fat - I use a good first press olive oil. It's relatively light and fresh and adds a little flavour to the bread whilst helping to maintain structure and keeps for longer. 

Sugar - white works for me. To be honest I haven't tried anything else so can't comment!

Salt - white again seems to work and I haven't tried anything else but I have reduced the amount very sightly. Partly to be a little healthier and partly because I think it helps the bread grow a little faster / better. 

Water - always use filtered water - unless you know that your water is as clean as it comes. I am sure it doesn't really matter but if you can remove the fluorides and chlorides along with the metals and pollutants I am sure it's better! a mix of one third boiling hot with 2 thirds cold ensures you get the temperature right for the yeast. 

Vitamin C - I suspect you don't need this and I am honestly not sure if ie makes a difference. I have tried various amounts and settled on just half a teaspoon. More seems to make the dough sloppy / wet, less can cause a less favourable structure. I am confident that it helps the bread stay fresher for longer. 

So hear is what I do:

Ingredients

300g - White Bread Flour

200g - Wholemeal Bread Flour

7.7g - quick easy yeast

12g - salt

15g - sugar

1/2tsp - vitamin C (dried ascorbic acid) 

55g - Olive Oil

160g - cold water

80g - boiling hot water

Method

1. Measure and mix the dry ingredients (white flour, wholemeal flour, quick yeast, salt, sugar, vitamin C) in a mixing ball and mix. I used a Kenwood Major as I can leave it kneading whilst I do other things!

2. Measure and mix the wet ingredients (cold water, oil and boiling water) in a measuring jug using a whisk. 

3. Pour the wet ingredient mix into the dry ingredients and mix to form a dough. 

4. Knead for between 15 and 20 minutes. It needs to have a smooth silky and stretchy feel to it. The more you knead it, the stronger the structure and that will help with texture. 

5. Oil a bowl that is about twice the volume of the dough. 

6. Place the dough in the oil bowl and cover with cling film. Allow the bread to prove for around 2-3 hours (or until it's doubled in size).

7. Take the bread out of the bowl and form it into the shape you want. This process of knocking back is expected to make the bread about half the size of the proven bread. It will rise again :-).

8. Cover the bread with oiled clingfilm or a damp cloth - loosely so that the bread can rise again. 

10. Leave the bread to rise for between 1-2 hours. 

11. When the bread has doubled in size (again), place in a pre-heated oven and cook for between 25 and 30 mins.