Daily bread

If you’re wondering why I keep posting photos of bread the reason is that I have a bread machine in Hong Kong but not in London. But home-made bread tastes much nicer than shop-bought, on the whole, and I prefer to bake my own. 

As we know, though, the success of a humble loaf depends on so many factors including temperature, amount of kneading and the age of the flour and the yeast.

My first loaf here in London was made from old flour and yeast so did not rise well. The second used new yeast but old flour. I tried to be a bit too clever and did the second prove in a baneton, tipping it onto a tin and thus knocking out a lot of the air. It was OK.

Learning my lesson, I did the second prove of my third loaf in the tin. It came out better and has been the most successful to date.

And then there’s this. My fourth loaf. I was operating on autopilot and not concentrating when I put the ingredients together, so I forgot whether I’d added sufficient milk and water, panicked and added more milk and kneaded again. I was dubious about this loaf’s success because the dough did feel too sticky and absorbent. Out it came, though, having risen quite well. It’s a bit heavy and damp in the middle but tasty for toast.
Lesson is: pay proper attention next time.