March 2008
Art, science, magic… whatever you call it, we think making bread is the ultimate in satisfaction.
Admittedly, there’s a knack to it, not to mention the various bread making techniques that have been perfected over thousands of years – but once you’ve got the basics cracked, you’ll soon be enjoying the most delicious chunk of bread you’ve ever dunked in your soup.
Take the first step toward becoming a master baker with our hints and tips on choosing flour.
HINTS & TIPS
From wholemeal to rye, spelt to chickpea, there’s a surprisingly large choice of flours. A good place to start is with the most popular and versatile variety – strong white bread flour.
Strong white
Whether you’re making a pillowy farmhouse loaf or chewy focaccia-style flatbreads, always use a good quality ‘strong’ white wheat flour. The pulling and stretching of the dough during kneading is quite punishing on the gluten – the elastic protein that traps the carbon dioxide released by the yeasts as they ferment the sugars in the dough. But because strong white contains more gluten than other flours, any bread made with it should rise well with a soft, open texture.
White flour alternatives:
Wholemeal
Wholemeal flour is milled from 100% of the grain and is packed full of fibre and B-vitamins. You’ll find it produces denser bread because the bran particles interfere with the gluten. Vitamin C can be added to stop this happening, and is one of the few additives allowed in organic baking. You only need a smidgeon; so try crushing just a quarter of an ordinary Vitamin C pill and adding it to the flour to help make your bread light.
Rye
The proteins in this flour are similar to gluten, but don’t have the elasticity or extendibility found in wheat. The texture of rye bread is therefore quite heavy with a moist, chewy, slightly bitter taste – robust enough for strong flavoured accompaniments such as: pastrami and piccalilli.
Chickpea
This delicate gluten-free yellow flour is commonly known as gram. It’s often used in pancake style flatbreads and onion bhajias. Look out for it in Indian stores and markets.
Spelt
This less well-known forerunner of modern wheat has been cultivated for thousands of years by ancient civilizations. It’s revered for its unique nutty flavour and its high protein, fat and fibre content. To avoid a too-crumbly texture, don’t be tempted to under-mix your spelt dough. Spelt bread doesn’t tend to rise as much as wholemeal.
Flour suppliers:
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| Doves Farm, Berkshire | dovesfarm.co.uk » |
| Traditional Cornmillers Guild | tcmg.org.uk » |
| Bacheldre Watermill, Powys | bacheldremill.co.uk » |
| The Flour Bin, Derbyshire | flourbin.com » |
| Golspie Mill, Sutherland | golspiemill.co.uk » |
| Sharpham Park, Somerset | sharphampark.com » |
| Shipton Mill, Gloucestershire | shipton-mill.com » |
Do you need to knead bread?
Bakers and bread fanatics are constantly tinkering with dough preparation methods. Their latest thinking is that the length of time the yeast is left to react with the dough mixture is more crucial to how well the loaf rises, than how often you knead it.
If you ask us, kneading’s all part of the fun – but it’s certainly true that there’s a balance to be struck to give your dough the best chance of rising with an even, aerated crumb. If you want to know, simply and easily the right way to produce consistently good bread, a useful place to start is with Dan Lepard – the world-renowned artisan baker and best-selling author.
Dan Lepard’s basic techniques »The New York Times also has an innovative piece on a recipe for a handmade bread that takes 24 hours to make and needs no kneading at all!
The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work »If you have any hints, tips or questions of your own about bread and breadmaking, remember to visit the forum.
