Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Sift the flour into an earthen vessel.
Pour warm water over the flour to make a thick batter.
Add salt and yeast; do not beat after adding yeast.
Set the mixture in a warm place to rise until light.
Shape and rise
Knead the dough well with flour; the more you knead, the better.
Let it rise again, covering it and placing it in a warm spot.
When it has risen and is broken on top, shape it into loaves with minimal flour.
Place each loaf in a basket, cover, and let it rise again until light.
Bake
Bake in a preheated brick oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten structure that traps gas and gives the loaf its body.
- Yeast
- Ferments sugars to produce gas, which makes the dough rise and turn light.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and lets the yeast become active.
- Salt
- Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough's flavor and texture.
The step that matters
Do not beat after adding yeast. Vigorous beating after the yeast is added can knock out the gas bubbles being produced, weakening the rise. Mixing gently keeps the dough's structure intact for a light loaf.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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