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Bread

Wheat Bread

A simple wheat bread made with flour, yeast, salt, and water, baked to a golden loaf.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Wheat Bread

Wheat Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 pounds of flour and salt.

  2. Dissolve the yeast in a bowl with the tepid water.

  3. Make a hole in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture through a strainer.

  4. Stir the dry flour into the wet mixture until smooth.

  5. Cover the bowl and let it rise in a warm, dry place for 2 hours.

  6. Sprinkle the remaining ½ pound of flour over the dough and knead until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Shape and bake

  1. Divide the dough into two equal parts and shape into loaves.

  2. Grease two bread pans and place the loaves inside.

  3. Let the loaves rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

  4. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 ½ hours.

  5. Cool the bread on a sieve or folded towel before storing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
Yeast
Ferments sugars in the dough, producing gas that makes the bread rise.
Tepid water
Hydrates the flour to form dough and activates the yeast.

The step that matters

Knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Kneading develops the gluten network that traps the gas from fermentation. Adding the remaining flour too early or kneading too little leaves a dense, weak crumb.

“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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