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Plain Bread

A simple yeast bread made with flour, salt, water, and yeast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Plain 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.

Make the sponge

  1. Dissolve the yeast cake in ½ cup lukewarm water for about 10 minutes.

  2. In a mixing pan, combine the salt with the water and enough flour to make a stiff batter.

  3. Add the dissolved yeast and beat for 2-3 minutes.

  4. Place the mixture in a warm place to rise overnight until it doubles in size.

Knead and shape

  1. In the morning, add enough flour to form a dough that doesn't stick to your hands.

  2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Let the dough rise again until it is 2.5 times its size.

  4. Mold the dough lightly into pans, cover, and let it rise until it is 2.5 times its size.

Bake

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until the loaf is nicely browned and feels light.

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
Dry yeast
Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the loaf rise and become light.
Water
Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and activates the yeast.
Coarse sea salt
Controls yeast activity and strengthens the gluten for better flavor and texture.

The step that matters

Knead and rise in the pans. Kneading only briefly and letting the dough rise fully before baking sets the crumb. Under-proofed dough bakes dense, while over-proofed dough can collapse and lose structure.

“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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