Plain Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Sift the flour into a heap and make a hole in the middle.
Mix the yeast with warm water and pour it into the hole.
Make a light paste, cover the dough, and let it stand by the fire for 1 hour.
Once risen, mix in the dissolved salt with 2 quarts of water.
Knead the dough until stiff, then let it stand for another hour.
Shape and bake
Knead again and let it prove for 1 more hour before shaping into loaves.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 1.5 hours.
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
- Fine flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Ferments sugars and releases gas, which makes the dough rise.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and the dough can stretch.
The step that matters
Knead the dough until stiff. Kneading aligns and strengthens gluten strands, so the dough holds the gas from the yeast and rises well instead of collapsing or staying dense.
“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.
More plain bread recipes
You might also like
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 recipes
Milk Bread Rolls242 recipes
Potato Bread124 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.