I am not the world's greatest cook, in fact for years my signature dish was Cup-a-Soup and toast and even that did not always go well, but even an idiot like me can make delicious fresh bread with little effort, time or money.
The following recipe will evolve over time developing an excellent complex flavour and superb texture and crust. The basic recipe can form the basis of many delicious speciality loaves.
I know that I am going on a bit but after four years of using this method, I still get a child like shiver of pleasure every time a loaf comes out of the oven. I can not quite believe that I can do it.
I make a 1lb loaf every couple of days as follows :-
1lb (454gms) Strong White Bread Flower (Lidl – about 60p for a 1.5Kg bag)
7 gms or 1 sachet Bread Yeast
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
Good glug of Olive Oil (or butter or vegetable oil, WHY|)
Mix together and knead. Cut off about a quarter by weight, leave at room temperature for about 2 hours and then pop in the fridge.
The rest allow to rise until doubled in size, gently knead again and put in an oiled and floured bread tin, allow to rise again and bake in a very hot oven for about 20 – 30 minutes. Lovely!
Next loaf :-
1lb (454gms) Strong White Bread Flower
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
Good glug of Olive Oil
The piece of dough retained from loaf 1 above taken out of fridge for about 1 hour..
Mix together and knead. Cut off about a quarter by weight, leave at room temperature for about 2 hours and then pop in the fridge.
Allow the rest to rise until doubled in size. This will take longer that loaf 1 and may take up to 24 hours to double. I don't bother to knock back and bake in a very hot oven for about 20 – 30 minutes. The loaf should have a fuller flavour than before and an open 'ciabatta' like texture.
And that is it, repeat the above step every couple of days and you have wonderful, flavoursome fresh bread without any yeast. The flavour develops over time and eventually stabilises and appears to last indefinitely. However, I periodically freeze a chunk of dough in case something happens to my 'mother' dough. I always take a lump of dough with me camping so that I can have freshly baked bread anywhere. This is what the old sour-doughs did in the Klondike.
I have used this recipe for a number of speciality breads (Blue cheese and walnut, olive, Cheese and Onion) by incorporating ingredients towards the end of kneading.
Everlasting Bread.......Probably
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diamond lil
- Posts: 9773
- Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:42 pm
- Location: Scotland.
Re: Everlasting Bread.......Probably
Brilliant ty, will try this. Is very close to the recipe I already use but in the bread maker. I think olive oil makes a difference to bread. Handy to know if you run out of yeast. 
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tommylongstocking
Re: Everlasting Bread.......Probably
I read this post back in the days when I was just lurking prior to joining and always meant to give it a go.
That time arrived about a fortnight ago.
This is a fantastic recipe. I am now on the 9th generation and the flavour has developed into a tangy sour chewy delicious taste very reminiscent of a San Francisco sour-dough. I bake every couple of days, keep my old dough in an oiled plastic bag in the fridge between sessions.
Excellent.
One question, could I freeze some of the old dough in case something happens to my ordinary starter? If so how long would it be viable for?
Tommy
That time arrived about a fortnight ago.
This is a fantastic recipe. I am now on the 9th generation and the flavour has developed into a tangy sour chewy delicious taste very reminiscent of a San Francisco sour-dough. I bake every couple of days, keep my old dough in an oiled plastic bag in the fridge between sessions.
Excellent.
One question, could I freeze some of the old dough in case something happens to my ordinary starter? If so how long would it be viable for?
Tommy
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The-Great-Nothing
Everlasting Bread.......Probably
Sounds great - will give this a go!
Good question about how long the frozen piece will last. Also, how long will the chilled piece last? You say to do it every 2 days - if it were 3 or 4 days, would it be ok? And any idea on temp of a high oven? 220degC?
Cheers
Matt
Good question about how long the frozen piece will last. Also, how long will the chilled piece last? You say to do it every 2 days - if it were 3 or 4 days, would it be ok? And any idea on temp of a high oven? 220degC?
Cheers
Matt
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tommylongstocking
Re: Everlasting Bread.......Probably
Hi Matt,
First of all apologies, I did not read the last bit of the original post correctly, Stephen appears to freeze some of his doughs as a safeguard so this would appear to be feasible. I have no idea how long they remain viable though.
With regard to the chilled pieces, most of mine are used every two days but I did leave one piece from a Friday to a Tuesday and it seemed fine. I don't how long it would keep otherwise. I did ask an American colleague who has been making sour-dough bread for years this question and he responded as follows;
Tommo,
I have kept old dough in the refrigerator for up to 10 days without any problems. However, for best results, you need to refresh your mother dough every week. This is simply taking 150gms (Yes, we Americans can do metric, LOL) of flour, add enough water to make a regular dough, add 75-100gms of the old dough and knead together until bread dough like. Keep this at room temperature for 6 – 12 hours and then put in the refrigerator in an oiled plastic bag. If you do this weekly the dough will last indefinitely. This step is only necessary if you are not baking regularly.
Freezing a piece of dough is a good idea as sometimes things go wrong. It will keep safely for a year in the freezer.
You can make a much looser dough (really a batter type consistency) by using more water and keeping this in a jar in the refrigerator. Every time you bake a loaf, replace what you have used with the equivalent amount of batter made from just flour and water. If you are not baking regularly, each week discard half and replace with flour and water. With this latter method you may need to experiment with the amount of water that you add to the flour when making the loaf as the batter will contain water itself.
Enjoy
Jerry
Regarding a hot oven, my oven (Electric) says 250 on high. I always let it get to this temperature before putting the loaf in. I did see on TV once that you spray some water in the oven just before putting the loaf in. I have tried this with the last two loaves and it does seem to be worthwhile.
Tommy
First of all apologies, I did not read the last bit of the original post correctly, Stephen appears to freeze some of his doughs as a safeguard so this would appear to be feasible. I have no idea how long they remain viable though.
With regard to the chilled pieces, most of mine are used every two days but I did leave one piece from a Friday to a Tuesday and it seemed fine. I don't how long it would keep otherwise. I did ask an American colleague who has been making sour-dough bread for years this question and he responded as follows;
Tommo,
I have kept old dough in the refrigerator for up to 10 days without any problems. However, for best results, you need to refresh your mother dough every week. This is simply taking 150gms (Yes, we Americans can do metric, LOL) of flour, add enough water to make a regular dough, add 75-100gms of the old dough and knead together until bread dough like. Keep this at room temperature for 6 – 12 hours and then put in the refrigerator in an oiled plastic bag. If you do this weekly the dough will last indefinitely. This step is only necessary if you are not baking regularly.
Freezing a piece of dough is a good idea as sometimes things go wrong. It will keep safely for a year in the freezer.
You can make a much looser dough (really a batter type consistency) by using more water and keeping this in a jar in the refrigerator. Every time you bake a loaf, replace what you have used with the equivalent amount of batter made from just flour and water. If you are not baking regularly, each week discard half and replace with flour and water. With this latter method you may need to experiment with the amount of water that you add to the flour when making the loaf as the batter will contain water itself.
Enjoy
Jerry
Regarding a hot oven, my oven (Electric) says 250 on high. I always let it get to this temperature before putting the loaf in. I did see on TV once that you spray some water in the oven just before putting the loaf in. I have tried this with the last two loaves and it does seem to be worthwhile.
Tommy