Two No-Knead Bread Recipes
'High Health' Bread - for toasting
With 'High Health' as our underlying philosophy, it seemed only natural to develop a bread recipe that symbolised this concept. This is a Bestbrook staple, baked regularly & full of flavour.
Combine the following dry ingredients :
- 300gr white flour
- 100gr bran
- 2/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup wheatgerm
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup whole linseed
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 2tb pumpkin seed
- 1ts salt
Froth 2ts dried yeast in 250ml warm water, then 250ml warm milk followed by dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Only experience will tell you if the batter needs a little more water or flour to correct the consistency - what you are aiming for is a firm mud-like batter. If unsure keep it on the wet side as a dry batter does not bake as well.
Scoop batter into a well-oiled standard bread tin and place directly into a cold oven. Turn oven on to 100deg and leave to proof 30-40 min: it is ready when you can see little cracks & airholes in the batter surface. Turn the temp up to 180deg and bake for 50 min.
Keeps well, freezes well & only takes 2 hours to make from scratch. Try a freshly-baked slice smeared with Tarragon cheese.
Bestbrook once had a traditional wood-fired bread oven - bread was made to sell to neighbours as well as for the family. The oven cavity, in the cookhouse, has now become the woodbin for the Rayburn.
The Grant Loaf - for sandwiches
A modified version of Doris Grant's wartime, almost-instant, bread recipe - search the web and you'll find plenty of references to it. No recipe is fool-proof though & getting your rising time right is the trick here, though a few trial loaves will sort that out
Froth 1tb dried yeast & 1ts molasses in 425ml warm water. Add 450gr wholemeal flour & 1ts salt then stir together to make a sticky batter. Tip into a well-oiled standard bread tin and leave to rise - turn oven on to 225deg now. Rise at room temp in summer or in an airing cupboard in winter. Ready when burst airholes show on the surface, but more importantly, rise just up to the lip of the tin & no more.
Now this is the only critical part, getting your timing right. Bake too soon and the bread will be dense, but worse is to bake too late when the batter has over-risen & starts oozing over the sides of the tin. With this much yeast the batter does move quickly - 10 min can make all the difference so don't leave the kitchen while you're waiting! Rising can take as little as 30 min, though treat this as a rough guide rather than gospel, considering all the variables of bread-making.
Put loaf into pre-heated 225deg oven and bake 20 min, reduce oven to 200deg and bake 20min more. Compared to the recipe above, this is a lighter bread with a more open crumb: it keeps for a second day thanks to the added molasses.
