Simple step by step no fail bread recipe

[Kenny202]

I sent a guy these detailed instruction this morning so I thought I may as well share the info as it is my experience / trial and error over 5 years of living here. I know a lot of my fundamentals may seem wrong, a lot of yeast etc but this recipe works perfectly for me every time. Very easy and cheap. A very wordy and detailed description but didn't want to miss anything. In reality about 15 minutes actual work....extra time waiting to rise etc of course. I have a strong mixer and dough hook so don't knead by hand but I have described it by hand for those who don't have a mixer.

 

You will need a Measuring jug, set of measuring cups, large wooden spoon and a large Stainless bowl. Buy these for peanuts at Mr DIY. Get yourself a little set of electronic scales if you don't have some and a plastic dough scraper is handy too. Just basically a 4" x 4" plastic blade thing with an edge on it. We have some baking shops here which are cheap but Mr DIY has a lot of this stuff. You can buy baking tins if you want but I just do mine on a big lightly oiled pizza tray now. Big enough to fit 2 loaves I reckon about 18" dia. A large baking sheet would be better actually.

 

The mix I do is fairly firm and will hold up on it's own. Was one of my long term problems was that I always believed the dough should be a bit wetter for best results. Lighter fluffier bread. But it's not true. My bread was a little dry at first but it was because I was overcooking it by about 10 minutes haha. If the mix is too wet it will rise but as the weight up high increases the bread will start to fall down on itself and spread out ie can't support itself. Cooking time at 23 minutes by the way might sound silly but this for me is the sweet spot. Anyway, providing you follow what I say and measure pretty accurately your mix should be perfect every time. The consistency of the recipe I make is fairly firm / dry so it's not like a wet mess. Dough at the proper consistency shouldn't stick to anything too much. Over time you will get a good feel for it. Plenty of you tube videos on kneading too. Don't be gentle with it. About a good 5-10 minutes stretching it and banging it around. It's not rocket surgery. Don't worry too much about your techniques etc. Just mix it pull it stretch it for at least 5 minutes. This is where the glutens are formed. As long as you give your ingredients a good initial mix and give it a half decent knead it will be ok. I have marble type bench tops which are great. If you are not use to using flour it can be messy but just sprinkle a little on your surface. Only a little. It's only to stop the bread sticking to the surface. You don't want to add a heap of extra flour to your dough. Like I said if your dough is the right consistency it wont be too sticky anyway. I used to hand knead mine without using flour on the bench. Don't have anything around you. Take your time and keep everything centralised and you will be ok. You can even knead in a big stainless bowl if you want to. Again can be bought at DIY for about 80 baht. The bread flour and yeast can be bought at Makro although the bakery shops here are generally cheaper. The yeast was about half the price. The area I use and have to clean on the bench would be no more than a foot diameter that needs to be cleaned. Yep you will have a bit of flour on the bench and some of it will be a bit sticky etc. I use my dough scraper to scrape it off the bench gather it all up and sweep it into a bowl. Then just wipe your bench down. You probably will make a bit of a mess the first time or two but just keep it as contained in one area as possible and not throw it all over the floor  Take you about 30 seconds to clean it up. Just not a big deal.

 

I take it you know a bit about making bread? There is the initial mix and leave to rise stage. Then you get your dough out, punch it down, halve it, shape it and prove it (basically let it rise again) before throwing it in the oven. The mixing and actual work itself is easy but you do need the time to let it rise , wait for it to cook etc but doesn't mean you need to watch it like a hawk all day or can't nip out for an hour or two. Just need to be around. I just make my bread in between doing other things. 

 

One thing about bread is that it is very sucseptable to weather conditions and here as you know varies from dry to humid, cool hot and anywhere in between. At first I was getting really inconsistent results. I have gotten around this by doing the second "proving" stage in the oven itself. I believe professional bakeries do it this way. Basically I put the oven on a tad just over room temperature. It should just feel barely warm. You don't want to cook it at this stage. Just give it a warm dry environment to rise. I have had guys tell me no you can't do this etc but works a treat. Others add a dish of water for humidity but I found made no difference. Like I said you want consistency. You don't want it to turn out OK sometimes. Simply turn the thermostat on your oven up until it just clicks on. This should just be a degree or so warmer than room temperature if that makes sense. These small freestanding ovens are great by the way. Being a bit smaller they heat up really fast and I reckon are a bit more consistent than the wall ovens we have back home. Hopefully yours will have thermostat settings down to zero. 

 

Later on you can try different things but it is great to have a starting platform that you know works. Your benchmark. I have been wanting to try leaving the initial mix in the fridge to slow rise overnight. Apparently makes the bread more flavourful but haven't tried it yet. Other things I used to do which I don't do anymore. I used to mix the yeast with the water and sugar and let it sit / froth. I don't do this anymore and get better results. I just throw everything in the bowl, give it a good whisk so yeast / sugar / salt is evenly distributed and then add water.

 

Ingredients.....

 

930 grams Bread flour

28 grams dry yeast granules (looks like sand)

3 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3 cups tepid water

 

Thats it! The flour comes in 1kg bags (34 baht). I like the swan brand. They do different flours. The bread flour is green packet. Do NOT use anything other than bread flour. The yeast comes in 500gr packs (about 150 baht). Keep your yeast in the fridge sealed in a small plastic clip lock air tight container. Will last 2 or 3 years. The two loaves you make by the way will cost you about 40 baht + electricity.  

 

Add all dry ingredients to stainless bowl and whisk well. Distribute everything evenly

Add 3 cups of tepid water straight into the dry ingredients

Mix well with a wooden spoon until dough is formed

Lightly flour surface and throw your mix onto the bench and knead for 5 to 10 minutes

Once Kneaded put back in the bowl, cover with a towel and sit in a warmish non drafty area

 

They say your dough should double in size but mine always at least trebles. You need a decent size stainless bowl or it will be overflowing out of the top. I find about 2 hours should be well risen. Again you will know after time and get a feel for it. You will be lifting the towel off every 5 minutes marvelling at how big it is getting lol. 

 

After it has risen you again need to take it out and put it on a lightly floured surface. They call this stage "punching down" but really what you are doing is removing all of the air from the initial rise. Don't try and knead it or mix it too much again. Just literally push the air out of it and fold it a few times. What I do at this stage is weigh the dough. Halve it using the scales so both the same. This I feel is important. If both loaves the same they will cook the same. Then shape your dough into 2 compact little blocks. I like to tuck mine under. Seems to make the bread support well too. Top should be nice and smooth.

The next thing you need to do is cut three 1cm slashes across the top each loaf. This is to let it expand. Have a look at you tube videos on this. Takes a while to master. Some bakers use a razor blade or box cutter. I use a very sharp knife now. Don't try and drag the point of the blade through the dough. Slice with the middle sharp part of the knife across quite quickly if you know what I mean. A slash so to speak. Wet knife works well

 

After you have shaped your loaves and they are on your tray pop them in the oven on a tad over room temperature.

Here they will grow and grow again, usually an hour and a half to 2 hours into what looks like 2 beautiful loaves of bread.

You will probably know when they have risen enough as the rise will slow down. Again about treble in size or more.

 

You need to be gentle at this stage as the dough is risen and full of air. Remove gently from the oven and sit on the bench. At this stage I turn my oven up to full (230 degrees C) and put the rack in the middle. Sprinkle or spray the loaves with salty water. Once the oven is up to temperature gently put the loaves back in and set the time on your phone to exactly 23 minutes. I say the middle rack because I like the tops of my loaves well brown, even black. Never tastes burnt. Just yummy. I usually drop the rack down to the bottom about 10 minutes in or they will burn too much. Do this quickly so your heat doesn't escape. If you don't like your bread well cooked on the top start with they rack on the bottom. Will still brown. Through all stages with the oven use top and bottom element / no fan. I find using the fan forced doesn't go well baking bread. Once the 23 minutes up take out and place on the bench. After about 30 minutes you should be able to seperate the loaves (probably joined together) and lift them gently off the tray onto a cooling rack. Don't attempt to slice it for at least 2 hours or cooled down. 

 

I slice mine up and put 2 slices in little plastic bags, remove air and seal well (tie) and put in the freezer. Either defrost in the microwave or sit on the bench. Then I pop the still sealed bag in the microwave for about 20 seconds (on heat) and you will have delicious soft, sandwich worthy bread   

 

I have gone on and on here and I know will be a big read but didn't want you to miss any steps. In reality once you have it down pat the physical work no more than 15 minutes inc clean up. Very very easy to do and results excellent.

 

 

[ezzra]

Kudos on your post... As a bread lover and maker myself i have tried countless kinds and methods of bread baking here in my kitchen oven with moderate success, until i come across the No-knead method and after tweaking it a bit i came up with a good finished products of either the Rye, wholemeal or regular flour varieties and oh so easy and quick... 

[Tayaout]

I don't eat bread anymore but my wife and extended family enjoy it. I use a bread machine! The flour make a big difference. I got some German one but my wife prefer the standard cheap Thai flour. 

[Puchaiyank]

Have you receipe for weight loss after eating home cooked bread for a few weeks?  ????

[Kenny202]

1 minute ago, Puchaiyank said:

Have you receipe for weight loss after eating home cooked bread for a few weeks?  ????

Jesus ????

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

Kudos on your post... As a bread lover and maker myself i have tried countless kinds and methods of bread baking here in my kitchen oven with moderate success, until i come across the No-knead method and after tweaking it a bit i came up with a good finished products of either the Rye, wholemeal or regular flour varieties and oh so easy and quick... 

So please, give us your no-knead recipe/method.

[Puchaiyank]

15 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

So please, give us your no-knead recipe/method.

Did you mean to say: "NO NEED!?"

[JAG]

I don't have an oven - I have in the past used one of those halogen ovens, the big glass bowl with a light and fan array in the lid. I had some success with this making bread. I now use a bread maker, but I wonder if your recipe would work in a halogen oven?

 

[wgdanson]

45 minutes ago, JAG said:

I don't have an oven - I have in the past used one of those halogen ovens, the big glass bowl with a light and fan array in the lid. I had some success with this making bread. I now use a bread maker, but I wonder if your recipe would work in a halogen oven?

 

Try it with 50% ingedients first. Don't see why not.

[Kenny202]

5 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Try it with 50% ingedients first. Don't see why not.

Those little ovens are great and like he said half mixture and you need at least 10- 12" above for it to rise up. I dont know about the fan blowing down on the bread???????? Give it a try

[lungbing]

3 tablespoons of salt seems to be a lot?

[Kenny202]

On 10/31/2019 at 7:43 PM, lungbing said:

3 tablespoons of salt seems to be a lot?

Well salt is only in there for flavour so if you want less add less. They are big loaves though, about 15 slices a loaf...30 slices. Divide the 3 Tbsp up between that and doesn't seem like a lot. I have never eaten the bread and thought it was salty and I usually only have a slice or two. Up to you ????

[vogie]

On 10/8/2019 at 8:56 AM, wgdanson said:

So please, give us your no-knead recipe/method.

I've been making bread now for a few years, but never tried to make 'no knead', that is untill today. Some recipes you have to let it rise for something like 24hrs, but with the turbo bread method it can be as short as 3hrs.

It is 3 cups of flour

One quarter teaspoon of yeast

Teaspoon and a half of salt

Cup and a half of hot water (not boiling)

The hot water speeds up the process.

 

This is the one I found on youtube.

 

[beau thai]

I have to bake gluten free and I find getting the perfect loaf a real challenge. still work in progress. Varying many different types of flour/ amounts of liquid/ cooking temperature etc etc.  Bit like school experiments in the chemistry lab.

When I lived in Spain I had a breadmaking machine witha gluten free setting but yet tpo see one here at a price that seems sensible.

So if anyone has perfected gluten free bread please share the recipe and cooking instructions!

[Kenny202]

I have found a lot of things I have read to be either unecesary or detrimental. One is making the water warm. I know it is standard bread making procedure but I don't worry about it anymore. Room temp water here fine. As for rising 24 hours, or even 3 not in Thailand. Unless you are in a very cold climate or some put their bread in the fridge to slow down the rise process, supposedly enhances flavour.

My bread fully risen in under 2 hours. Maybe longer if chilly outside. Another thing I find detrimental is adding the yeast to the water, letting it sit and foam up etc. Sort of makes sense to do it that way but I get much better results mixing all the dry stuff up together and adding the water last

[vogie]

6 hours ago, vogie said:

I've been making bread now for a few years, but never tried to make 'no knead', that is untill today. Some recipes you have to let it rise for something like 24hrs, but with the turbo bread method it can be as short as 3hrs.

Update: the final result, tastes really delicious. It actually looks darker than shown in the picture.

 

 

[tifino]

 another Tangent you can also explore, relating to the Yeast:

 

•  - swap it for Beer. A standard i.e.375ml Can of your favourite beer; does a great job

[BritManToo]

On 10/8/2019 at 6:06 AM, Kenny202 said:

930 grams Bread flour

28 grams dry yeast granules (looks like sand)

3 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3 cups tepid water

Way too much salt (1/2 teaspoon), too much sugar (1/2 tablespoon), way too much yeast (7gms)

I use 255gms or water, and top the whole lot up with flour to 750gms.

Then chuck in in the bread making machine.

No kneading at all (by me).