Best and Easiest Bread

Intro: Best and Easiest Bread

Many indtructables are about "the easiest bread". This is my version - and I havent't found any easier - and it's good!

I do metric, but if needed you can visit a conversion site.

You'll need:

• 12g fresh yeast (3g dry yeast)
• 1 tsp salt
• 60g oats
• 300g plain flour
• 300ml water

and

• A mixing bowl and spoon
• Kitchen scales
• One heat resistant container with a lid. About 3 litres in volume and able to cope with 250 degr. C.

STEP 1: Start by Getting the Ingredients Ready

This makes it a lot easier and you are less prone to making mistakes.

Measure out 60g of oats in a bowl on the scales. Zero it and measure 300g of flour on top.

Measure out 300ml of water (300ml of water is also 300 grams!)

Get the yeast and salt ready.

STEP 2: Start Mixing ...

Put the yeast and the salt in the mixing bowl.

Add the water and mix until the yeast and salt is dissolved.

STEP 3: Mix the Rest

Add the oats/flour mix a bit at the time. Make sure to stir well with the spoon.

This dough is quite soft - and it's meant to!

STEP 4: The Rising

Set the dough aside overnight (6 - 10 hrs) with a tea towel or a lid loosely placed over it.

The dough must not dry out, but the bowl might go 'POP' if it is sealed closely because of the gasses produced by the yeast.

STEP 5: Baking 1

The baking is easy, but still the tricky bit!

Do this:

• Place the heat resistant container with lid in the oven.
• Set the oven to 250 degr. C (Often this is MAX temp).
• When the oven is hot, take the hot (BE CAREFUL!) container out and quickly pour the dough in it. Don't worry about greasing - the bowl is so hot that the dough won't stick on it.
• Put the lid on (this is important!) and put it all back in the oven.

STEP 6: Baking 2

After 25 minutes, take the lid of the container.

Bake on for another 20 minutes - still 250 C. Don't worry if the crust gets a bit dark. If you think the bread is getting a bit too dark, place a piece of aluminium foil loosely over it.

Take the bread out and pour it out too cool. The photo is taken when I actually did this - no stick what so ever. I never experienced any sticking!

STEP 7: Enjoy!

It is very tempting to taste the bread now - DON'T

The bread is very sticky inside still and needs to cool down for about half an hour.

This is the perfect morning bread (rising over night, remember?) and it will stay fresh for the rest of the day if you put a tea towel over it. If you need to store it for longer, the best is to store it in the freezer.

Hope you found this instructable informative - enjoy your baking!

STEP 8:

Comments

[attosa]

Wow, this does look easiest! I will try it to see if I can make it best, too! :)

[kode1303]

Thank you - I’m sure yours will be ‘best’ too!

[ElCabong]

I've made this so many times I've memorized the ingredients. I've never had a bad loaf and if you've never baked a loaf of bread before, this is the best way to start.

[kode1303]

I'm happy that others have the same joy out of this recipe that I have. :-)

[WhatknotAnna]

Here's a great blender for making dough for bread, muffins, and other stiff batters. It's strong and does the job very well.

Click on the photo, the thumbnail is cropped.

[puggirl415]

Ha:) I ordered one of these on a whim for my tiny house b/c I don't have electricity yet. Glad to hear it works on really stiff dough like this. Will try this recipe soon!

[kode1303]

So that's a blender! Oops - I was thinking blenders were something aggressive and electric. Sorry Bwelkin :-/

My mother has one just like the one on the pic.

[susan beth]

This looks so good I hope it can be done gluten free I am very allergic to wheat and miss good old fashion home made bread Warm bread and butter here I come thanks for the inspiration

[SimpleMikey]

You could try making bread with spelt flour. Spelt is an ancient grain related to wheat. It contains a protein similar to gluten, but most people with a gluten sensitivity don't have a problem with spelt. There is a recipe and a video on this website: http://breadtopia.com/

[divah]

Allergies to wheat generally include spelt, my sister learned that the hard way. Personally I wouldn't take the risk.

[kode1303]

I have no experience with gluten free bread. Make sure to post an instructable if you find a good way of doing this!

[WhatknotAnna]

I made this last week and was extremely pleased with the results. It is, indeed, fool proof. I used an oversized dutch oven. The dough landed to one side and the loaf was misshapen but it was still excellent. Today I started a second bread with a brand new jar of yeast and it rose even faster and higher. Can't wait until morning! I'll try it with sourdough next time I have the starter well fed and report back.

[kode1303]

I'm very happy you like it! I didn't come up with the idea of making bread like this, but made my own variaties - you can too.

[WhatknotAnna]

This time I sprinkled coarse salt on top. Yummy! I took the lid off 5 minutes early and took it out 2 minutes early from the lid off stage when the temperature registered 200F. It was light and had an amazing crunch to the crust. Still used the oversized dutch oven since my brain said the dough wouldn't all fit into the smaller glass oven bowel I have. Should have used it anyway. I would have had a more rounded, higher loaf. Next time. Thanks for the instructable. It is awesome!

[ftom?]

Salt and Yeast is not a good mix, yeast is a fungi and salt is bad for it's health.

I prefer to mix all dry ingredients and later moist them with the required liquids (I follow this rule for any recipe)

Anyway the recipe sounds great, I will try it this weekend :-D

[rbookser]

This was bugging me so I did a little research. Turns out, salt can kill yeast, so can sugar, so can heat, etc. Typically it takes more salt or sugar or heat than what is in a typical bread recipe though. And the kind of yeast also matters. But there's really a lot more to it than just "salt kills yeast" when it comes to bread..

First tip from a chef in DC: If using Dry yeast you would typically proof it (add warm water to it for some time to "reactivate" it). If this is how you use yeast than you can add the salt after the proofing period is done at which point the yeast will still perform its function. Other modern yeasts (i guess it could be called "wet yeast") is already "active" and is relatively robust at this point due to centuries of refinement and small doses of salt will not adversely impact the chemical process (although it still does have some effect).

Second tip from a chef in Florida: Salt is often used in bread to retard the yeast, especially during long sitting periods (like over night) and for dough that is supposed to be more dense (like pizza crusts). The use of salt becomes a stabilizer during the process and helps keep an "even crumb", all while it is bringing out the flavor of the bread and adding its own flavor to the finished product. In the end, it's all about balance and too much of either will ruin the bread. Yeast is the agent, salt is the reagent used to regulate it..

So everyone is right :) Salt inhibits the yeast and is therefore "bad for its health". But sometimes you are looking for that very property to regulate the chemical reaction in your dough to make your process work better and in turn make a better product..

Hmm.. I think I am about to become an amateur chemist :)

[clewis21]

I have used salt with yeast in the past when I used my breadmaker with no problems.

[kode1303]

I have often had that thougt too - but I bake a lot and I have never noticed any difference between adding salt with the yeast and not. My mother uses to "melt" the yeast with salt!

[vmtf]

Yeast and salt can't be mixed in one solution! The salt will weaken yeast and also salt go with the wheat flour because it will strengthen the gluten network that you can get a good or maximum volume, good leavening!

[billmotley]

"If it works... "
Your expert work with the main loaf pic drew me right in to your overall compelling Ible. Thank you!