Wholemeal Bread, great to eat with hearty soups

Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves

1 lb 4 oz 100 per cent wholewheat flour, plus a little extra to 'dust' the top of the bread

2 level teaspoons salt

1 level teaspoon soft light brown sugar

2 level teaspoons easy-blend dried yeast

Approx 14 fl oz hand-hot water


2 lb loaf tin or two 1 lb loaf tins, well buttered.

Pre-heat the oven to its lowest setting.

Begin by warming the flour slightly in the oven for about 10 minutes, then turn the oven off for now.

Next, tip the warm flour into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle on the salt, sugar and easy-blend yeast. Mix together thoroughly, then make a well in the centre and pour in the hand-hot water. Begin to mix the warm liquid into the flour gradually to form a dough (how much water you'll need will depend on the flour).

When it is almost formed into a ball, finish off by using your hands until you have a smooth dough that leaves the bowl clean ? there should be no bits of flour or dough remaining on the sides of the bowl.

Now transfer the dough to a flat surface and stretch it out into an oblong, then fold one edge into the centre and the other over that. Fit the dough into the tin, pressing it firmly all round the edges so that the top will already be slightly rounded. Next, sprinkle the surface with a generous dusting of flour, then cover the tin with a damp, clean tea cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or at room temperature for about an hour. If you're making 2 loaves, divide the dough in half before following the steps above and folding it into the tins.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6. When the dough has risen to the top of the bread tin or tins, bake the bread for 40 minutes for the 2 lb loaf tin or 30 minutes for the 1 lb loaf tins. When the bread is cooked, turn it out on to a cloth to protect your hands ? it will sound hollow when rapped underneath with your knuckles. Then return the bread, out of its tin, upside down to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes to crisp the base and sides. Cool the bread on a wire rack, and never store (or freeze) it until it is absolutely cold.

What is " gas mark 6 " ?

Val
I put a conversion chart in the sausage rolls thread - but I have now put it as a 'sticky' at the top of the cookery section, so you can see temps at a glance.

I only use gas for cooking (don't like electricity - I always feel it 'dries' out pastry and cakes too fast!) hence the Gas Mark measurement of temperature.

I totally agree. You have so much more control with gas. When we moved into our house a few months back, I had the gas line for the oven re installed. Can't cook without my gas range....

Yes, but my sister is just as 'wedded' to her electric hob and ovens - no accounting for taste!

Gas oven and electric burners would be great, but alass, I'm all electric....
One corner is cooler than the rest of the oven.

3R
I know exactly what you mean - when we go to the cottage down in Cornwall, there is no natural gas - and the village is too remote to rely on cylinder gas - so the cooking facilities are electric..... believe me, I cook as little as I can get away with!

valpal 59 wrote:

Many gas ranges manufactured outside the U.S. do not have a temperature marking on the oven control, instead it is graded by numbers. Others have only a low, medium, high setting on the knob, but of course, there are an infinite number of places you can put it, in between each setting.

Most ovens are controlled to not heat higher then 500 Farenheit (260 Celsius), so the medium mark would be about 250 F, or 130 C. Gas mark 6 would probably be about 400 F.

Hope that helps, had to figure that one out when I moved down here.

Leo

Yikes! Sorry Catriona, I didn't see this before I posted above.




Leo

'No worries', as my Aussie relatives would say!

Catriona, Thanks for the chart. I also cook with gas. Tried the electric for awhile, but couldn't develop a taste for burnt food. LOL Happy Thansgiving

Herrerano, Thanks for your help. I need all of the help I can get. Happy Thanksgiving

Valpal
Thank you for your kind wishes. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK - but I wish all my US friends a Happy Thanksgiving.

Cat