Tuesday 29 January 2013

Halogen Oven Semi-Wholemeal Loaf

I've posted previously about my problems making bread and in that post said that my next attempt would be using my halogen oven and the recipe book I got with it (The Halogen Oven Cookbook by Norma Miller). This is, approximately, that recipe. I say approximately because I never follow a recipe exactly as written. The following version is the result of a few experiments which were all somewhat more edible than the ones referred to above.

Prepare:         approx 1 day including rising time
Cook:            15 minutes
Serves:         1 350g loaf
Calories:
Fat:
Protein:

Ingredients:

150ml             water
    1tsp           clear honey
    1tbs           dry active yeast
175g              strong plain wholemeal flour
  55g              strong white flour
1/2tsp            salt


Equipment:

Heatproof measuring jug, thermometer, kettle, large mixing bowl, flour shaker, loaf tin

Method:

Boil the water in the kettle.
Pour the hot water into the jug and add the honey.
When the water has cooled to around 30 to 37C add the yeast and give it a good stir.
Leave the yeast mixture to do its thing for around 10 to 15 minutes until there's a layer of froth around 20mm deep on the top.
Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl.
Stir the water, honey and yeast mixture and add to the bowl mixing thoroughly.
Tip the dough out on to a floured surface and knead it until its elastic.
Place the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover the bowl with clingfilm.
Leave the dough in a fairly warm place until it's doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen remove it from the bowl, lightly knead it into a suitable shape and transfer it to a loaf tin.
Cover the tin with a damp tea towel and leave the dough to rise again for a few hours.
Once the dough has finished rising transfer the tin to the halogen oven and cook it at 200C until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, approximately 15 minutes.

This only makes a small loaf but is sufficient for one person.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Mike

    Thanks for following my blog - and for your comments. I appreciate the time you took to give a comprehensive response. Nice to know we're on the same wavelength!

    Seems we also have another thing in common - procrastination! As evidenced by the fact that I saw your comment 2 days ago and have only now got around to responding.

    I thought I'd comment on your bread recipe in a similar fashion:

    "1tbs dry active yeast "

    That's a hell of a lot of yeast! For that amount of flour I'd use a level teaspoon.

    "Boil the water in the kettle.
    Pour the hot water into the jug and add the honey.
    When the water has cooled to around 30 to 37C add the yeast and give it a good stir.
    Leave the yeast mixture to do its thing for around 10 to 15 minutes until there's a layer of froth around 20mm deep on the top."

    Next time, combine 100g cold water with 50g hot water (which will give you the right temperature), add the yeast and honey and stir to dissolve. You've just saved yourself a quarter of an hour (which you can then squander somewhere else!).

    "Tip the dough out on to a floured surface and knead it until its elastic."

    No need to flour the surface - if your dough is at all sticky, which it should be, place some flour in the bowl, coat your dough with it, then bring it back onto the table and start kneading again. That way you keep the flour under control. Knead only until the dough is smooth - and stop before you get fed up.

    "Place the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover the bowl with clingfilm.
    Leave the dough in a fairly warm place until it's doubled in size."

    Leave the dough on your worktop, and cover it with the upturned bowl. It'll rise on your worktop whilst you surf the net. Using clingfilm is a waste of your (and the earth's) scarce resources.

    "Cover the tin with a damp tea towel and leave the dough to rise again for a few hours."

    Don't use a damp tea towel, if it touches the bread it sticks like billy-o. A dry tea towel is fine for keeping out any draughts.

    A few hours is a long time for a second rising, IME. I'd leave it to rise and check after an hour and then after each 15 minutes.You want to catch it just before it reaches its optimum size, then the oven can finish off the rising as it bakes. The only way to do this is through practice.

    For three different ways to bake a loaf of bread, check out this post on my blog:

    http://nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/basic-loaf-of-bread.html

    My preferred method is the 'No-knead, overnight' method, but, see what you think.

    Best wishes, Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Paul, thanks for the comment.

      > That's a hell of a lot of yeast! For that amount of flour I'd use a level teaspoon.

      I got the quantity off the tin of yeast. I'll try a teaspoon next time and see how long it takes the dough to rise.

      > "Boil the water in the kettle.
      ..."

      > Next time, combine 100g cold water with 50g hot water

      I must admit, that's what I do nowadays. I went for a precise temperature because I tend to get terribly anal about things when I start out. Also, I was experimenting with the halogen oven so I wanted to control as many things as possible so that I didn't have too many variables each time confusing me. I'm a bear of very little brain and therefore easily confused. :)

      > "Tip the dough out on to a floured surface and knead it until its elastic."

      > No need to flour the surface

      Again, I don't these days. I've learnt that the dough tends not to stick once it's ready to turn out.

      > - if your dough is at all sticky, which it should be, place some flour in the bowl, coat your dough with it, then bring it back onto the table and start kneading again.

      Thanks, Paul. I'll remember that if I ever get in that position again.

      > Knead only until the dough is smooth - and stop before you get fed up.

      I must admit, I always wonder just how 'elastic' a dough is meant to be before one can stop kneading.

      > Leave the dough on your worktop, and cover it with the upturned bowl. It'll rise on your worktop whilst you surf the net. Using clingfilm is a waste of your (and the earth's) scarce resources.

      I agree with the last sentence but my dough tends to take its own sweet time rising so I prefer to return it to the bowl so that I can use the work surface again.

      > Don't use a damp tea towel, if it touches the bread it sticks like billy-o. A dry tea towel is fine for keeping out any draughts.

      I must admit, I haven't had a dough rise enough to contact the tea towel and these days tend not to use a tea towel anyway and just re-use the cling film instead.

      > I'd leave it to rise and check after an hour and then after each 15 minutes.You want to catch it just before it reaches its optimum size, then the oven can finish off the rising as it bakes.

      I must admit, these days I tend to just leave it while I get on with something else, sometimes even while I have to go out for a few hours. This could explain why I don't seem to get much of a rise while the loaf is baking.

      Thanks for all the advice, Paul. Once I'm working again I'll have to get myself a few lessons so that I can learn to do this properly (and probably unlearn a load of bad habits). I really can't see me giving up again even when I start work because it's one part of cooking I really love. If it wasn't for the fact that there are no artisan bakers in North Brum, as far as I'm aware, I'd see if I could get a job in a local bakery.

      Delete
  2. Just mouthwatering, feels like having it now...looks tasty and delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kalyan. I really must post some of my more recent adventures in bread making (and other cooking).

      Delete
  3. I love my breadmaker, but have had a my eye on a halogen for a while. Do you still use it or is it one of those gadgets that just sits in a corner looking at you sadly like my slow cooker does?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I still use my halogen oven for bread for the simple reason that it's the only oven I've got that goes above around 180C. Apart from that I'm not all that impressed with it. It doesn't seem to have any advantages over a conventional oven apart from its small size. It also has the disadvantage that it only cooks from the top so I have to turn the loaf over half way through the cooking time to cook the bottom half.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. Please note all comments are moderated.