Crusty Farmhouse Sandwich Loaf
How to make a delicious crusty farmhouse sandwich loaf by hand, easy step by step instructions from start to finish.
Ingredients
Method
- 500g / 18oz Strong white bread flour
- 305g / 305mls Lukewarm water / 40°C / 104°F
- 7g / 2tsp Instant or active dried yeast
- 15g / ½oz Softened butter
- 8g / 1tsp Salt
- 6g / 1tsp Sugar
- Add the sugar to the warm water and stir, once dissolved, add the yeast and stir it in thoroughly, set it aside until it activates.
- In a bowl, add the salt to the flour and mix together, make a well in the flour.
- Once activated, add the yeast mixture and the soft butter to the well in the bowl, mix together until you have a sticky dough.
- Turn out the contents of the bowl onto your worktop, making sure you scrape down all of the flour, from the sides of the bowl.
- Using your bench scraper, bring it all together, and hand knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- If you wish to use a stand mixer, add all of the ingredients to the machines bowl, and knead for 10 minutes, using the dough hook attachment.
- After the 10-minute kneading, form the dough into a ball, place it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl, and let it rise for a minimum of 1 hour in a warm draft-free spot, the dough should at least double in size (this may take longer depending on the temperature of your kitchen)
- Grease a 2lb / 900g loaf tin, see video for tin dimensions.
- After the I hour, turn out the risen dough onto a floured surface and knock the dough back, this simply means force all of the gas out of it.
- Form the dough into a sausage shape and place it in the greased loaf tin, gently pressing it down to fill in any gaps in the corners.
- Lightly flour the top of the dough, then cover it with a dry light weight cloth, and allow it to proof until it has risen approximately 6cm / 2½ inches, over the top of the tin, this should take approx, 30 to 45 minutes.
- When you think there is only 10 minutes left on the proof, preheat your oven to 180°C that’s 355°F or gas mark 4, at the same time, place a pan/dish of hot water on the bottom shelf of your oven, (the steam created will make the loaf top crispier).
- Once the dough has fully risen, sprinkle on a little flour, carefully make a slash/cut down the full length and centre, of the dough, using your Lame, or razor blade, and get it into the preheated oven, and set your timer for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes remove it from the oven, immediately take it out of the tin, and place it back in the oven, and increase the temperature to 210°C / 410°F / Gas mark 7, bake for a further 6 minutes.
- Remove from the oven allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, before slicing and serving.
My 4 basic bread-making rules:
- 1. Stick to the recipe rigidly, the quantities and ingredients are very important and carefully worked out for successful results.
- 2. Use digital SCALES for all of the measurements including weighing the WATER, IN GRAMS, NOT FLUID OUNCES, don’t convert to cups or measuring jugs, they are too inaccurate. try to use bottled water if possible. Tap water contains chlorine, and in certain areas it is higher than others, which will weaken or even kill the yeast.
- 3. Use proper bread flour, with at least 12% protein, check the ingredients list on the side of the flour bag for the protein level, protein may show in grams per serving but just work it out, it needs to be 12g of protein per 100g of flour. Plain or all-purpose flour has a lower protein count and is great for pastries, cakes, and biscuits, but is NOT strong enough for making bread.
- 4. Very important…Check your yeast is working, BEFORE you start any bread recipe, you can do a yeast test as shown in my sandwich bread video below.
Yeast test on my Sandwich Loaf video
How to test your yeast is alive and healthy.
Equipment & products used in my kitchen and videos
