Real Bread Week - Recipe - Tips

Warm & fluffy homemade bread with lashings of soft butter is the perfect way to start your day. Whether you enjoy sourdough, wholemeal, or a classic loaf, there is always something comforting about tucking into fresh bread straight out of the oven. For Real Bread Week this year, we’re going to be sharing our top tips for creating bakery-fresh bread at home.

The Recipe

Having a tried and tested recipe is fundamental to achieving the perfect bread every time. Follow the instructions exactly, for the best outcome.

If you love traditional Italian bread like we do, why not take a look at our homemade focaccia recipe?

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Smeg hand mixer with bread and ingredients

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The process

Kneading is a fundamental stage of all bread-making processes as it creates beautifully soft and elastic dough by stretching the gluten, allowing it to develop. This results in bread that is aerated and soft, once baked.

Kneading can be done on the worktop by hand, using push & pull motions to stretch the dough as much as possible. This process will take around 10 minutes to achieve, so will require some hard work.

Appliances that are particularly useful for this task include the Smeg Stand Mixer & Hand Mixer. Both have dough hook attachments, specifically designed for the task of kneading. These hooks are solid, robust and can knead dough in half the time vs kneading by hand, saving you time & energy, plus all the mess is contained within the bowl.

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Proving

Proving bread is essential to form a fluffy, well-risen loaf, with plenty of air pockets. After kneading, leave the dough in an oiled bowl, covered by a clean damp tea towel, or cling film. This can be left in a warm place for an hour until doubled in size. Alternatively, for a faster, more efficient proving process, try a warming drawer. With electronic controls, the perfect proving temperature can be selected, proving dough in just 40 minutes.

How to cook

Almost all types of bread require different ways of cooking them. Whether it be with steam, on a stone, with a fan, the list goes on! Fortunately, Smeg has some great products to assist you in baking the perfect loaf, and some useful tips if you are just starting out.

To achieve bakery-style results, adding steam into a hot oven is essential as this creates a soft crust, rather than extra firm and dry. It also helps the bread to rise whilst baking, for an even fluffer, moist result.
Try our Steam ovens for a precise and carefully calculated way to bake with steam. Alternatively, place a tray of boiling water onto the lowest shelf position of your oven and allow to preheat. This will add a bit of moisture to the oven cavity during baking and improve the final result.

Another interesting technique is using a baking stone, the preference in many cultures, when baking bread. A Smeg baking stone offers intense heat on the base, cooking from the bottom up. This makes it ideal for baking a loaf of bread in a metal loaf tin, or the perfect environment for baking flatbreads straight onto the stone - simply flip after a few minutes for crisp and golden results.

https://www.instagram.com/smeg_uk/There’s nothing quite like homemade bread, and we’d love to see your creations. Take a picture and upload to Instagram tagging @Smeg_UK to be featured on our stories. Happy baking!

STAND MIXERS

Stand mixer, 800 W, Slate Grey, 50's Style

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HAND MIXERS

Hand mixer, Pastel Blue, 50's Style