The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

White Sandwich Loaf

Syd's picture
Syd

White Sandwich Loaf

Poolish

250g all purpose flour
250g water
1/16 - 1/8 of a tsp yeast (more if it is cold, less if it is hot)

Mix together and leave for 12 hours.

Dough

300g white bread flour 
130g milk (scalded)
unsalted butter 6g
10g salt
3g instant yeast
a little less than 1/4 tsp of ascorbic acid

[Hydration = 69%]

Scald milk and add butter and salt to it. Stir until dissolved. Allow milk to cool to room temp.  Add to poolish, then add dry ingredients.

Knead for 5mins - rest for 5mins - knead for 5mins. Allow to proof until doubled. A stretch and fold half way through fermentation is necessary not so much for gluten strength, as it is to degas the dough.  Pre-shape. Shape and put into a two pound tin. Let it rise until coming about an inch over the top of the tin. (My tin is a 10x19x11cm 900g loaf tin).

Bake at 230 C with steam for 15 mins and without steam at 190 C for 35 mins. Remove from tin for last 10 mins .

 

This loaf has a crisp crust and a tender, moist crumb.  It toasts very evenly and makes a good sandwich.  It keeps well, too.

Syd

 

Comments

MarieH's picture
MarieH

This bread reminds me of the main bread my mom made when I was a child. Mom was a wonderful baker and we never had store-bought baked goods of any kind. I know now how lucky I was! Thanks for the memory...

Mary Fisher's picture
Mary Fisher

Seeing your comment reminded me of my first bread-baking experience, in the mid 1940s.

My mother put a lot of flour (probably two 3lb bags) with some salt into a pancheon on the hearthrug and placed cubes of lard round the edges. She'd dissolved the yeast in warm water and when it foamed poured it into a well in the flour. More water waw added and she mixed it into the flour with her hand. Gradually the flour became incorporated, as did the lard. She explained that when the dough left the pancheon clean it was ready to rise and could be covered with a towel and left in front of the coal fire. 

Eventually the towel would lift up, showing that the dough had risen. It was then 'knocked back', shaped and put into bread tins. When it had risen above the height of the tin it was put into the oven at the side of the fire, except for some dough left behind deliberately and rolled flat to make an 'oven bottomer'. That was my very favourite loaf, warm, with margarine (no butter, rationed) and golden syrup. Bliss.

A LOT of perfect loaves were made at a time but there was no recipe, my mother, as I do, used her rule of thumb and experience. But in those days it was always plain white bread, what I suppose Americans would call 'sandwich bread'/

She taught me to knead and knock back and fill the tins, I've been making bread ever since. A long time. One day, I keep promising myself, I'll clean the pancheon and make 'Mother's Bread', with lard. But I'll use butter on the oven bottomer!

Mary

Syd's picture
Syd

That's a lovely story, Mary.  Was that Lyle's Golden Syrup by any chance?  You taught me a new word: pancheon!

regards

Syd

Mary Fisher's picture
Mary Fisher

Yes, Syd, it was Lyles - or was it Tate & Lyles - can't remember when it changed. The tin still has the lion with bees on the front.

Having kept bees for maany years I now know that a swarm would never settle in such a place but don't tell Lyle's, if they changed the front of the tin my life would be changed irrevocably.

We still use it, Spouse likes it on peanut butter on butter on bread. Any kind of bread. Infuriatingly he stays at 9 stones something. Grrrrrr.

We'll be using it with lemon juice next Tuesday of course. The year is marked by seasonal specialities, we never have pancakes at other times. That way, when we do it's very special. I wouldn't be surprised if 'children' and grandchildren just happen to be passing ...

Mary

Syd's picture
Syd

"Out of the strong came forth sweetness" or something to that effect.  It was a biblical story anyway.  Something about Samson killing a lion only to find later that a swarm of  bees had settled in the carcass whereupon he harvested the honey.  My mom used to make a steamed pudding which had Lyles Golden Syrup in it.  She served it with hot custard.  It was delicious. :)

Syd

Mary Fisher's picture
Mary Fisher

Yes, I didn't want to go into details. Not that I remember his harvesting honey ... he just tasted it. It became the subject of a riddle for the Philistines to answer. "Out of the eater came something to eat, out of the strong came forth sweetness." Judges 14. It came to a bad end though, Sampson was strong in the arm but not so much in the head ...

'Treacle' pudding is indeed delicious but we never have it now, far too many calories! I looked on the tin today, it is still Lyle's but a trademark of Tate & Lyle.

Amori's picture
Amori

Tall and handsome loaf, saved in my to-do list.

varda's picture
varda

for whenever I'm done with my current bread obsessions.   Pan loaves rarely look so enticing.  -Varda

teketeke's picture
teketeke

It is absolutely great looking loaf, Syd!

Akiko

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello, I enjoyed seeing both of your successes with your tall sandwich loaves!

from breadsong

 

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks, breadsong. :)  This one has been a standard of mine for a while now.  Have a good weekend!

Syd

wally's picture
wally

And I like the poolish - I'll bet you've got some nice flavor that wouldn't have been there otherwise.

Nice bake,

Larry

caraway's picture
caraway

to try this beautiful loaf.  Thank you for posting the recipe!

Sue

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Like Wally, I like your poolish addition!

Sylvia

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Beautiful, Syd! Well done!!

Syd's picture
Syd

Thank you all for your kind comments. 

The height on this loaf comes from my baking pans which are lovely and tall.  The only drawback is that the slices don't fit into my toaster.

The poolish contributes both to the flavour and the improved keeping quality of the loaf.  Without the poolish this loaf would just be ordinary.  It can be eaten fresh for at least two days and makes great toast after that.  (The vitamin C also improves the keeping quality).  You could get away with less yeast in the final dough (say 2g or even 1g) and just extend the bulk fermentation.  This would squeeze even more flavour out of it.  I have retarded it overnight, but if you do this, retard soon after final shaping or else it might over rise in the fridge (particularly if you use the larger amount of yeast).

Best,

Syd

louie brown's picture
louie brown

and this loaf looks great. Like the others, I agree that the poolish makes sense. It's always useful to have a loaf like this in the cache.

Frequent Flyer's picture
Frequent Flyer

My neighbor asked for a white sandwich loaf this weekend, so I through together a poolish yesterday (85% the size of your poolish)- without having a recipe in mind.  It's in the fridge now and needs to be used.  Your recipe is perfect to scale down some. 

Thanks

FF

 

Syd's picture
Syd

You're welcome! :)

Syd

Aren's picture
Aren

I decided to try this bread, and I've been having a few problems. So far I've made it twice, and both times it stays small and a little dense. It also stays pale. The bread has a great taste, though, so my roommates don't mind it's flaws =)

Any idea what could be causing this? I've followed the directions...

Syd's picture
Syd

Tell me a little more about how you make the bread.  What yeast are you using?  How hot was the milk when you added it?  Do you have a thermometer?  How long did the whole process take?  Include some pics if you can.  It will be much easier for me to make a diagnosis if you do.

To scald milk, heat it to 185F or 85C.  Allow it to return to room temp before using.  If you pour scalded milk onto yeast, it will be sure to kill it.  Check your yeast.  Is it fresh?  Sometimes, it might not even be past its sell by date but it is still ineffective.  (It might have been stored incorrectly and  perished).  If in doubt, throw it out and buy some more. 

What was the room temperature where you left it to rise?

Was the poolish full of little bubbles before you used it?  It shouldn't have risen and collapsed.  (A 'high water mark" on your bowl will be evidence of this).  Search for pictures on this site of what a ripe poolish should look like. 

What flour did you use?

The fact that it was pale indicates that your whole process took too long and all the fermentable sugars were used up leaving nothing to give the crust colour when you baked it. 

Take photos of each stage of the process and post them. Include details of temperature and time.  These will all help to give a more accurate diagnosis.

best,

Syd

Aren's picture
Aren

That's what I was thinking too, but I just let it sit long enough to rise. My poolish was ful of bubles, and it had risen nicely. I let it sit out overnight (about 11 hours) and it looked great. I used a white bread flour. I also allowed my milk reach about room temperature before adding it to anything. I'll be sure to take pictures the next time I make it!

The only difference I see is that I'm using active dry yeast instead of instant. Would that cause my problems?

Thanks for all your help!

Syd's picture
Syd

The only difference I see is that I'm using active dry yeast instead of instant. Would that cause my problems?

If you are using active dry yeast, increase your yeast to about 4g or even 5g and sprinkle it on top of the warm (approx. 35 degree C) milk to let it activate.  No need to stir.  Just sprinkle.  It should dissolve and start to get a bit frothy (about 5 to 10 mins).  Now use it. 

Look forward to seeing the pictures.

Syd

Aren's picture
Aren

Ok, I'll try that! I was planning on starting a loaf tonight!

Aren's picture
Aren

Ok, here it is! I got a much better rise this time, and it's still a little pale, though not as pale as it was before. It tastes great, though! I decided to go for a little bit of a chewier loaf, so I substituted water for the milk. 

Syd's picture
Syd

Well you certainly had no problem with the rising this time.  Looks good.  The crust could be darker, though.  Not sure why you aren't getting a darker crust.  It could be that your oven is not getting hot enough.  How long do you pre-heat your oven for?  Start off with a higher temperature and then turn down to a lower temperature.  If all else fails, you could sneak some sugar into the recipe.  That will brown it.

Keep on working at it until you are satisfied.

All the best,

Syd

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Hello, Syd and Aren

Syd, Your loaf absolutely looking great and moist. I like the idea of non sugar in the dough. I will put it in my baking list :)

Aren, your loaf reminds me of the baguette that I made before. It was pale like yours.  Then I realized that I used Arrowhead flour doesn't contain any malt powder at all.  Usually most of flour contain malt powder. That is why the baguette looked very pale even I baked it at higher temeperature.   It will be darker when you use Arthur King flour that is yellowish flour to compare to other regular flour.

As Syd wrote, You might be solved when you add some sugar in it next time.

Cheers,

Akiko

Syd's picture
Syd

Thanks, Akiko.  Actually, when I first started working on this loaf I put in a little sugar, but someone advised me that it wasn't necessary and ever since I haven't added any.  It is not as fine crumbed as the Asian Pain de Mie (it doesn't have a lot of shortening, neither is it intensively kneaded, but it is moist, has a lovely flavour and keeps well.  You are probably right: Aren's flour might not be malted.  If that is the case, he could add malt to it or some sugar.

Best,

Syd

teketeke's picture
teketeke

Hi, Syd

I made your loaf today. I used KAAp and KA bread flour.  What kind of flour do you use?  I felt that it was little too wet. My culculator is wrong, may be. Sometimes it happens. However, It is very tasty and moist and evenly toasted as well as you discribe. Thank you for sharing your wonderful loaf, Syd.

----

Oops, Not calculater,,, SCALE is right.  My scale is not reliable. I bought other one, but I returned it because it was worse than the one that I have.  I again forgot to log out my son's ( R.cubebaker).  Sorry... I am messing up other TFL members post like this... I better be careful.. I am sorry, Syd.

Best wishes,

Akiko

Syd's picture
Syd

Beautiful, Akiko!  That's a perfect result! 

I use bread flour but it is only 11.5% protein so it is not very strong.  I am not sure how that compares to KAAP.  What is the protein content of KAAP?  Did you have to add a lot of flour? 

Thanks for posting, Akiko. :)

Syd

teketeke's picture
teketeke

King Arthur unbleached all purpose flour's protein is 11.7% and the bread flour's protein is 12.7%.   This is my fault, Syd. The other loaf was kind of wetter than usual today.  When I looked up my scale carelly, the plate was not horizontal because the screw that ajust the balance of the plate was slightly loose today. It happens sometimes.  I usually notice it when the plate is really inclined.

My daughter loved your loaf. She asked me more and  more.. :)  I like to taste the sweetness that is produced from flour and liquid. YUM!

Thank you, too! Syd!!

Akiko

R.cubebaker's picture
R.cubebaker

DELETED

OryginalnyPolskiRegginator's picture
OryginalnyPolsk...

Sorry if this is a....less then stellar question, but I’m baking this loaf tmrw and want to make sure I’m 100% on the instructions. 
When you say to take it out of the tin for ten minutes is that in the oven? Or is it to let it cool after you pull it out of the oven? 
Super new to baking bread, but I made a variation of this recipe from a different site (called for buttermilk instead of ascorbic acid). Figured I would go to the original source and recipe....

Was honestly the best sandwich bread I’ve ever had, and the fact that there isn’t more sandwich bread with poolish out there completely baffles me.