The Fresh Loaf

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Good tasty loaf... Help needed please

spadge's picture
spadge

Good tasty loaf... Help needed please

I've been making bread for a number of years and this recipe is about the best I've managed. However as you can probably see its not following bakers math and maybe thats why its not the best tasting? can anybody help me create a better all round tastier loaf.

500g Shipton mill (quality organic bread flour)

300ml water

1 level tsp standard dry yeast (maybe around 7g)

2 level tsp salt (maybe around 14g)

I hand knead for around 7 minutes, let it rise several times, shape, flour and slash- then bake att 220c for ten minutes and then 180c for around 40 minutes more.

It rises lovely and does not taste yeasty or too salty with a fairly chewy firm crumb.

The texture is a little rubbery but most of all its lacking that certain special taste?

The smell is fairly good but its just lacking something or maybe has too much of something? either way the flavour is just not the best I've ever tasted.

IHopefully I can draw on someones experience to put me right.

Kind regards Spadge.

Ford's picture
Ford

The dough recipe looks a little dry., try 325 g liquid.

For flavor substitute 325 g of milk for the 325 g of water,  mix in  a tablespoon of sugar, and 30 g melted butter.  Do a bulk rise for an hour or more, then shape, let rise and bake as before.

Ford

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Use a biga or poolish recipe. Preferments really bring out flavour. Or you could drop the amount of yeast and increase the bulk ferment.Try 0.5g yeast and an 8-10 hour bulk ferment. 

Taste is all in the fermentation.

Arjon's picture
Arjon

So there's no pat answer in terms of what will make your bread taste better to you. That said, the first thought that comes to mind is substituting part of the bread flour for something else. I almost always use some whole wheat flour, rye flour or a mix of the two, but there are other possibilities like spelt, kamut et al. 

Another pretty straightforward thing you can try is using add-ins such as seeds, nuts, herbs, cheese, olives, etc., etc. 

Rube Goldberg's picture
Rube Goldberg

Breads made with Preferments  retarded in the fridge for 48 to 72 hours are more flavorful than direct rise and bake breads.