Shoppers are paying up to 58% more for basic grocery items than they were three years ago, according to a recent study.  The price of tea has shot up by 30% while the cost of staple foods such as bread and eggs have risen by 18% since 2007.

However, the real bread campaign estimate there could be 10 million bread machines gathering dust at the back of the nations kitchen cupboards.  So now is the time to dig them out! Many of the loaves we buy in Britain have been peoduced using a cocktail of unnecessary artificial additives.  In the case of a ‘fresh’ loaf from the supermarket bakery, it might also have been part baked elsewhere and merely finished off in the store’s ‘loaf tanning salon’.

How to make the perfect loaf  (Credit: The Guardian).

1. Go cheap on white flour and expensive on the rest. Most white wheat flour is roller-milled and excellent, so it doesn’t matter whether you buy it at Lidl or a posh deli. Wholewheat flours (think rye, spelt and barley) vary in quality, as roller-milling used for cheap brands strips out the flavoursome bits such as bran and oily wheatgerm.

2. If you’re using a bread machine, use the recipes that come with it.Traditional recipes don’t always work with your machine so you’ll save yourself trouble by varying (adding seeds, for example) the manufacturer’s recipes if you want a different loaf.

3. If you’re making bread by hand, there are three steps to success with any recipe from any book or baker: mix the dough well and leave it for 10 minutes before kneading. After kneading leave the dough until it has risen by a half. Then, after shaping, bake the loaf when it has risen by a half to two-thirds. Forget about the times given, just follow these visual guides and you’ll be fine.

4. When adding grains that soak up water, like oats or cornmeal, soak them in an equal weight of boiling water and leave for 10 minutes first. Bake seeds lightly first, until golden, for a rich nutty taste. And when adding beer or wine, for extra flavour and colour, replacing more than half the water with alcohol will make the yeast sluggish.

5. A tray of boiling water, placed on the oven’s bottom shelf just before baking, helps the top of the dough to open dramatically and gives the crust a rich colour. And adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the dough mix will help the crumb stay soft after baking, as will a tablespoon of soya flour. Half a small vitamin C tablet, or the juice of an orange, will help loaves rise better, especially if they contain a portion of wholemeal flour. And if your loaf smells of yeast, reduce the amount you use by a quarter next time. Replacing half the water in a recipe with yoghurt will give more flavour to white bread without it tasting milky.

6. Kneading, very simply, means pressing the heel of your hand into the dough to stretch it, then folding the dough back on itself, rotating it a quarter turn, and repeating. I rub my hands and the worktop with oil, and only knead for 10 seconds every 10 minutes for half an hour. If you don’t knead the dough at all it will still turn out fine, but the crumb might be a bit gummy. If you whack the dough about vigorously you will get a slightly fluffier crumb and tired arms.

The BBC food site has a whole section on bread and many recipes for all different types of bread available.  I and many other’s recomend Dan Leapard’s Handmade Loaf Book for loads of ideas.  Many blogs and forums reiterate how accessible his recipes are (see example recipe below).  If you don’t fancy forking out for his book check out his site which has lots of recipes on their for free!

Easy White Bread

Add in up to 200g of cubed cheddar, crispy bacon, or well-drained pitted olives and some chopped herbs to mix it up and create a really impressive loaf.  Takes 3-4 hours.

Ingredients:

• 400g strong white flour, plus more for shaping
• 1 tsp dry instant yeast, from a sachet
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 300ml warm water
• oil for kneading

Instructions:

• Put flour, yeast and salt in a bowl, pour in the water (and add any optional extras) then stir into a sticky mass. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave for 10 minutes.
• Lightly oil your worktop and hands. Knead the dough for 10 seconds and return it to the bowl. Repeat twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave in the bowl for 45 minutes.
• Wipe the worktop, dust it with flour then pat the dough into a rough oblong. Roll it up tightly, pinch each end to keep it neat then place seam-side down on a floured tray.
• Cover with a cloth and leave for 45 minutes or until the dough has expanded by a half. Flour the top of the dough, cut a slash down the middle and bake at 220°C/fan 200°C/425°F/gas 7 for 35-40 minutes.