Simple White Tin Loaf
With a thick crust and soft, fluffy bread inside, my simple white tin loaf can be made easily at home using some basic ingredients and a loaf tin!
Equipment
- 1kg/2lb loaf tin (see which tin I use in my post above)
- Large bowl
- Roasting tray
Ingredients
- 480 g strong white flour
- 7 g instant dry yeast
- 9 g salt
- 290 ml water tepid/lukewarm
- 20 g butter softened/room temperature
Instructions
- Add flour to a large bowl. Add the butter, and then the yeast and salt to separate sides of the bowl (so the salt doesn't slow or kill the yeast). Gently start stirring everything together with your hand until just combined.
- Pour around 2/3 of the water into the bowl and continue mixing the dough with your hand. Add a little more water, stirring in between additions, until you have a smooth but not soggy dough. You may not need to use all of the water or may need a little more. If you add too much and it becomes soggy sprinkle in a little more flour until you get the correct consistency.
- Pour and spread a little olive oil onto a clean work surface and place the dough on top. I use oil instead of flour to prevent the flour from affecting the dough's consistency. Knead the dough on this surface for around 10-12 minutes, until the dough has a smooth 'skin'. Try your best to knead it for this length of time.
- Lightly oil the same large bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with a clean cloth or cling film and place in a warm place to prove for 1-2 hours (mine takes 1.5 hours in my airing cupboard!). It is sufficiently proved when it has at least doubled in size.
- Prepare your loaf tin by lightly greasing it with a little olive oil.
- Lightly flour a work surface and gently tip the dough out onto the surface. Gently 'punch' the dough to get rid of the air.
- Pat the dough into a ball and then start rolling it out into an oblong shape with your hands.
- Once rolled out tuck the sides in neatly with your hands. If you look underneath you will have a crease from rolling, so make sure this stays underneath and the smooth side is on top.
- Now place the dough smooth side facing upwards into your greased loaf tin.
- Once the dough is in the tin, place gently into a clean plastic/carrier bag. Make sure the bag is mostly sealed by tucking it under the tin to prevent any air getting to the dough and drying it out. However make sure you form a loose 'tent' above the loaf tin to give it room to rise. Leave to rise on your kitchen counter for around 1 hour.
- Pre-heat your oven to 230°C/210°C fan and place an empty roasting tray on the lowest shelf/base of the oven to pre-heat.
- Once the dough has risen to around double it's size remove the tin from the plastic bag.
- Dust with a little flour and then using a sharp knife make several incisions across the top of the loaf.
- Add boiled water to the empty pre-heated roasting tray in the oven. This will create steam to give the bread a lovely crust! Do this quickly to avoid losing too much heat from the oven.
- Place the loaf tin into the oven on the middle shelf and bake for around 30 minutes. You can check if it's baked by removing from the tin, flipping it over carefully and tapping the base - it should sound hollow. Place on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Keep bread well covered in a cool place. Best eaten within three days. Enjoy!
Notes
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