Making two loaves of bread

Asked on 28 Apr 2020 by Jkg123

Hi there,
I have some questions about the easy white loaf please:
1. If I want to bake 2 x easy white losves at once (i.e. in 2 x delia loaf tins) do I just double all the ingredients or would the yeast/salt quantity be less for this amount of flour/water? Does the cooking time remain the same if both are cooked at the same time?
2. If I freeze one loaf, what is the best way to defrost it to prevent drying out? E.g. in the freezer bag or wrapped in tea towel etc? Or should the frozen loaf only be used as sliced toast?
Thanks,
Jo

Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Hello Jo,

Yes, I would just double the ingredients.

Baking time will be about the same.

The defrosting depends how you like the crust. I usually defrost in the freezer bag to keep the bread soft and then freshen in a hot oven if I want a crust. If it’s only for toasting I don’t bother.

Best wishes

Lindsey

Jkg123 replied

Thanks so much Lindsey for the quick reply.

I baked this recipe for the first time yesterday and the texture was a fair bit denser than I was expecting for a white loaf and the bread was the colour of golden caster sugar inside!

I cut short the first 2 hour prove to about 1hr 30 mins because the dough looked like it had doubled (in a warm kitchen). Would this definitely be the cause of the denser texture? I guess it could be a number of things but if you could give some general tips to mitigate against this for the future I would be very grateful.

Bread flour in short supply at the moment so sadly I can't experiment as much as I would like to!

Thanks,
Jo

Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Hello,

Have you watched the video as it shows exactly how it should look and It may be that yours isn’t that dissimilar? This loaf isn’t like commercially produced white bread. I would give it 2 hours for the first rise as it gets knocked back anyway and the second rise you need to leave it long enough to be risen above the tin.

Lesson 2. White Breads

Kind regards

Lindsey

Jkg123 replied

Hi Lindsey.

I have the original book and also watched the above video before making (which was very helpful), and did get it to rise above the tin about and inch in the middle on the second proving, but I will try the 2 hrs first prove too and see if that helps.

The middle of the loaf looks similar to the video, but not quite as lightweight and the taste/texture was somewhat doughy/dense (more like wholemeal bread) so even though cooked through maybe it just needed longer in the oven.

Thank you again for the super quick reply. I guess I just need a bit of practise!

Thanks,
Jo

Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Hi Jo,

It may be that the flour and / or the yeast was not quite as good as it usual!

Kind regards

Lindsey

Jkg123 replied

Ah thanks. Yeast been open at least 6 months. Maybe will retry with fresh packet.

Regards
Jo