Unfortunately, a few people can’t eat gluten. If you have coeliac disease or a severe wheat allergy, I’m sorry. The former affects 1 per cent of us, the latter is rarer. We’re talking about definitely less than 2 out of 100 people who should not eat gluten. I absolutely assure you that if you don’t have coeliac disease and a doctor suspects no

strong white flour makes white bread and adding wholemeal flour makes brown bread. The clue to wholemeal flour is in the name; it contains the whole, fibre-filled wheat seed. In white flour, the bitty husk is filtered out.

For rather complicated reasons, the water should be the temperature at which you are going to be resting the dough. For example, if you’re resting at room temperature, the water should be tepid. The best way to test if your water is tepid is to dunk your hand into it, and if you cannot decide whether it feels warm or cold, then it is perfect. If,

You want to bake in the lower half of the oven because it tends to be a little more consistent.

Kneading is the step that, if you’re new to breadmaking, I joyfully recommend you miss out. Instead of kneading, I’d say it’s best to go away and do something else for at least half an hour. Once you return, just fold it over itself a few times in the bowl. And here’s why:

When scoring, you want to decisively peel away the surface of the bread in one very fast motion, forming a little flap. This flap will curve open gradually during cooking, allowing the crust to form and the inside to expand. Scoring gives a beautiful tear on the top of the bread, as well as the best potential rise possible.

a little vague, I know, I know… In a well-proved dough, it will be instantly noticeable that your dough is distinctly bigger than your original shaped dough. If you’re not sure, come back in 10 minutes.

dough is helpful because you are free to go off and have a life. But don’t forget that it will also make your bread awesome. A longer, cooler rise helps all sorts of wonderful flavours develop and the crust will become beautiful and brown as the sugars break down. Your dough will stay fresh for at least twice as long.

As a general rule, the hotter your bread dough is as it rests, the faster the yeast will work. This may mean you get bread more quickly, but it probably won’t taste very nice (the yeast produces ‘off’ flavours at higher temperatures). Go much over about 40°C, the yeast begins to die and the dough won’t rise at all. In most cases, you want to rest