Brilliant Bread

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.

When you score your loaf, the bread will rise at a right angle to the cut you have made. For example, if you have a loaf that is very long, you’ll want to score right down its length so the bread can rise out over its whole length.

soak up nearly as much butter.

The extra time that the first prove adds gives a nicer flavour and a beautiful reddish-brown crust.

As you progress through these chapters, the recipes will indeed become more challenging – you’ll have to build on your new-found skills and experience, but very quickly you’ll be able to produce results that professionals strive to achieve. It is important that you take things a step at a time – it’s best not to try a sweet sourdough as your first

A good way to understand gluten strands is to imagine hundreds of very sticky elastic bands. As they are stretched out and folded across one other, they get more and more tangled, sticking together in more and more places. Leave them to rest and the stickiness subdues slightly, so they begin to flatten out. Then, as the yeasts churn out gas, they s

safely heat it up and it retains the heat. For the steam, you’ve got a couple of options. The first and simplest is to chuck a quarter mug of water on to the bottom of your oven as you put the bread in to bake. However, cast-iron casserole pots with their lids on can be used to brilliantly recreate the steamy environment of a professional oven, as

MUG – OR ANYWHERE – BREAD Makes 1 loaf usually, but depends on your mug • Time spent in the kitchen: about 5 minutes • Time taken altogether: 3–3½ hours

Traditionally, for larger loaves wicker or cane baskets are used, with or without a cloth lining and dusted with flour to stop any sticking.