B Bread

Posted on by

I have fiddled, twiddled and tweaked this recipe so many times, and I’m still unsure of what to actually call it.

Could it be wholemeal bread? Technically it’s not wholemeal as it doesn’t use the whole grain.

Bran bread doesn’t haven’t much of ring to it. Sounds like something your grandmother might be encouraging you to eat.

Keeps me regular as clock work that Bran Bread does! 

Nope. Bran Bread doesn’t work either.

How about Brown Bread? A bit dreary sounding though isn’t it?

Would you like some lunch? How about some white cheese, red tomato, on some brown bread?

Exciting no?

How about B Bread? It’s got bran, it’s brown, it’s bread, (and it’s made by Brydie.) Yep that will do.   

For such a simple loaf, I really have tweaked it a lot. Has it made a terribly big difference? Probably not.

I have played with higher hydration, (too tricky to shape) short mixes within the autolyse period, longer autolyse period, (I like leaving it about 40 minutes) using hot water mixed with the flour, long over night prove, shorter day proves, big slashes, little slashes, no slashes, (I like them) not soaking the bran (dry bits), adding the dark malt secondary, (too streaky) adding the malt with the bran and hot water, (no difference) shaping before the over night prove, shaping after the over night prove. (I’m still not sure which I prefer with this one. Depends on the time factor at this stage.)

At the end of the day though, it’s a bread that does what all good breads do. Fills your belly in a wholesome, soul uplifting kind of way.


B Bread

400g starter

700g flour (4 2/3 cups)

1 tsp dark malt flour

50g unprocessed bran (1 cup)

125mls hot water

500mls water

2 tsp salt

Add hot water and bran together, mix until all absorbed. Mix starter, flour, water and dark malt flour together for a minute or so, and then add the bran mixture (I use a sunbeam mixer with a dough hook). Rest period 40 mins. Add salt. Mix again. Prove for 1 hour or so. Quick knead on lightly floured surface. Another hour or so prove. Fridge for 12 hours. Shape. Back to room temperature and prove,(took about 3.5 hours). Slash. Baked at 240C with steam, for about 30 minutes.

This post submitted to the wonderful yeastspotting.

35 thoughts on “B Bread”

  1. B Bread is a very cool name & sounds hip man, and now & sup happening ‘n all that. The sort of bread cool kids eat. Not being a bread maker (one of these days ‘n all that) I think your loaves look luvly & I’d be mighty proud to throw on a slice of yellow cheese with red tomato my friend.
    Have an awesome day 🙂

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • I never did a proper post on the stater when I did it, as I wasn’t really sure whether it would work…. I really wish I had though. This is my initial starter post
      I used the Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook method. If you can get hold of that book it outlines how to start one for you. I can easily tell you the ratios, but it’s all the other tips in that book that made it a good one to refer back to.
      In a nut shell, it took 3 weeks to get strong enough (some methods use it after only 1 week). You will need bakers flour, tap water, a large bowl, and to feed it each day a meal of flour and water. There are methods that use, grapes, currants, potato etc. I didn’t use any of that though.
      I confused the hell out of myself in the beginning, but it is easy!
      (let me know if you are really keen, and I can be a bit more helpful.)

      Like

      Reply ↓

      • Now that I’m 10 years or so into my sourdough experience, I believe that no sourdough blogger should talk about how to make a starter until maybe 3 years into their experience. I say this because that first 3 years is such a learning time, when what you think you know today changes tomorrow. It’s just a long learning curve.

        I remember once thinking that sourdough was a fragile creature; today I’m convinced that once a sourdough is healthy, it is almost impossible to kill it!

        Like

  4. There’s bread inspiration everywhere for me at the moment! I want to get a basic white half decent first before I move into variations.

    Can you buy the malt flour and unprocessed bran in the supermarkets?

    I friend is buying some bannetons from Germany so I think I’ll join his order and get a couple.

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • Malt flour, unfortunately Richard you are going to have to get back on that train to Auburn as that’s where we get it. Although it will be a whole lot lighter than all the flour you bought last time! A 500g packet is lasting me ages though.

      For the bran I get organic unprocessed bran from the health food shop. It’s about $3.50 for a 375g packet but again lasts ages.
      The bannetons all seem to come from Germany regardless of where you buy them from. It’s odd that nowhere else seems to do them. Go get one, you’ll love it!

      Like

      Reply ↓

  8. Brydie I think you have inspired me to give bread making a try! This looks fab. Is it hard to bake? My only bread-making efforts have been damper when camping and they would made good doorstoppers! Can you point me in the direction of a good recipe for my first try? And a post on bread-making for dummies??? x

    Like

    Reply ↓

  9. Brydie Bread. It’s a perfect name for a perfect loaf! I never thought to put bran in a loaf, thanks for the inspiration. I love adding a little malt to my loaves as well – big tip from John the miller was to whisk it into the liquids first, to stop it going streaky in the finished loaves (as you’ve no doubt figured out!). x

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • in the lliquid eh? I’ve been putting it in the flour, which works fine too… But doesn’t! If I add it as an after thought after all ready mixed! That’s when I say, of course those streaks were on purpose 😉

      Like

      Reply ↓

  10. Brown bread always makes me think of that children’s nursery rhyme (at least I think it’s a nursery rhyme…otherwise a book?) that talks about ‘brown bread and honey’. And so I love the term ‘brown bread’, and I would love some of your B Bread with honey!

    Like

    Reply ↓

  12. That first picture was b-ewdiful and looks too good to b true! Love the blistering and the slashes. I bake once a fortnight at the moment, can’t seem to plough through the loaves quickly enough – thank god for freezers. At tihs rate I’m decades behind your skill and experience. B-good. x

    Like

    Reply ↓

  13. Your bread is beautiful and beguiling and tempting as well!
    It looks so very wholesome and toothsome and moreish.
    I really don’t use my starter enough- so I’m going to spend some time making sourdough just to keep it strong!
    This really has been a banner bread week- all around!

    Like

    Reply ↓

  14. It looks great – I love the slashes. And as long as it tastes how you want, it really doesn’t matter what you call it, but B Bread is a good name too!

    Like

    Reply ↓

  15. Thankyou for putting all the hard into it and experimenting and tweaking it and then sharing it with us lucky souls!

    Like

    Reply ↓

  20. so, I’m now starting to move a little beyond the recipes in the Bourke St Bakery book that started me on my sourdough “journey” (hate that word tho)…
    Trying this B bread today… I’m thinking I’m going to have to somehow dump it in a tin to bake (it’s having it’s first prove now), because it’s a sticky, wet mess ! checked your starter post and mine’s the same… seems a lot of water vs flour relative to the other recipes I’ve used (in the BSB book)… any thoughts on sticky mess ?

    Like

    Reply ↓

Leave a comment