Modern bakery products leave much to be desired: its lion's share is crammed with baking powder and artificial flavor enhancers so much so that familiar bread, loaves and loaves familiar to everyone since childhood have long lost their palatability. The article suggests making a journey into the past and preparing a simple sliced loaf in the oven. Recipes with photos will help inexperienced young housewives in cooking with their detailed instructions, giving pleasure not only from the result, but also from the process itself.
Key Product Features
Those who remember the “Soviet” version of the white loaf, with which they often drank tea, spreading it with butter or jam, note the crumb's fine porosity, in contrast to the modern, nosy, with large voids caused by large gas bubbles. If you follow the classic recipe for a sliced loaf according to GOST, then the finished product should have:
- a thin crust of rosy color;
- glossy surface;
- a shape resembling an elongated oval;
- small cuts on the upper crust of the product.
Below are two recipes for a rifled loaf in the oven: steamed (classic) and steamed (fast). Both of them are considered correct on the basis of state standards, so we can safely undertake the preparation, having previously purchased quality products.
Necessary products for the recipe in accordance with GOST
The sliced loaf in the classic version has a fairly simple composition, but the correct ratio of ingredients and skillful preparation of the dough creates a rather tasty bakery product. In order to cook three loaves weighing four hundred grams, you will need:
- 450-500 ml of water. The amount of liquid depends on the quality of the flour.
- 750 grams of flour. Only premium flour is used if you want to get a sliced long loaf according to GOST.
- In a recipe from 1940, pressed yeast is indicated - 15 grams, but if there is no way to purchase them, then you can replace it with dry (high-speed) in the amount of 6-8 grams.
- 12 grams of salt.
- Two tbsp. tablespoons (without a hill) of sugar.
- 27-30 grams of quality margarine.
Cooking dough
One of the main secrets of this product is the preparation of a recipe for dough. A sliced loaf is obtained with a light crumb, but without excessive fluffiness, as is the case with modern bread with baking powder and additives. The first step is to heat 350 grams of water to a temperature of 50 degrees, dissolve the yeast in it, rubbing it well with a spoon, and add 375 grams of flour, thoroughly mixing the mass so that there are no lumps knocked down.
Next, cover the dishes with dough with polyethylene (there should be at least 3/4 of the empty space in it) and leave it warm: ideally this is 30-32 degrees. The average activation time for yeast for maturity is three hours (sometimes a little longer if the room temperature is below normal). If it has increased in volume at least four times - it's time to start the batch.
Second phase: knead the dough
Heat the remaining water well and dissolve sugar and salt in it. Further, following the recipe of the sliced loaf according to GOST, combine this mixture with dough, add the sifted flour (all that is left) and knead the soft dough. In the process, add slightly melted margarine, which will give the dough the necessary plasticity, it will completely cease to stick to the hands and table. It is important to thoroughly knead a lump of yeast dough, which from longer attention becomes better and better. Next, take a little refined vegetable oil, grease them with the walls of the bowl, in which the dough will continue to ferment, form a lump and place it in the dish, slightly twist it in it so that the dough is coated on all sides with a thin film of oil - this little trick will not allow the test to wind if dishes are accidentally opened.
Cover the top with a towel or clean cloth, return the bowl to a warm place and wait another hour or a half (this also depends on the room temperature). Important: after 30-40 minutes, after the start of the second stage of fermentation, knead the dough with your hands.
How to form a loaf?
When the dough comes to condition, the next step in the step-by-step recipe for the sliced loaf (in the oven) begins: molding the product. To do this, move the dough onto a slightly oiled table and divide into three equal pieces. Further, in order to give them the ideal shape and structure of the loaf crumb, carefully go over each piece (so as not to damage the gluten bonds in the dough) with a rolling pin, squeezing large air bubbles and forming a relatively even rectangle.
Then, from the narrow edges, bend the dough slightly inward, and fold them half from the wide edges, forming a blunt oval. Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper, sprinkle with flour lightly and carefully move the formed products onto it, seam down. Thaw for 50 minutes.
Bakery products
Immediately before baking, make four to five cuts on each piece of dough with a sharp knife, holding it at an angle of 45-60 degrees relative to the product. In the recipe for a sliced loaf, according to GOST, four diagonal cuts are indicated, but you can experiment and make two or three horizontal, or eight small transverse cuts that will visually divide the loaf into batch pieces. The oven must be warmed up well in advance at a temperature of 230 degrees.
Sprinkle abundantly each loaf of cold water, place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to two hundred. After 12 minutes, it is necessary to open the door, turn the baking sheet with the front side to the back wall of the oven, grease the loaves with beaten egg or milk for gloss and continue baking for the same amount of time. Cool finished products on a wire rack.
Preparation of the doughless method
If you take into account that the standard recipe for a sliced long loaf according to GOST (in the oven) implies a coupled method of preparing dough, many refuse it, because they know that this is a long process, and it does not always work out due to the inexperience of the chef. Naturally, bread on a dough will always be tastier, but if time is limited, you can use a simple, uncooked method. To do this, follow these steps:
- Dissolve yeast, sugar and salt in heated water, add melted margarine and 1.5 cups of flour, mix thoroughly, removing all kinds of lumps if they form. It is very convenient to use the mixer at low speeds.
- After 4-5 minutes of the process, add the remaining flour and knead the soft dough, slightly sprinkling the cutting table and hands.
- When the plasticity of the dough is satisfactory, roll it in a lump and place in a deep bowl, covered with polyethylene. Put in a warm place (28-32 degrees).
- After half an hour, knead the dough with your hands, do the same procedure again after 40-50 minutes. The whole process of fermentation of the dough should take about two hours, during which time the dough should increase in size at least twice.
Further, the process of molding and baking loaves is carried out according to the scheme described below: it is identical for all types of yeast dough.
Baker's tips
A few small secrets from the masters of bakery production will help make baking more tasty and attractive in appearance:
- When our grandmothers baked long loafs at home, then immediately after baking they were smeared with “jelly”: it was prepared from 2 teaspoons of starch, 1 tbsp. tablespoons of sugar and 1.5 cups of water. The mass was brewed like ordinary jelly and gave the loaves a unique flavor, smooth gloss and a soft crust. Now this method of gloss is practically not used, unfortunately.
- The recipe for a sliced loaf at home can be slightly changed by replacing margarine with high-quality lean oil if the loaves are prepared in a family of vegans (who do not eat animal products).
- According to the same recipe, you can cook buns for hot dogs and hamburgers, changing the shape of the product to smaller or round ones, sprinkling them with light sesame seeds.
- Be sure to sift the flour immediately before kneading the dough at least three times to maximize its enrichment with oxygen bubbles.