Crusty bread with cloud soft crumb (Crusted Cloud revised)

Previously I wrote a hub about my new found love for making bread. I offered a recipe that I had put together from a great deal of research. Now having made bread for some time, I haven't bought any bread for at least 6 months, I offer you a revised version that uses a Bosch MUM to knead the bread.

I decided to buy a machine to help me as I find I have less time since I started a small business (http://www.bizvisionary.co.uk/). I researched the small food processor market and narrowed it down to three possibilities, Kitchenaid, Kenwood, and Bosch. About this time my sister-in-law, Norma, came to visit from over seas and took my wife and I to the BBC Food Show at the NEC. This gave me an excellent opportunity to see all the players in action. Strangely, what I consider to be the big boys, Kenwood and Kitchenaid, couldn't handle the amount of dough that I regularly make, 900g flour.

Actually this turned out to be just fine for me for two good reasons: 1. I have a very limited budget, 2. the Bosch MUM has a superior design that mixes in a special sweeping fashion, maybe this is why it can handle up to 1kg dough load (1kg flour + water etc.). I visited the Bosch stand and sadly their show special was still outside my budget. It turns out that in the UK they only offer two models a 550W and a 600W version. The special price for the 550W model was around £125. and nearly £200 for the 600W. When I got home I looked around and found that I needed the 600W version for my size of mix. My research revealed that, amazingly, or maybe not, there are many models of MUM available in Europe, just not the UK. I found exactly what I wanted in Germany for €98 the MUM4701, this is 600W just no bells and whistles and I am delighted.

900g Strong flour
575ml Water
60ml Olive oil
50g Brown sugar
25g Dried yeast
25g Salt

I have made these changes taking advice from a number of people but especially Juergen who I met at www.thefreshloaf.com. I start with a preferment. Mix 400ml warm water with 50g brown sugar and 25g dried yeast. I mix this with a regular beater in my MUM for about 2-3 minutes then leave it for 5 minutes. Then sift in 200g flour and whisk at max speed for 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and cover for at least 2 hours. can be for much longer if you want, but after 2 hours it will be near its maximum activity. I pour this 'Biga' back into my mixing bowl and add the balance of the water and flour. The salt and oil and set the dough hook to minimum for about 30 seconds to a minute until the flour is absorbed. Then I set the speed to 2, which is the max on the MUM for the dough hook and leave it kneading for 10 to 15 minutes. Amazingly the machine only gets a little warm and when its done delivers a velvety soft dough that is a pleasure to handle. I fold this a couple of times and place it back in my oiled mixing bowl to rise for a couple of hours.

When I have time, I take the dough from my bowl, fold it a couple of times, then divide it into three pieces. These will usually be around 530g each. I fold each piece in half and then like an envelope, just to make it the shape I want, and put the dough into silicone bread pans. At this point I either shake some flour on top, or use an egg wash to add seeds. Perhaps cut it. and let it sit somewhere warm until it is risen to the size I like. This could take 2-3 hours.

When it looks good I heat the oven to max ( I have a very cheap gas stove) and boil some water.
When the oven is ready (about 5 minutes) I put in the pans and pour boiling water into a pan on the oven floor. Close the door and turn down the temperature to Gas Mark 4.5. After 15 minutes I have to swap the pans around (Because of my stove). When I do this I turn up the heat to max again and pour more boiling water into the pan at the bottom. Then turn down the heat to 4.5 again for a further 20 minutes. Usually I put the loaves back in the oven again, after this, upside down for 5 more minutes to crisp up the bottoms.

Here is a pic of my last batch. I made this with sesame and sunflower oil instead of olive oil.
Mainly I have found the MUM to give a very consistent results, with a reasonably even, open crumb. I bake three loaves every three days.

Your comments are welcome.

Bytchy