Making bread in France

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

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I've just got back from a week's self-catering holiday in Saumur in the Loire Valley, France. One of the things I made was bread, using flour bought in a French supermarket. Despite the challenge of a small gas oven which had no temperature settings (!), the results were fantastic and much better that the white bread I make in the UK. The bread was crustier with a better texture and tasted better too (although the latter may have been due to 'holiday taste buds'). Perhaps its the flour, perhaps its the oven... I've brought a bag of the flour back, so I can try baking the same bread here. Here is a picture of the bread I made in France:

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That looks fantastic. I bet it tasted wonderful as well especially with a bit of butter on it. Yum. Hope you had a greay time.
 
Yes. We ate it with lots of butter! Tomorrow I'm using the same flour and wacking the oven up high. I usually cook bread on the fan oven setting (electric oven). I'm thinking of not doing that. :unsure: Any thoughts, anyone?
 
The only advantage of the fan would be that it would means higher temperatures in the oven wouldn't it? So if your oven won't go as high as the French oven this would be a way around that issue. But a fan oven may be drier (?) So you may benefit from spraying the oven as the loaf gives in? It's something done in sourdough bread baking to give the loaf a really crusty finish.
 
I'd do with a slice of bread right now with some butter. Can't offer any advice on bread making. I have to listen, read and learn. I am surprise you had time to bake bread on your holiday Morning Glory.
 
winterybella said:
I'd do with a slice of bread right now with some butter. Can't offer any advice on bread making. I have to listen, read and learn. I am surprise you had time to bake bread on your holiday Morning Glory.
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Oh gosh! The whole point for me in going on holiday is FOOD! So I always book self-catering accommodation. That way I can buy local produce and taste the holiday. We went to restaurants once or twice too. But frankly, I enjoy cooking more than going to restaurants! The bread took maybe 20 minutes of my time. It was left to rise whilst I went out to visit wine-makers. It was put in the oven when I came back, in time for dinner. I baked three loaves in total during the week.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
The only advantage of the fan would be that it would means higher temperatures in the oven wouldn't it? So if your oven won't go as high as the French oven this would be a way around that issue. But a fan oven may be drier (?) So you may benefit from spraying the oven as the loaf gives in? It's something done in sourdough bread baking to give the loaf a really crusty finish.
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Made another loaf from the same flour and used fan oven racked up to 230 C. Splashed a small wine glass of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam. It has come out looking just as good! Photos tomorrow if there is any left to photograph!
 
morning glory said:
Oh gosh! The whole point for me in going on holiday is FOOD! So I always book self-catering accommodation. That way I can buy local produce and taste the holiday. We went to restaurants once or twice too. But frankly, I enjoy cooking more than going to restaurants! The bread took maybe 20 minutes of my time. It was left to rise whilst I went out to visit wine-makers. It was put in the oven when I came back, in time for dinner. I baked three loaves in total during the week.
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:D:happy::D:laugh: Forgive me. I have not had a holiday in like 20 plus years. Still, I don't know I would want to do much cooking but if you can bake in 20 mins I am board. Remember my one and only attempt took maybe five hours.
 
This looks yummy! You rarely see that kind of bread where I'm from, only in upscale French-inspired bakeries. It actually reminds me of those old movies where the bread they eat looks so stiff and look like they could last for a month! I love the phrase "holiday taste buds" by the way and stealing it.
 
winterybella said:
:D:happy::D:laugh: Forgive me. I have not had a holiday in like 20 plus years. Still, I don't know I would want to do much cooking but if you can bake in 20 mins I am board. Remember my one and only attempt took maybe five hours.
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Well, I meant twenty minutes hands on. The rest is leaving it to rise and shoving it in the oven, which is hardly work! You really should get a holiday, you poor thing.
 
Wow! That bread looks so awesome, so real, almost rustic looking. Thank you for sharing this with us, can you share the full recipe with us too?
 
MichelleVL said:
Wow! That bread looks so awesome, so real, almost rustic looking. Thank you for sharing this with us, can you share the full recipe with us too?
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Thank you. I will post it. But its really quite a simple recipe - the only thing I did slightly differently was to make a rather wet dough which is hard to work with and to shape it into a baguette style using a technique which I've seen Paul Hollywood use. Its almost impossible to describe this in words! So I'll hunt for a video link tomorrow.
 
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