05 September 2013

Home Cooking: Matt Preston's No Prove Bread recipe put to the test (30 Aug 2013)



Rising to the challenge

I've never made bread at home before but after seeing Matt Preston's Masterclass of the No Prove Bread recipe I thought it was worth having a go. Simple ingredients, simple technique and good results makes it a great recipe to know about. The most challenging thing was to get the dough out of the bowl which was super sticky and elastic after being kept in the fridge overnight. We successfully made 4 bread rolls and 1 larger loaf. I also attempted to make a rosemary and olive loaf but it failed a bit because I only stuck the olives on the outside. The olives became very dried out and dehydrated and sort of popped off the loaf. Next time I'll need to try sticking them inside the loaf which I'm sure will work a lot better to keep them more moist. The recipe below has been taken from the MasterChef website for your easy reference. Matt Preston states he was taught this recipe by his friend, Kareen Coomer, whose husband runs Pata Negra in Perth

No Prove Bread recipe 

Makes 1 large round loaf, 1 long loaf and 6 rolls.

Ingredients
1 kg bread flour, plus extra to dust
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon instant dried yeast
950 ml lukewarm water

Method
For the bread, combine flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Stir in water until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap, then refrigerate overnight.

Remove bowl from fridge 1 hour prior to cooking, and allow to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 220C.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper, and generously dust sheet with flour. Place half of the dough onto one tray and place in oven for 1 hour or until golden, and the inside sounds hollow when knocked on the base. Make rolls and a smaller long loaf with remaining half of dough. Bake in oven for about 40 minutes or until golden and hollow inside.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Simple ingredients, Easy recipe, Tasted quite nice
CONS: Getting the dough out of the bowl and trying to place on the trays nicely is the most challenging part
MUST TRY: Making it again
VERDICT: Definitely seems to work although make sure you check for the hollow sound when knocked on the base.





















41 comments:

Eva @thehungryplum said...

Mmm those loaves looks so moist, well done!
I wrote down a similar recipe from Adrian Richardson (on 'good chef bad chef'), definitely going to try it out now :)

The Bitchy Crocker Project said...

Have mine coming to room temp right now! Tried it last week, but I halved the recipe and messed up the conversion from metric to standard. Did it by the book this time and my batter looks just like yours, so I have high hopes!

Anonymous said...

If I use whey instead of water, would I use the same recipe as in regards to temperature?

Simon Leong said...

hi eva, let me know how it works out for you.

hi the bitchy crocker project, sounds great. share a photo on twitter if successful :-)

hi anonymous, i'm not sure. i'm not much of a cook myself so i only just follow the recipe that's given. hope it works out for you though.

Nic@diningwithastud said...

I wondered whether this would work. Awesome Road Test Simon :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Simon, to get the sticky dough out of the bowl, get yourslef a plastic 'Baker's Helper', turn the bowl on it's side and gently ease the dough out as you keep scraping the sides of the bowl around the edges of the dough mass. In this way it gently 'plops' onto your baking sheet with all its rise intact. For the best advice on working with wet bread doughs, refer to Richard Bertinet's supreme bread baking books (and DVD's) 'Dough' & 'Crust'. Martin

Unknown said...

Hi Simon I used to teach bakery classes so I have a tip for you: I suggest you to use the tail of the wooden spoon instead of the spoon end as it will be far easier to mix a sticky dough. Also the whey question, I suggest stick to the recipe. Yeast can be temperamental doesn't like salt on it directly, nor cinnamon, nor fresh milk, so the whey may attack the yeast? enjoyed the blog.

Simon Leong said...

hi nic, hope you get to try too

hi anonymous, thanks for the tip

hi leonie, thanks for the insight and tip. great to know and thanks for sharing :-)

Simon Leong said...

hi nic, hope you get to try too

hi anonymous, thanks for the tip

hi leonie, thanks for the insight and tip. great to know and thanks for sharing :-)

Golden Sun Restaurant said...

That looks crazy good! I love baking and did so almost everyday before I got too busy managing a Chinese Restaurant in Capalaba area. But this seems easy to prepare, I'd love to do this on the weekend with the kids, thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

Thank you! Leonie (Baker) - could you mix grains and nuts into the raw ingredients?

The Dragon said...

Hi Simon, I use this recipe as well as a no knead sourdough recipe I got from Stone Soup blog. They are both awesome and work everytime. I always halve the ingredients for Matt Preston's recipe tho cos I dont need that much bread in one go. To anyone who has not tried baking bread, give this one a go. You won't regret it.

Simon Leong said...

hi the dragon, great tip about halving the ingredients.

Fionamg said...

Would it help to oil the bowl before you put it into the fridge? Would it be easier to remove the dough?

Simon Leong said...

hi Fionamg, that might be a good idea although not sure if it would affect the mixture. might give it a go though next time :-)

Unknown said...

Thank you for the help with this recipe. I have lung disease so kneading bread is beyond me, but this works great! I noticed you had used a pottery or china bowl, I used a glass one and had no trouble getting the dough out. But I did have an issue adjusting the temperature and timing for my fan oven. I tried 200 and 40 minutes. I checked at 20 minutes and the flour on the baking tray had gone brown. Next time I'll try 190.

Simon Leong said...

hi Di Hand, glad it worked out quite well for you. i was actually using a big plastic bowl but great to know a glass one might work a lot better. thanks for the tip. i might have to invest in one for next time.

Anonymous said...

i would love to make this bread, but he says to use bread flour. not sure what that is. i am from india and not sure if that is available here, can it be made at home with regular wheat flour?

Simon Leong said...

hi Anonymous, i guess you could try normal flour but i think bread flour is different and basically better for making bread. this might explain it http://askville.amazon.com/difference-bread-flour-all-purpose/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=5017498

Dora said...

Hey "The Dragon", pl post the no prove sourdough bread recipe you found on Stone soup. Thanks. Dot

Anonymous said...

I watched the show in Afghanistan, so one of the first things I did when I got home to the US was try this. Now, my cooking skills are far less than average, but I didn't have one problem while making the bread. I did however used my own technic on getting the dough out of the bowl..I just used my fingers which I dusted with flour. It worked fine for me and the bread is absolutely excellent....

Unknown said...

I have tried the recipe but the bread came out a bit sticky. Is it too much water?

Unknown said...

I tried and the bread turn out to be a little sticky. A little too much water?

Are your bread fluffy inside?

Simon Leong said...

hi Lister Low, bread work out ok inside for me although i think i needed to cook a bit longer than expected.

Jamila Khan said...

Hiiii...was looking for this bread ever since I watched the Master Chef. Halved the ingredients and tried it today. It's lying in the fridge ready to bake tomorrow. Would be my first bread ever! Thanks for testing and posting. Very helpful and clear pics too :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, I wanted to know if I want to use 500g of flour...do I need to half the salt and yeast as well? Tthanks a lot

Corinna said...

I made the experience to wet my hands and then you can get the stickiest out of everything and can sort of form it, the sideeffect is also that you don't use any more flower...I'll try tomorrow this recipe..live to bake bread and rolls ( I'm German )
Greetings from Singapore

Simon Leong said...

hi Anonymous, i'm assuming if you half the ingredients it would work still. i was wondering this myself

hi corrina, sounds like a great idea. i think you could also use a bit of olive oil on the hands too

Anonymous said...

Is it ok to freeze the cooked bread. Only 2 of us. And it won't keep.

Simon Leong said...

hi anonymous, that's a good question although i don't know. i'm thinking it's best not to freeze but instead make a batch of half the ingredients instead perhaps? i guess you could always try it anyway to see if it works but i'm thinking it wouldn't be as good.

Anonymous said...

Hi there, has anyone tried making this with fresh yeast? If so, how much did you use? Thanks!

Simon Leong said...

hi Anonymous, i haven't tried with fresh yeast so unfortunately wouldn't be able to know how much you would use and if it would also work.

Unknown said...

Hi, I was looking for an easy bread recipe and I'm very glad I found this - easiest bread recipe ever!! I baked my first batch this morning, turns out I messed the conversion to imperial (dough was a little too liquid) nevertheless I baked it as is and it turned out great (but slightly flat ;)) My sons loved it with a touch of butter. Thanks for posting this, will make again for sure.

Flee said...

OOOhhh greatness, we saw that Episode of MC two weeks ago in South Africa, and I wrote the recipe down quickly, glad to know it works... Will def be giving it a try. Thank you...
Did you maybe get the butter recipe too?? :-)

Florister said...

Hi All, this no knead bread recipe is a variation of American Jim Lahey's recipe baked in a 'Dutch Oven' aka a cast iron casserole such as a Le Creuset pot. If you want to control the shape a bit more or have an easier time getting the dough out of the bowl and into the oven, try a little kneading. Using a spoon, scrape dough onto a generously floured bench, knead a few times. To knead dough, flour your fingers, pick up edge of dough on the far side, fold forwards into the dough. Turn dough 45 degrees, repeat process. When finished, scoop up dough with both hands and place onto greased baking paper on a tray and put into oven. Or you can place into a pre-heated cast iron pot, put lid back on and bake. Remove lid for 10 mins at the end of cooking time to allow bread to brown. There is no need to refrigerate the dough. Leave it for 12 hours before baking is fine. Also, always use a ceramic or glass bowl.

Flee said...

I made the bread last night and it was AWESOMMMMEEEE.... I battled with the spoon as well, so I used a large metal serving spoon which i coated very lightly with some oil, slid right off... YUMMY!!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I also wrote the recipe down from the actual TV show, which I recorded and tried the bread last week. I halved everything because it was too much but was without a doubt the best bread I ever baked! I used a metal bowl and dusted the mixture with flour and had no problem shaping the bread or getting it out of the bowl. Its an awesome bread and I wont make anything else. Crispy on the outside and delicious on the inside. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Have made this bread many times. Easy and no fail. Today's batch was walnut and raisins with lashings of homemade butter! delicious.

tumbleweed said...

I love making bread and dont mind kneading it either, but I gave this one a try, just because I could. I used whey after making a batch of feta cheese and it worked like a dream with a lovely crumb. I also add a seed mix in the initial stages. As there are only two of us now, I always slice the bread when cooled and freeze it in a plastic bag. Its exactly like fresh when thawed, you would not know the difference.

Joekie said...

This is the best bread everrrrrrrr!!!!! thank you Matt....I made it and genious......I'm telling you......
Jummmyyyyyy
Joekie

HexxKitten said...

Hi, I'm super late to this party, I know 😜.

I've used this recipe a ton of times, it's super easy and makes gorgeous bread. However I've had to go Gluten Free, and frankly GF Bread sucks!

I wonder have any of you tried this recipe using GF Flour or GF Flour combinations?

Many Thanks

~*~ Hexx ~*~

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