The common phrase “The greatest invention since sliced bread.” assumes that sliced bread was a great invention.
It wasn’t.
Convenient? Yes.
Great? No. Quite the contrary.
My first job after high school was baking a traditional Italian hard crust bread. The recipe was unchanged from 1885, and so it did NOT include any modern ingredients. It was vary basic, consisting of flour, lard, yeast, sugar, water and salt. We sliced the bread. The only “problem” is that it only kept a maximum of about three days. Now it was good bread and quite popular in the area, so having it last “days” was not really an issue. Depending on humidity, it would either dry out or mold normally on the third day.
However, larger bread companies with broader markets needed “shelf life”. Sliced bread exposes the inside of the loaf to air which allows drying out or mold spores to infiltrate.
Enter “dough conditioners”.
These are various substances which aid in preventing drying out and mold.
In other words, preservatives.
Modern store bought breads have many preservatives added, which are essentially “not food”. In fact, digestion is basically accelerated rotting. Anything which slows rotting works against digestion.
The more “not food” you consume, the more health issues you experience.
So, the invention of sliced bread ushered in the changing of bread from just food to food with poison.
Not so great after all.
Health issues have made me go Keto/Carnivore so I don’t eat any bread anymore, but when I did I would make my own. My recipe is simple, like the bread I made for the bakery but without the salt. I used “bread machine” yeast, which includes ascorbic acid. The function of the ascorbic acid is to slow the yeast down to prevent large bubbles. The salt does this as well.
I used a bread machine for the “heavy lifting”…the mixing, kneading and initial rise of the dough.
My basic recipe:
2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
3 cups organic white flour
Enough sugar to feed the yeast…approximately a tablespoon
A tablespoon or so of olive oil
1 1/3 cup warmed water
I may replace 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour.
I may replace some of the water with an egg for a softer bread.
I may add a tablespoon or so of yogurt for even softer bread.
Brown sugar makes a softer crust than white sugar.
Load the bread machine:
Yeast first
Flour
Sugar
Oil
Water
Put the machine in “dough” mode. Adjust liquid or add flour to get dough consistency as heat and humidity will make it vary slightly. On my bread machine, the dough cycle lasts one hour and twenty-five minutes.
Remove dough and place on floured dough board or table. Punch down and divide the dough into two small loaves. Place each in a greased bread pan.
Place pans in convection oven on “low warm” for 30 minutes or so.
Switch to bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or so.
Slice with an electric knife while hot.