Soft Fluffy Bread

goldfinches

I'm not a bread maker nowadays but my father was and there are some published authors I can recommend who are Elizabeth David, Dan Lepard, Richard Bertinet and River Cottage so you might try asking for their bread books at your local library.

I also think the type of flour you use to make your dough does really change the end result and that it would be worth you having a look at Bakery Bits to buy and try some specially milled bread flour and the attached bakers blog which gives recipes from Dan Lepard and others.

The other place I know that gives free bread recipes and good information is the BBC Good Food site so you could look there too.

Cornish_mum

Hi I have been recently experimenting with cooking bread in an old cast iron casserole dish (with the lid on for ~ half of the baking time) it definitely makes the crust softer (as requested by my kids).

I am using an old le Cr@&£t which had chipped enamel, which I wanted to repurpose. I line it with baking parchment and just pop in the dough for the final prove. My 22 inch casserole is good for about 500g loaf. I recently tried 800g and end up with a cylindrical flat top loaf; as the lid constrained the loaf. Still had a soft crust, though.