Hello Shauna,
The temperatures are for a conventional setting. If your oven is to ‘fierce’ you can adjust the temperature (start at 210 for instance) and already temper it when the crust starts to turn light golden. It could be that your heating elements are closer to the crust for instance. So just adapt to what you are working with and focus on the colour and result, rather than sticking (too) much to the given temperatures.
Also check out our oven tips for more helpful hints: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…your-oven/

Enjoy your baking

I’m wondering if the temperatures quoted are for a fan assisted oven?
My bread browns very very quickly and always ends up very dark. Not burned, but nothing like the colour that you get.

😋

Thank you Annie, glad it worked so well and you can enjoy the wonderful crust and crumb.
Greetings from Holland,
Marieke & Ed
WKB

Maybe try and alter the times a bit, slightly shorter bulk and then keep an eye on it during the final proof, just check its progress every 15 minutes.

Hi and thanks for your response. I used bread flour, high protein although I am not sure what percentage. Perhaps it overproved. This has happened to me when I’ve tried sourdough too. Great rise in proofing and testing phases then collapse right before the cooking part!
Thank you

Hi Rachel,
May be asked what flour you used and with what protein content?
If your dough is not ‘strong’ enough and it over-proofs then it will collapse when you score it. It is normal for the dough to deflate a bit. When in a hot oven and with the help of lots of steam it can have an oven-rise and regain volume, but if the conditions are not optimal and your flour is not the right type to build a strong gluten-network, then this can happen.

The baked loaf is dense and not airy either. 🙁

Thank you great advice will keep trying

Hi Sandra,
Excellent. I’m afraid you might be hooked for life now, family included 🙂

Wishing you lots of loaves from the Low Countries,

Marieke
WKB

Sorry Annie, we assume you got bread flour and not pastry flour from your baker, otherwise it could be that the protein content of the flour is too low to make a good loaf. We presume you know you need to dissolve fresh yeast in (some of) the water before you add it to the other ingredients. Maybe the shaping after the (gentle) knock back is also a factor. You need to create tension and form a good ball shape (or oval). You can look at our short video here: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…g-a-boule/
Make sure the dough is at the right temperature for proofing, so it corresponds with the proofing times, otherwise it might need much longer to get going (if it is colder).
Just give it another try, you will improve with each bake, you will see!

Hi thank you so much for getting back to me I’m using flour and fresh yeast bought from a local bakery so unfortunately I can’t say what the protein factors are as it comes in a clear bag but being a bakery I would assume it would be fresh and flour used in their own bread making.

Hello Annie,
Can you tell us what flour you are using and what the protein content of the flour is? And maybe also check the yeast you are using. Is it a new packet you used or is it maybe past the sell by date?

Hi Nina,
You do not need to use honey nor need to substitute it, it will be a perfectly good loaf without it. It is added to give this white loaf just a hint of sweetness.

Hello Annie,
You bake it ‘free standing’ on a baking tray, not in a bowl.