Dough Products · Bread machine · Basic / White
Bread Machine White Loaf
A soft, even-crumbed white sandwich loaf made in a bread machine: strong flour, a little butter, sugar and an egg. Amounts are for a large (2 lb) machine; set the portions to 12 for a medium machine or 8 for a small one.
- Serves 16
- One 900 g (2 lb) loaf
- Hands-on 5 min
- Machine 3–4½ hrs
- Basic or White programme
- No delay timer (egg)
- British
Variations ↓ · Kneading & proving → · Bread machines guide →
Method
Put the ingredients in the bread pan in the order your machine’s manual gives. Panasonic machines want the yeast first, then the flour and the other dry ingredients, with the liquids last; most other makes want the liquids first and the yeast last, on top of the flour, kept away from the salt and the water.
Choose the Basic (or White) programme, the loaf size and a medium crust, and start it straight away: the egg means this version cannot wait on the delay timer.
After about 5 minutes of kneading, lift the lid and look: the dough should be a smooth, soft ball that just cleans the sides of the pan. If it is stiff and lumpy add a teaspoon of water; if it is sticking to the sides add a teaspoon of flour. Scrape any flour from the corners with a soft spatula.
Leave the lid shut from now on: the machine proves and bakes the loaf. A Basic programme takes 3 to 4½ hours, depending on the make.
When it beeps, lift the pan out at once with oven gloves, turn it over and shake the loaf out. Pull out the paddle if it came with the loaf.
Cool the loaf on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing: the crumb is still setting, and cutting it hot makes it gummy.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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Variations
As rolls (dough cycle)
Use the Dough programme and shape 12 rolls: see Soft Rolls from the Bread Machine Dough Cycle.
Soft rolls from the dough cycle →
Seeded white
Add 2–4 tbsp mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseed) at the add-ingredient beep, or with the flour if your machine has no beep.
Baked in the oven
Make the dough on the Dough programme, shape it into a loaf, put it in a greased 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin and prove until it rises just above the rim, 30–45 minutes. Bake at 200°C (180°C fan), gas mark 6, 400°F for 30–35 minutes, until the base sounds hollow.
See also
- Bread Machine Brown Loaf (Wholemeal and White) — two parts white to one part wholemeal
- Soft Rolls from the Bread Machine Dough Cycle — 12 soft white rolls, shaped by hand and baked in the oven
- Bread Machine Pizza Dough — four 30 cm pizzas from the dough programme
- Kneading and proving — what the machine is doing: kneading, the windowpane test, bulk and final proof
- Bread machines — how they work, choosing one, programmes, the timer and troubleshooting
- Bread machines: ingredient order — liquid first or yeast first, and why it matters with the timer
- Bread machines: problems — sunken tops, craters, a heavy loaf and the paddle hole
Chef’s notes
- This makes a large 900 g (2 lb) loaf of about 16 slices, for a large machine. For a medium (1.5 lb, 680 g) machine set the portions to 12; for a small (1 lb, 450 g) machine set them to 8. Never fill the pan with more than the manual allows: the dough can rise over the top and burn on the element.
- Weigh the yeast and salt if you can (scales that read in 1 g steps); otherwise use level measuring spoons: 1 tsp fast-action yeast is about 3 g, 1 tsp fine salt about 5 g.
- For the delay timer: leave out the egg, add 50 ml more water (25 ml for a small machine) and 1 tbsp dried skimmed milk powder, and keep the yeast dry: in the dispenser, or on top of the flour away from the water.
- Rapid or Quick programmes save about an hour but give a smaller, denser loaf.
- Keep it in a bread bag or bin for 2–3 days, or slice and freeze it for up to a month.
A little history
Home bread machines began in Japan. In the mid-1980s Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic) could not make a machine knead dough properly, until software developer Ikuko Tanaka trained with the head baker at the Osaka International Hotel and saw how he stretched the dough. Her notes became Matsushita’s “twist dough” method, and the machine set a record in its first year for sales of a new kitchen appliance (Ikujiro Nonaka, Harvard Business Review).
Matsushita launched the first electric bread maker in 1986; Funai’s fully automatic “Raku Raku Pan Da” followed in 1987 and went abroad a year later as the DAK Auto Bakery (The Japan Times).
Sources
For the method and the history above.
- Ikujiro Nonaka, “The Knowledge-Creating Company”, Harvard Business Review (1991; reprinted July–Aug 2007)
- The Japan Times, “The do’s and doughs of bread makers” (13 June 2020)
- Panasonic SD-PN100 operating instructions and recipes (order of ingredients, timer, recipes)
- King Arthur Baking, “Bread machines” guide (delayed cycle, salt and liquid ratios)
- King Arthur Baking (PJ Hamel): Using a thermometer with yeast bread (2017)
Useful kit
- Digital kitchen scales: weigh the flour, water, yeast and salt to the gram. Amazon UK · Amazon US
- Bread maker: if you are choosing one, see our Bread machines guide first. Amazon UK · Amazon US
- Probe thermometer: the sure way to tell when rolls and oven-baked loaves are done. Amazon UK · Amazon US
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