Glazed Ham in a steam oven

Home made Ham steamed and then glazed

As an update to the home cured home cooked ham piece, I thought I would make a post about cooking it one in a steam oven, as they are 'all the go' nowadays.

The ham was a 'silverside' piece from the back leg of a pig (just in case someone doesn't know what ham is!) courtesy of Simon Boddy at T.H.E. Best Butchers, Great Brickhill. It was cut from a whole leg then tied in an effort to retain a nice shape.

The cure was identical to the previous post, and this piece weighed 6.5KG cured for 12 days then left to mature for about 10 days suspended in the fridge to let the cure 'burn through'

We have recently installed a flashy Miele steam oven, and I had been keen to try it on something like this. I used the temperature probe, placed in the meat and set it to 67 degrees C, then set the oven to steam at 87 degrees C. I was trying to keep the differential between oven temperature and final meat temperature fairly close together.

I let it run for an hour and checked it. I tasted the water that had accumulated in the roasting tin and discovered it was really salty. I hadn't pre-soaked the ham and immediately regretted it. However I emptied it out and added some fresh water to act as a soak.

I let it run for another hour and repeated the process, noting that this time it was less salty. I also figured that if the water tastes salty, then it can only be coming from the ham which hopefully was 'de salinating' somewhat so leaving it palateable.

Checked and repeated again after about 45 mins.

Now the last Ham of this size took 4 or 5  hours to cook through, but in the steamer it was much faster, and at three hours it was done. I was a bit worried that it wouldnt produce as good a finished product.

Removed from the oven, cut the strings that tied it, took the skin off and set the oven to 200. I then scored it glazed it and stuck the cloves in...Slammed it back in the oven for 20 minutes and re glazed twice in this time, removed it and left it to cool.

I was pretty worried about the saltiness at this stage, however the next day I tried a slice when cold and it was perfect. I would say it was much better than simmering in water and the salt level was fine. The texture was smooth on the cut surfaces and the slices were very flexible (if they are stiff its overcooked).

We had it on Christmas day along with a turkey that I cooked in the same oven using a combi setting, and that also cooked through really quickly (just over two hours for a 16 pounder!).

The lesson is...I will always cook ham in the steam oven from now on (but I might soak it for a few hours the day before, next time)

1914 Sunbeam 12/16

1914 Sunbeam 12/16

1914 sunbeam 12/16 sporting model

Cars, cars, cars. Love them, but some are more special than others.....and here's one

Background

Now a 12/16 Sunbeam isn't all that rare, but they are greatly respected. However this one is really something special.
Sunbeam, under the leadership of Louis Coatalen had a good idea, and one that's been copied many times since. That was, why don't we build a racing car, have it win some big prestigious event, and reap the reward of all the publicity and kudos that it will bring us?
In 1912 they entered three identical cars in the Coupe de L'Auto event held in Dieppe, run in conjunction with the Grand Prix at that time, and they came in first, second and third!
Not a bad result at all! Already a successful company, this cemented their name in history and made them one of the highest profile car makers on the planet.
So what has that to do with the little car in the picture?  Well it differs from other 12/16's in several ways, and has a little mystique about it. Mainly its about the engine. It appears to be fitted with a factory made but uprated engine. It's thought in some cases that this is in fact a Coupe De L'auto spare or development engine fitted in a standard car.
Whether it is or isn't doesn't really matter, but we know it has bigger valves, bigger inlet manifold and carb, and bigger exhaust manifold. The webs are cut out at the bottom of the block casting between the cylinders, and there is no provision for a cover over the valve springs. It also has extra cooling to the head, not seen on any other, and it goes like a bomb! All of these bits are featured on the racing engines.
That's all well and good, but it only has brakes on the rear wheels, and they are operated from the hand brake, so it can be a handful at times.
Its a sporting model two seater, and that makes it rare as well, but it also features what looks to be a factory copy of the radiator fitted to the Coupe De L'Auto racers. Its distinctive, as its tall and narrow, and has an obvious peak at the top. This affects the whole look and stance of the car.
It sits nicely on the road and the lines are somewhat more purposful than other 12/16's of the era.

Photo from around 1920 of the same car

History

The photo above was taken around 1922 and features the then owner Mr Byrne. It looks great in the darker colour, so that may be something to think about in the future.
As far as we can find out, the first registration was in 1919 and the car was sold by Paddon Brothers in London, to a Mr. Gordon Lang. The registration was in County Sligo in Ireland. This is all a bit odd. The car is clearly older, and by 1919 Sunbeam had stopped making this model, so what was it doing before?
The Sligo registration was apparently not uncommon. Gentlemen who owned sporty cars often registered them at 'sympathetic' locations to delay possible contact from the constabulary, if they were spotted driving 'erratically', in the days when all communication was by post!

1912 Coupe De L'Auto Sunbeam at Dieppe

It could have been that the first world war delayed the registration, or that the car was put together closer to that date, but at the moment its all supposition.
It was then sold to Mr Byrne who owned it for a few years and is pictured above in the car.
After that it was owned by  another gentleman and then left in a barn for 30 odd years before being discovered by John Olleronshaw from Norwich. He acquired the car and rebuilt it and then used it at many events for over thirty years. He had a lot of affection for the car and called it Miranda, and I have been lucky enough to speak to him personally about it. He was fascinated by the history and had first hand correspondence with Gordon Lang, who was the first owner as far as we can tell.
After that it briefly belonged to Mr. Pritchard who sadly died, and it was then acquired by my father in 2003.

Engine

The engine is 4 cylinder and 3016 cc, it has a four speed gearbox, plus reverse, with a cone clutch. At some point the fan has been modified to put it closer to the radiator. We think that back in the day, these were susceptible to overheating which is why this may be the only engine left that's working, and this was done to improve things. The racing cars had no fans fitted at all. I now run it with Evans waterless coolant, which helps even more to prevent boiling, and 'after boil', a phenomenon which occurs when a hot engine stops and the residual heat boils the water in the block, and without the pump turning etc the effect produces steam which conducts the heat away less efficiently, and compounds the problem. This can cause fatigue in the castings and eventually a failure.

Its a beautiful little car, with two seats and a 'boot' which looks like it may have been an occasional dickie seat, however it folds up towards the front, so anyone sitting in there is in danger of being sliced in half!
The condition is quite original, although it was refinished (rebuilt in fact) in the early '60's, but it has developed a lovely patina now, and is a long way from being immaculate, but perhaps all the better for it

On the road

Well currently I have broken the starter motor so we are back to swinging it. The car starts fairly easily but with the big manifold it takes a couple of goes to get the fuel up! Once started she will tick over at around 280 rpm. The advance and retard lever for the ignition has to be set carefully retarded for starting and then advanced when on the road.
As with a lot of cars of this era, first gear is very short, so its only good for a few mph before second is needed. Third gear is good for about 35, and then there is quite a gap up to fourth. If you are going uphill on this change, it can make quite a difference.
The car tops out just over 50 mph, and cruises at around 45, that equates to about 1750 rpm.
The steering and handling are superb! When you consider the car is a hundred years old, motoring through the country side (with good forward vision) is a joy. The car turns well and produces very little body roll, something I haven't been used to on other cars I've driven from this era.
However if you are going for it and the road gets bumpy, then you do get buffeted about. Once again the brakes really are the limiting factor and cause you to be looking further up the road for obstacles than you might expect
Anyway, for now, I am looking after it, and enjoying it immensely. Its is beautiful, usable, fun, and till now unique!

How to cure and cook Ham at home, recipe

Home Cured, home cooked ham

Home made ham

Home cured, home cooked ham can be one of the nicest things to eat, plus if done well, will always look impressive. You can amaze your friends by curing a whole leg of pork and cooking it for the sum total of about one man hour of effort (or woman hour, its christmas after all). Not a bad return when you also consider the cost of buying one that is ready done.

Requirements

• a plastic bin big enough for the pork. I literally bought a swing top bin.
• some curing salt
• a cool place
• leg of pork
• brown sugar and mustard for the glaze
• a big pot to cook it in

Ok, a simple and short list, but here are the details. The 'bin' needs to be an appropriate size and shape for both what you are going to cure and where you are going to do it. I bought a fairly narrow bottomed swing top bin, as I cure mine in the bottom of an old fridge and it fitted the space. Also it means that when the pork is in, its easy to trap it against the side and weigh it down (with an old, plastic, 4 pint milk container full of water). If you've got a swimming pool, imagine keeping a leg of pork under water. So its fairly snug with a whole leg, but also fine if you want to do a piece of belly or loin for bacon, or a bit of salt / corned beef, or brine your Christmas turkey (oh 'ello, we can do all that? Same bin, same brine)

Some curing salt, I got mine from www.weschenfelder.co.uk, and used the butchers quick cure. If its your first time, don't muck about and be clever, I've done that! Buy this proper cure make it up to the instructions, add more sugar than it says (about double) and sling your pork in it. I've tried doing ham using cider, apple juice, juniper, bay, treacle, molasses, etc etc etc, a very long list! I cant taste the difference! Gosh what an admittance! All these posh chefs go on about adding a bit of this or a bit of that......Dont't gild the lily, perfectly cured, cooked, glazed and baked ham is wonderful, and it doesn't need anything else.

I will admit that if you add treacle, the ham goes an attractive dark colour, which I like, but that is it. Trust me this will be impressive enough, it doesn't need and extra anything.

A cool place, this is going to be in for a while and it needs to be kept cool. Second hand fridge on ebay is around £40, shop bought whole leg of ham £60-£90. After its cured it will need to hang a while to mature and so that the cure etc can equalise, so a fridge big enough for that as well would be a good idea.

Leg of pork! Well alright! Get the best one you can....common sense! Outdoor reared, free range slow grown, it all adds a bit, and this is a fairly simple product so it stands or falls on the quality of the pork. However, if I'm honest, hamming improves pork, so even a cheap leg will come out fine. For this recipe we had a 6.5 kg leg of pork bone in. Thats not huge but its plenty to go at and much easier than a really big one for all sorts of reasons. The biggest one I did was 11 kgs! The cooking time alone meant i had to have a day off work!

A big pot to cook it in...seriously...think about this before you buy the pork! You need a BIG pot, see if you can borrow one. Ask anywhere they do catering (but maybe not commercially) so the local school/nursery, the local village hall kitchen etc in case they have a spare. You are not getting this in a saucepan! Also think of the weight....6.5kg of pork, in a pot topped up with 15 kgs of water...and its going to be hot when its done, and stay hot for hours.....So two sturdy handles, big enough hob, and a helper!

Curing Stage

Ready? Excited? shall we begin? Right, get yer bin, put some water in it ( you can put it on bathroom scales, or just count in the measuring jug fulls to get the volume) I used about 13 litres of water, half the pack of curing salt and a pound of caster sugar. Now the first trick, have some ice cubes ready, and add them, using them to make up your total water requirement. This cools the brine down so you can use it immediately, as it will take 24 hours to bring the water down to fridge temperature (unless your water is really cold, for some reason ours isn't). Stick your bin in the fridge, put your leg of pork in, weigh it down with your milk bottle, go and have a cup of tea....I reckon thats 12 - 15 mins work, and you are nearly done!

Trick number two....to be completely honest, I also injected mine a few times with the brine, down the edge of the bone. Now its not strictly necessary, but if its going to taint, its going to do it around the bone, and thats the bit that is furthest from the cure, and so is the last bit to get done. Hence big marianade syringe, stab it through at right angles to the bone and give it a squirt....Now the purists are rolling their eyes, not only haven't I dry cured, but now I'm injecting....tut tut. Well I'll tell you the truth, brining makes better ham! Its moister, its reliable, its safe and it works. I do a lot of dry curing, salami, bacon, breasola etc, trust me, brine your ham.

Ok its plopped in, leave it for ten days (6.5 kg ham), thats it! Remember the brine only really penetrates through the cut side, not the skin so as long as you've placed it so thats accessible, you're all done.

Maturing/equalisation

Sounds an odd heading, but the reasons are this: The ham nearest the brine is the saltiest, the ham furthest away the least salty (kind of..trust me!) so in hanging it up now, you give the cure/salt time to spread (if it needs to) and generally equalise throughout the meat to make it uniform. Remember once its out, no more salt is being added, its just redistributing. So for the very ham in the picture above it had 13 days. It dries a little in this time but not much. ( I have check weighed meat hanging in the fridge and while equipment can vary, I see very little weight loss at fridge temperatures with the humidity above 75%) Thats it, about another two minutes, I guess.

Cooking

Now before cooking I pre soaked the ham for exactly 12 hours. The end result was less salty than it could have been, so slightly less soaking would have been ok...In other words you do have some margin for error.

Fill your big pot with water enough to cover the beast...carry it to the cooker without giving yourself a hernia, and get it on the heat, it'll take a while. Fetch your leg of pork and put it straight in and wait for it to warm up......

Super important, ultimate trick to making perfect ham.....temperature is vital!! Vital, I say....You will need two thermometers, one for the water, and one to test the ham for doneness. The water needs never to boil, any recipe that says boil your ham for blah, blah, blah....is rubbish and should be put in the recycling. They have obviously never made ham before. The water needs to be 80 degrees centigrade, thats barely a simmer. Timing...once again any recipe that says boil for 20, 30,40 minutes a pound is pants unless they specify the temperature, its not going to be precise enough. If you must know a timing, cos you dont want it to bugger up pub time, then I would have to say 17 minutes and 14 seconds a pound at 80C, approximately! But the real test of when its done, is when a probe thermometer says 67C. 

If you cook it too hot or too long, you will know because it will be dry and 'stringy' to look at. When its right the cut side will be smooth and slightly soft, and it will carve excellent slices. If you cant get good slices and your knife is sharp, then you cooked it to long or too hot.

I cant believe some of the instructions in recipe books, talk about vague, and if you knacker a whole leg of pork, it makes you want to cry. Its not the money, its just such a shame, such a waste, when the instructions are so simple.

Glazing and baking

Ok so the ham is out, you need to carefully skin it leaving as much fat on the ham as you can. The skin normally comes off easy so its a bit slippery but not hard.

Then you need to score the fat in a diamond pattern. Try to do it as deep as possible without breaking through to the meat. Then stick it with cloves in the diamond shapes in the fat, and apply your glaze.

Tip...do this when that ham is still warm from the cooking, but not so warm that you burn yourself. Dont let it get cold and do it the next day, because the glaze wont spread nicely and the ham sucks all the heat out of the oven so that it takes ages for the glaze to caramalise, which means it gets overcooked etc. Put the ham on a big baking tray which has been lined with tinfoil (cos once the glaze is baked onto your tin, you'll never get it off) The glaze is brown sugar and mustard, mix it up to taste, but as you work it the suger dissolves into a gooey paste. Spread it on top..Put is in a hot oven 200 - 220 and check it after 10 minutes (one recipe I read said an hour!!) its done when it looks done. When you pull it out and gasp, thats enough time!

The Eating

Once you've let it cool, it needs to be refrigerated, it will then keep for around a week. When you slice it you should get pink 'soft' meat and a smooth cut surface. It will be devine on its own, with pickles, in a sandwich, with your fingers, even with a knife and fork. I've made a few now, and this is the recipe and method I'm happiest with.

The Final Secret

I was recently 'persuading' a chum of mine to try oysters with me, the comment came back that he had had them before and wasn't very keen. I told him the difference now was the company he was in (conceited? moi!) he tried them...he liked (tolerated) them. Both of us then tried the same ruse on someone else, and again it (sort of) worked.

The ham in the photo I cured and mostly cooked on my own, but by some strange coincidence about half an hour before the end of cooking the door bell kept going, and people kept arriving. It was coming up to Christmas so some had cards, or pressies for the kids (none brought drink). I then had to take the ham out of the cooking liquor, skin it and glaze it with an audience, and lots of spurious advice. 

As it was a couple of days before Christmas I offered everyone a drink. One thing lead to another and I think we consumed a quarter bottle of Gin, a half bottle of Whiskey, some red wine and a couple of beers. It was one of the most enjoyable afternoons of cooking, banter and tasting that I've had. So the final secret....its still all about the company!

With thanks to the Scouser for drinking my Gin, Cleeve for sage advice, Farmer Giles without whom I would be nothing, and Crazy Andy for everything else including the photo...oh and my mum for telling me I was doing it wrong!

Salami making at home, salami recipe

Salami

Salami is a thing of beauty! Its so much more satisfying when you do it yourself. There are quite a few aspects to it and also quite a few places where you can get help, so I'll try to mention everything I can.
Salami is  a fermented, cured, then dried sausage. It is more commonly found in Italy, France and Germany. In the UK we dont have so much of a heritage, and this is probably down to the climate.
The most difficult part is the drying, and in Southern Europe the air quality (and I mean temperature and humidity, not purity) lends itself better to drying salami. All will be revealed as we go on.
So we need some meat....now pork is the usual first choice, but lamb, or beef also lend themselves to this process, and sometimes a mixture of two meats.

For this exercise we are just using pork, and will make two flavours of salami in different size skins. By the way, everyone seems to be doing this now, and some of the info available is so good, that I will skip some of the details as they are already well covered on other sites, so google: cured meat blogspot, Len poli, and some of the forums at sausagemaker.org.

I tend to use leg meat as there is much less trimming to do. Its important to remove all the sinew and silverskin, as it doesn't break down and when you eat it, that's what sticks in your teeth. Shoulder is the more traditional cut as the fat to meat content is about right, however leg is much more lean, so I use about 2/3 leg and 1/3 fat belly.
On that subject, if you go to the butchers and ask for belly, nowadays you will be given something which is very lean, you will need to search to get a piece which has a good centimetre of fat, at least. The best place is to find someone raising their own pigs! If they do and they are not doing it commercially, they will be inundated with chunks of fat belly (cos they keep the pigs longer than commercial farmers so its fatter) and they won't know what to do with all the pork they have grown. Trust me this gets you the best meat at the lowest cost, and if you offer to give them some salami in exchange, you may well end up with a kilo or two for nothing.

So the recipes for the two we are doing are:

Garlic and Wine Salami
2 kg meat  (1.3kg leg 700g belly)
2.5% curing salt
0.25% cure number two
0.50% garlic granules
250ml red wine (I did have a percentage, but in the end we sploshed a bit more in)
Starter culture (as directed)

Pepper and fennel Salami

2 kg meat  (1.3kg leg 700g belly)
2.5% curing salt

0.25% cure number two

15g fennel seeds ( once again were going to use 1% but it looked too much)

1%  20g whole black pepper
Starter culture (as directed)

The method for both is really very similar. Cube up your meat to about one inch squares, then put them in the freezer to get a crust on. This point is absolutely vital! By doing this when you mince the meat the fat and flesh remains discreet and separate. If you don't do it, then there is a real danger that you will smear the fat into the meat, and this will effectively seal it, and prevent the meat drying properly. If the meat doesn't dry, then you wont be making salami!

Diced leg and belly ready for the freezer

Soak your skins!!

While its freezing down, put together and weigh out your curing ingredients, so salt and cure number 2, in one bowl, and the flavourings in another. Then in put a little warm water in a cup and add the starter culture. Its always best to add half a packet even though this will be overkill, but it helps guarantee that its mixed into the blend properly. Fiddling about with half a gram of the stuff could leave the mixture untreated. The warm water helps wake it up, and it needs between 10 mins and half an hour.

Once your meat is nice and crispy, add the cure, give it a good mix, and then mince it. I normally use a coarse plate, but do whatever you fancy. This helps mix the cure in to everything. Now you should have a bowl of meat where the meat and fat are fairly seperate!

Next in a bowl (and use one thats big enough) add your flavourings, and the starter culture, and give it a good mix by hand. The mixing helps to make the proteins stick to each other giving a better end result. Mix for a while till it gets sticky, but keep it cold. This can be done with another trip to the freezer, or by putting your bowl on a bed of ice (in the sink, or like a bain marie).

Excellent...I can smell the garlic....

Take your skins, you decide which size is best, but if its your first time go for smaller ones (hog casings) as they dry quicker and there is less chance of spoilage. (plus you'll be eating them sooner). Beef middles are bigger and make a nice 'slice' but are best used once you've done a few.

Rinse the skins through to remove any salt traces. Put then on your sausage stuffer nozzle, and fill away.

Freshly made salami hanging in the drying cabinet

You can see in the photo one hour old salami. The smaller ones at the back are the red wine and garlic (the wine has made them darker) while the larger ones are the fennel and black pepper. You need to weigh them now, either individually or in bunches so you can monitor the weight loss.

I have done these in strings because they hang ok and tieing off 14 or 15 salami with string takes ages. We basically left some skin between each sausage and then tied both ends but didn't separate them. On a previous occasion, we made big salamis and tied the ends with sting, and as they dried in the first week, they shrank and kept slipping the knots and ending on the floor.. I got mad so we did it this way this time. You've just got to remember to move them around so they aren't touching all the time. (I Check them every day)

The starter culture is there to kick start the fermentation and generate lactic acid. The bad bacteria don't like salt, nitrate, acidity, and a lack of moisture. Therefore we add cure 2 which is nitrite which slowly changes to nitrate, obviously the salt, the starter culture , and hanging them up to dry is the last part.

After 36 to 48 hours at 24 degrees c the culture has started its work. You can see the dramatic change in colour, the larger ones are deep pink, and the smaller ones are almost red. (I really am a great photographer! I could win prizes with shots like that.......not!)

So its into the drying box, at 12 degrees and 70% humidity until they have lost about a third of their weight.

Salami after the culture has kicked in

So after a particular mixed bit of weather, meaning my drying cabinet didn't know if it was hot, cold, dry, wet etc, the small salamis took 5 weeks to lose 35%, but i think i may have had some anomolies as after 4 weeks they had only lost 28% and so they seemed to speed up again after a slow start. Whatever, I should have used my trusted squeeze test, because its pretty accurate......Squeeze your salami...does it feel like it might have a nice texture, once its cut, and you are eating it? If yes its ready. I measured these small ones but they felt too hard (too dry)...and they were! It needs to give a bit, and probably be a tad softer than you think.

The thing is that meat and fat contain hugely different percentages of water and so to say 'lose a third of their weight' is guidance only as if the fat to meat is 20:80, or 30:70 that percentage will be different. ( roughly in the first case it loses 50% of its water while in the second its 55% resulting in a different hardness).

Also I do find that the thinner salami comes out harder, whatever the measurement says. Anyway they were very palatable, not too salty but the red wine and garlic flavour was 'subtle', in other words too mild.

Fennel and black pepper salami

For the larger salami, fennel and black pepper, I used the measurement and the squeeze (took them out at 32%, so not much different). They were (are) lovely, great texture, lovely colour, nice bite of pepper and a fennel perfume, from using whole seeds and corns, you get a bit of texture, and a slightly different flavour balance in every slice.
The picture above is one of the larger ones, and they really do eat nicely.

Well thats a quick guide, but as with all things you will need to do it a few times to get the hang of it. You'll soon get a 'feel' for what works, and when they are ready, plus how tightly packed they are etc, none of which can be learned without experience!

Passwords Passwords Passwords

Its taken me four days to get back to my blog because of passwords. Man I hate this now! I've entered so many squiggled out images into boxes that its made me see double, and most of them I cant make out anyway.
This is nuts, as like most people you tend to have your favourite password(s), that way if you don't remember, it can only be one of two...Then you come to a new thing, say a blog site and 'they take your security very seriously' et voila, suddenly my password is weak and I've got to come up with another which is more complicated, and harder to remember, just in case someone wants to impersonate me on this blog!
(any takers?), course not, cos apart from me, only my mother has seen it and at her advanced years, I'd be amazed if she could remember me showing it to her in the first place.

Homemade Crusty Bread recipe

Now apart from ranting, I do have some other virtues! Bread is one of them, I love to bake bread. Now I dont like to bake anything else, cakes, buns etc and I dont make desserts (I wanted to say puddings, but we actually call it 'afters') it is only bread.
I think its to do with the simplicity of four ingredients, the fact that it is 'alive', and also that it grows of its own accord. Of course when its done it looks nice and you can eat it! Also if you make it rubbish, it's still good. So a little simple recipe follows, this is the most simple, easiest to handle, guaranteed recipe....later I'll do some variations so this is the least good bread!!

heres some

Beautiful bread using this recipe and method

The numbers are:
500g bread flour
300g water
8g easy blend yeast
8g salt

Aha! you say, thats the same recipe that everyone has! Well no s**t, cos it makes bread. However I have followed thirty recipes from all sorts of well known books, and like I do with lots of things, analysed and analysed, and achieved paralysis by analysis! So got no-where fast. The secret, and its the same with meat curing and air drying, is confidence.
Now, I behave like I don't care when I'm making dough, so the dough doesn't fight back. I almost sneak up on the dough, catch it unawares with my nonchalance, and it in return, it  forgets to be difficult! Now you haven't read that in any TV chefs baking book! (I know, I've read them all!)
Its difficult to explain, and it does mean you will have to make a dozen loaves to get the feel, but trust me, approach it matter of factly, handle it like you know what you are doing, and the result will be good.

If you watch the TV chefs, some of them are just presenters, not chefs at all, some, and I am hoping not to give anyone a heart attack with this revelation, are just there because they look good! (I would be in that category). Everyone ok? So how can you tell?

Just watch they way they handle the food and knives etc...a sous chef working 10 services a week, will grab hold of whatever it is and you can tell by looking that they know what they are doing. I think its called experience. Practise gives you experience.
So it is with bread. When you mix the ingredients together, do it vigorously as if you are in a hurry, that way the dough wont stick to your hands, same with kneading...vigorous..

Ok so to the bread, take your ingredients and mix them together, except the salt! Just add the water last and try to make sure its warm....just warm, no need to be more specific, if your can put your hand in it and leave there then its not too warm, if its too cold it just takes longer, and doesn't harm anything.
You can mix in a bowl, or in a food processor. The processor is quicker and also starts the kneading off, but sometimes I don't like to use it.

Ok you now have a rough looking dough, tip it onto the work top. Remember no salt yet...

Work the dough by kneading, stretching and folding. It will be patchy at first, some bits floury, some bits wet, but it only takes a minute or two to start to come together.
Then as you knead, it begins to look like proper dough....keep going....its now smooth and not sticking to your hands (as long as you are vigorous), but then....it starts getting sticky again. This is the gluten forming and showing that you are working the dough correctly.

Because we havent added the salt, the dough kneads up quicker, the salt tightens the dough, but is essential for taste. So once it starts to be too sticky, have your salt weighed out, stretch the dough and add about a quarter of the salt. Knead for a minute, stretch the dough out again and add the next quarter and so on. You will feel the dough tightening, and it will become less sticky. Nearly there..once all the salt is in knead for another two minutes to make sure its incorporated properly.

Tip number 1..when kneading use a clock. If you think you have kneaded for 5 minutes you have probably only done it for one! I dont know why but kneading alters the way the mind perceives time. Trust me on this and test yourself...this may explain why your bread isn't great. So altogether it takes about ten minutes to knead.

Put the dough back in the mixing bowl you started with, cover with clingfilm (or a plate if you dont want to waste clingfilm) and wait till its doubled in size.

Once its ready, scrape it out carefully onto a floured surface, and flatten it a bit. Then just grab a bit on the outside edge and fold it into the middle, rotate a little and do it again, til you have a nice tight ball. then turn it over (smooth side up now) and try to slide the edges of your hands under it three or four times, once again tightening the surface. I then place it smooth side down into a floured proving basket. Cover it and leave it to double again.

proving basket

Put the oven on now, about 220 centigrade.

Can we talk about the baking part? A massive factor in how your bread turns out is in the baking. For crusty bread, I have tried everything, fan oven, conventional, tray of ice cubes, tray of boiling water, misting the oven with a water sprayer etc etc. The moisture is supposed to make the bread crust crisp, and it will in a commercial bread oven. The trouble with that and with most fan ovens is that the fan expells the moisture very quickly so it doesn't work.
Commercial ovens inject steam, but we cant achieve that at home.......but I have a solution......

The best way to make crusty (and I mean crisp not thick) loaves, is to cook the bread inside its own secondary oven. The best way is in a baking cloche, but almost as good is in a large casserole dish with a lid. I suspect that its to do with the ratio of bread to air and that the moisture in there can't escape.

Cloche and baking sheet

So take your casserole with lid (Le Crueset type of thing), get a piece of silicon baking sheet and cut a circle thats slightly bigger than the base, and leave a flap one one side about four inches to act as a lifting point. It should look like the silhouette of a capital 'Q' . Then make some small cuts in the edge an inch deep so when it goes in the pot it bends up at the edges and doesn't  form creases. It needs to go up the sides abit, cos if the dough touches the pot and sticks.....there'll be tears! Put this on your work top and stick the pot in the oven to heat up.
Once your bread has risen, put the silicon on top and then turn it upside down so the risen dough is on the silicon on the work top. Take a sharp knife (or bread knife) and slash the top. You decide on the pattern, but it does help the bread to rise in the oven and also makes it looks pretty.

Take your now hot casserole out of the oven, shut the oven door quickly, then take the lid off place the dough inside on the sillicon sheet, being careful not to burn yourself on the sides, replace the lid, and whack it back in the oven.

Do not touch it now for a minimum of 20 minutes, and when you get used to the process the less you disturb it the better. If you take the lid off the steam escapes and you lose the benefit, but when you do this for the first time you may need to adapt depending on your oven and pot size etc.

I normally do 20 mins at 220, then 10 minutes at 180c, then take the lid off for a darker crust or leave it on for a lighter colour and leave it another 10 minutes..et voila

Turn your loaf out onto a cooling rack, and leave it to cool......do not listen to anyone who tells you to cut it warm cos warm bread tastes best....it is utter rubbish. If you eat it warm from the oven it will be too wet and   doughy and will give you indigestion. You need to let it cool and therefore dry out with the residual heat.

You should be able to hear it crack as it cools.......man the waiting is terrible.....I'll just get some oil and balsamic together....maybe get the butter out of the fridge to warm up.....

A brief description and an example

Well I will try to explain 'Common sense in a world of madness'. There will probably be hundreds of blogs in the same vein, but being lazy, I haven't bothered looking for any.
Basically, now I am a grumpy 40 something, I find more and more things that are explained in complicated terms, primarily it seems, to confuse and confound. However 'explain' is supposed to clarify! I have therefore adopted an old and otherwise forgotten technique much loved of our forefathers, Common Sense.
You will be amazed at the complicated, sensitive and involved problems, sometimes on a global scale, that can be solved with common sense.....Lets try one....

A big one....the NHS.....
The politicians punt this one about, they are scared to say anything in case someones Aunt Mabel had the best nurse in the world etc etc..and how can anyone argue with "who would you like to withdraw medical help from? Your mother or your children" blah blah...so if we forget the argument and apply the Common Sense test....
The NHS is the fourth largest employer in the world...give you a second to let that sink in.....
 .......We are the 22nd most populated country in the world.
Now thats not the fourth largest health service employer in the world, its the fourth largest employer of any type in the world.
And the result from the Common Sense machine?
That is ridiculous and needs changing now! Forget the arguments about how, why, when etc. It cant be right! 1.6 million people in the UK are employed by the NHS...its just not right, or sustainable.
I'll fix it if you want, but you wont like it!

I'll come up with a few more as we go along, but I think you can get the gist...