SHOPPING LIST: Cooking Skills: Bread 1, Chapter 1 (How Bread Works)

Strong white bread flour (you need about 1.5 kg for all the recipes and experiments), a packet of fast-action dried yeast, fine salt, and digital scales. A 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin and a baking tray.

No-knead bowl loaf
[ ] 400 g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
[ ] 8 g fine salt (about 1½ tsp)
[ ] ¼ tsp fast-action dried yeast
[ ] 300 ml cool water

Soda bread
[ ] 450 g plain flour (white, or half wholemeal), plus extra for dusting
[ ] 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
[ ] 1 tsp salt
[ ] 400 ml buttermilk (or milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice stirred in and left for 10 minutes)

A basic white tin loaf
[ ] 500 g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
[ ] 1 sachet (7 g) sachet fast-action dried yeast
[ ] 10 g fine salt (about 2 tsp)
[ ] 320 ml lukewarm water
[ ] 1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil, plus extra for the tin

For the experiments
[ ] Plain flour (500 g)
[ ] Extra strong white flour
[ ] Jam jars for the salt and water tests