In the old stable block of an 18th century rectory in beautiful 
Crichel Down is Long Crichel bakery. It’s here that Jamie and Rose bake a lot of our organic bread. Baked in their great big wood-fired oven, they use long fermentation methods when making the bread, which gives it real depth of flavour and makes a much healthier product. It means you don’t have that bloated, tired feeling which so often comes after eating mass-produced bread.
From their Sourdough Rye, their white loaves, and their Pain d’Auvergne, all of their bread is moulded by hand. They are determined to keep these traditional skills alive, and each loaf has the unique mark of its maker. They also grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs – all of which are poured into their lovingly-made breads and cakes.
They are determined to minimise their impact on the environment, so the wood for the oven comes from managed forests local to Crichel Down, and it is a carbon neutral form of energy.
See more on their video…
Long Crichel Bakery from Rollo Jackson on Vimeo.
Now it’s over to you to ask Jamie and Rose whatever you like! Post your questions below, and Jamie will answer them. It’s the perfect chance to get to know them better and ask about your favourite breads from Long Crichel Bakery.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
16 Feb 2010 at 10:21
I am really interested in the “much healthier product” aspect to the Long Fermentation Bread. I love my bread but it does make me feel bloated and tired. Any further info would be greatly appreciated
Thanks Martin
16 Feb 2010 at 19:06
Wonderful to see the bread we enjoy so much being made by hand, in such a beautiful place. Thank you!
18 Feb 2010 at 10:53
Hi Martin,
It would be great to tell you more about the healthier aspect of Long Fermentation Bread. There are great beneficial qualities, and they’re down to what goes in it and how it is made.
The vast bulk of bread produced on an industrial scale these days contains a cocktail of thickeners, emulsifiers, preservatives and lots of sugar and salt. Adding all these things not only lengthens shelf life, but it also allows bakers to make bread quickly.
In addition, a lot of yeast is commonly added for a quick rise, but you can then get yeast residues which stay in the bread and end up fermenting in the gut. Hence that bloated feeling. Similarly, adding extra gluten, which is often done to regular bread, can have the effect of clogging up the small intestine, hampering the digestion and intake of nutrients. Hence, fatigue and immune system complications.
In contrast, we use the traditional slow way of making bread, which has no additives. The really special thing about Long Fermentation Bread is that it has a tenth of the amount of yeast as recipes for traditional bread. Giving the bread a really long time to develop means we only need use this super low amount. The proportion would be even greater for mass produced bread.
Once the yeast produces the carbon dioxide which gives bread its rise, remaining yeast is finished off in the intense heat of baking, and residues in the bread are kept to a minimum. An added benefit is that long fermentation means much greater flavour. No need for extra salt.
So, organic flour, no extra yeast, gluten and salt, and long fermentation, makes healthy and digestible bread.
I hope this information helps,
All the best,
Jamie
18 Feb 2010 at 15:39
Thanks Jamie, my search is over……..
23 Feb 2010 at 11:29
Of course Salt is an additive…..
02 Mar 2010 at 11:05
Hello Elaine,
It’s an interesting point about salt in bread. Yes we do add salt to our recipe, but a comparatively low amount. While you can make bread without salt, in the UK, Europe and America the basic ingredients of bread are flour, leavening of some kind, water and salt. Not to have salt is rare in global terms. I only know of one type of traditional Tuscan bread which has no, or very little salt.
Salt has been used traditionally to act as a brake on the action of yeast, and of course for flavour. The taste of flour on its own is just not very nice. Just a bit of salt works a magical transformation in flavour.
I didn’t think much about the significance of salt levels in bread until I heard from our local Trading Standards Office about a random sample they took of loaves for sale in outlets across Dorset. They found that the average level of salt was 1.3g per 100g, and the variation was from 0.93g to 1.7g per 100g. We got busy with our calculator and found that our salt levels were much lower, from 0.86g to .9g per 100g. There are apparently voluntary salt reduction targets in place. For 2010 it is 1.1g, dropping to 0.93g in 2012.
I think if you use good ingredients and allow the dough to ferment slowly, you get the best flavour which doesn’t need to be bolstered by the addition of increased amounts of salt.
Jamie
09 Mar 2010 at 10:39
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for your response, very interesting to see the levels of salt present in some loaves.
Does the salt act as a natural preservative also?
Can I ask how long your loaves stay fresh and mould free without the addition of preservatives such as Sorbic Acid or Calcium or Sodium propionate?
I currently make my own bread (with a bread maker) using the usual mix of Organic flour, Doves dried yeast and butter, salt and sugar – but find the bread tends to dry out within 2 days.
Elaine
19 Mar 2010 at 10:05
Hi Elaine
I’ve been mulling over the points in your posting. The salt levels are (or should be) low in bread – about 2% of the weight of the flour content. It could well be that the salt contributes to keeping qualities.
The freshness of any bread is dependent on the atmosphere and how it is kept. It’s a big subject!
In looking at the way it is made, the more water you can get the dough to retain, the better the keeping qualities. You can experiment with adding more water than recommended in the recipes for your bread maker bread. Try mixing the dough very slowly. What you will find is that what starts out as a gooey mess will gradually start to stick together and form glutinous strands. If you stop the machine and let it rest for say 5 to 10 minutes part way through mixing, then start it again, you may be amazed to see the dough come together. A good test is that the dough will clean the mixing bowl. That is, the dough pulls together as a coherent mass. Don’t rush it, and you will be rewarded. See how much water you can get the flour to absorb.
Butter is a good conditioner for the dough and should help its keeping qualities. The sugar might have a slight drying effect, but you are probably using very small quantities to help the yeast to get going, so this won’t be significant.
I read somewhere that sourdough loaves produce a natural mould inhibitor on the crust. Mould is a very rarely reported problem for us. You don’t want to be keeping the bread sweating in a plastic bag. Avoid containers which don’t breathe, such as metal bread bins. At home we use a massive unglazed flower pot with a wooden lid, and we never have mould on the bread.
Bread does age naturally, and we should accept that. Andrew Whitley in Bread Matters, a book which I recommend to you, points out that our culture has become corrupted by an obsession with freshness. This is why factory made bread is usually a Frankenstein mix of additives, designed to simulate squidgy freshness for an unnaturally long time. Proper bread evolves and can be used up to a week and more after it is baked. Try very lightly toasting older bread. It has a rejuvenating effect. Beyond that older bread does make the best toast at breakfast. And then there are many culinary uses for older bread. Stale bread and bread crumbs are the basis of great classic puddings of British cooking, such as bread and butter pudding, Queen of Puddings, and treacle tart. There is a whole hearty peasant cuisine around older bread in European culture, which now of course is highly fashionable. It may be fashionable, but with inspiration and a few other good ingredients, its is very heathy and very cheap to produce.
It would be great to hear about your bread making experiments and you should have no need of ascorbic acid and sodium propionate.
Jamie
28 Apr 2010 at 17:09
I have also found that putting lots of water in helps with keeping, also makes the bread more chewy, which I like. I have gradually increased the amount of water in my home made bread to the extent that I now tend to mix it with a wooden spoon rather than my hands. However I’ve found that if it is really sticky it then doesn’t rise quite so much.
I am also experimenting with the amount of kneeding I do, especially after the first rise. I tried one yesterday where I just scraped the wet dough into the tin after the first rise without knocking it back. It gave it a nice, chewy texture with bigger holes which was interesting.
I’d like it if it rose a bit more to be a nice big tall proud loaf like Jamie’s lovely “hedgehog” bread (as its known in our house).
I normally use a bit of sunflower oil in my dough too (1 dsp per loaf). Seems to help delay staleness, I agree, and also aids it with unsticking from the sides of the bowl and the tin.
Anna
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