Proper Homemade Crusty Bread

There's nothing like baking your own bread and I try to do it whenever I can. Since having my own kitchen I've become totally hooked and am on a mission to try to make more different types of bread this year. So far I've done a brown ale bread, a few white crusty loaves, bialys (these are a fave of mine), a plain soda bread and a cheddar and walnut soda bread... I've probably missed some but there are many more on my to do list. The best slice is always the first one straight from the oven with a bit of butter! This is one of the easiest breads to make so its a good one to start with if you're just starting out.

Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
325ml lukewarm water
flour for dusting

First sieve your flour and salt into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your mixer and stir to combine.

In a jug whisk together the water, yeast, sugar and olive oil then slowly add to the flour and salt. I used an electric mixer to start it off, for about 5 minutes, on a low speed then kneaded it by hand on a floured work surface for about another 5 minutes (just cos like the feel of the dough) but you can just use the mixer if you like.

Once the dough is nice and springy shape into a round then pop in a bowl and sprinkle with flour. Leave in a warm spot covered with a damp tea towel for 1 hour.

On a floured work surface knock back the dough - this is to get rid of the air that has built up - so you do this by kneading it again for a couple of minutes. Shape the dough into whatever shape you want again - I went with a standard oval then leave on a floured baking tray under a clean tea towel for another hour and a half to prove again.

20 minutes to the end preheat your oven to 220°C and but a baking tray in the bottom of the oven to heat up.

Once the dough is ready to be baked remove the tea towel and slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Dust with flour then put in the middle shelf of the oven. Throw a handful of ice cubes into the heated baking tray to create lots of steam to give the bread a nice crust. Bake for 25 minutes on 220 C then reduce the heat to 200 C for a further 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and put on a cooling rack. I have to have a slice when its still warm with butter. Nothing better.