Pickle vinegar loaf

Name: Pickle vinegar loaf
Total time: 2700 s
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 6 cups flour (see recipe for details); 2 cups lukewarm pickle jar liquid; 6 tsp instant or easy bake yeast; 1 tsp salt; 6 tsp sugar; 1 good glug of olive oil (about 1-2 tbsp); Lukewarm water if dough needs more moisture

Peter Reime @hoggleboggle

Using up the left over liquid from dill pickle jars to make a super tasty loaf

Peter Reime @hoggleboggle

Using up the left over liquid from dill pickle jars to make a super tasty loaf

Saved

Ingredients

45mins

10 servings

6 cupsflour (see recipe for details)
2 cupslukewarm pickle jar liquid
6 tspinstant or easy bake yeast
1 tspsalt
6 tspsugar
1good glug of olive oil (about 1-2 tbsp)
Lukewarm water if dough needs more moisture

Saved

Steps

45mins

1

This recipe starts with collecting jars of leftover pickle vinegar liquid, enough to get 2 cups (500ml) of liquid. Make sure to keep the spices and other seasonings in the jar as you will add them to the dough. You can always dilute it with water if you don't have enough.
2

Decant the pickle jar liquid and warm it to a little over room temperature in the microwave, especially if, like me, you have kept the leftover jars in the fridge. If your jars have a lot of large chunks of spices and other pickle seasonings, pour the liquid through a sieve and the finely dice up the seasonings before adding them back to the liquid
3

When it comes to the choice of flour I recommend using strong or very strong bread flour as it has a better gluten content. For this loaf I used Canadian very strong wholemeal flour (3 cups) and 3 cups of strong plain bread flour (because it needed using up). Generally I find mixing white and wholemeal gives a fluffier loaf.
4

Sift the flour into a bowl or food processor - aerating the flour seems to help it mix and bake better. The add the salt and sugar and mix it well, only then add the instant yeast granules.
5

Keep the mixer going and gradually pour the warm pickle jar liquid into the flour then the olive oil until it is well combined, then let it rest and absorb the moisture for 10 mins before starting the kneading process for 6-10 mins. Add more flour or water depending on how wet or dry the dough becomes. You want it tacky to tough but not leave any residue behind or start cracking or tearing when folding it. You will know the dough is ready when it can be folded in on itself without tearing.
6

Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough ball inside, then cover with clingfilm and let it rise until at least doubled or tripled in size.
7

Prep your Dutch oven dish (I use a large le Creuset cast iron dish) by lining the base with parchment paper then lining the whole dish with a second layer of parchment paper. Put the lid in and trim off the excess paper
8

Place the prepped dutch oven dish into the oven and heat up to 240 Celsius (450 Fahrenheit)
9

Whilst the oven is preheating, take the risen dough and carefully fold it in on itself to reduce its size by about half, then let it rest in the oiled bowl whilst the oven is preheating.
10

Once oven and pot are seriously hot, take the pot out of the oven, sprinkle some flour on the bottom and carefully place the dough into it and with a razor or very sharp knife cut some slits into it CAREFUL THE DISH IS VERY HOT!
11

Bake it with the lid on for 25mins then remove the lid and bake for another 20mins. Carefully take the very hot dish out of the oven and transfer the loaf to a cooling rack and enjoy!