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Ocean bread
The idea for this bread was inspired by an amusing coincidence: the proportion of salt needed for good bread is 35 g of salt per litre of water, which just happens to be the exact concentration of salt in the Atlantic Ocean. So it's possible to make bread using sea water to provide all the salt needed, rather than normal fresh water. Not only does it work, the resulting bread is excellent!
Last modified on: October 24th 2026
For 1 Ocean bread, you will need:
- 1
300 ml sea water - 2
125 g leaven - 3
500 g plain white flour (French Type 65) - 4
½ teaspoon yeast - Total weight: 930 grams
Times for this recipe
Preparation
20 min.
Resting
4 hours 10 min.
Cooking
40 min.
All in all
5 hours 10 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around: ?.Change start time
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Step by step recipe
Step 1 - ⌛ 1 min.
Filter 300 ml sea water to strain out any little impurities it might contain.
Step 2 - ⌛ 3 min.
Pour the sea water into the food processor bowl, add 125 g leaven and mix briefly.
Step 3 - ⌛ 10 min.
Add 500 g plain white flour (French Type 65) then ½ teaspoon yeast and knead for 5 minutes on minimum speed (1), then for a further 5 minutes on speed 2.
You could also chech the dough by trying the window-pane test.
Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
You could also chech the dough by trying the window-pane test.
Note: For the best way to knead, see: A few tips for effective kneading at home.
Step 4 - ⌛ 10 min.
Tip the dough into a large clean bowl and cover with a plastic sheet. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Step 5
At the end of this resting time, take a wooden spatula or a dough cutter and lift the dough, stretching it upwards...
Step 6 - ⌛ 2 hours
...then fold it over on itself.
Give a quarter turn to the bowl and repeat the operation. Continue like this until the bowl has made at least one complete turn. In French this kneading manœuvre is called a "rabat".
Cover the bowl again and leave to rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.
This sequence of "rabat" + 20 minutes resting should be done 3 times.
Note: The "rabat" technique is rather hard to describe, so you can watch it in the video on the right.
Give a quarter turn to the bowl and repeat the operation. Continue like this until the bowl has made at least one complete turn. In French this kneading manœuvre is called a "rabat".
Cover the bowl again and leave to rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.
This sequence of "rabat" + 20 minutes resting should be done 3 times.
Note: The "rabat" technique is rather hard to describe, so you can watch it in the video on the right.
Step 7 - ⌛ 1 min.
Cover the bowl and leave to rest in a warm place for 2 hours.
After resting, tip the dough out onto your worktop.
After resting, tip the dough out onto your worktop.
Step 8 - ⌛ 2 min.
Shape it into a nice round ball by folding the edge under until the top becomes a smooth dome.
Step 9 - ⌛ 2 hours
Step 10 - ⌛ 40 min.
Preheat the oven to 240°C (460°F).
Turn the loaf out of the basket, slash the top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
Note: As when baking any bread, you should ensure that the oven is filled with steam for the first 15 minutes of baking. This page shows you how; it really is the secret of golden-brown, crusty loaves..
Turn the loaf out of the basket, slash the top and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
Note: As when baking any bread, you should ensure that the oven is filled with steam for the first 15 minutes of baking. This page shows you how; it really is the secret of golden-brown, crusty loaves..
Step 11
When the loaf comes out of the oven, see how crunchy the crust is and how light the loaf is inside.
Remarks
This recipe only works well with ocean water (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian); the water from the Mediterranean is too salty, so needs to be diluted with a little fresh water.
In spite of the name, there's no "sea" flavour to this bread. Delicious as it is, you'll not find any trace of the slight iodine taste of the sea (no doubt this disappears during cooking). To get this flavour, you would need to add seaweed extract or other seafood.
In spite of the name, there's no "sea" flavour to this bread. Delicious as it is, you'll not find any trace of the slight iodine taste of the sea (no doubt this disappears during cooking). To get this flavour, you would need to add seaweed extract or other seafood.
Keeping: Several days in a towel bag.
Source: Home-made, but warmly dedicated to Clairette and Tom-Tom who are sailing somewhere between the Azores and the Canary Isles.
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Nutritional information
| Proteins | Carbohydrates | Fats | Calories | Energy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g | 6 g RDI=9 % | 46 g RDI=17 % | 1 g RDI=1 % | 215 kcal RDI=11 % | 898 kJ RDI=11 % |
| Whole recipe | 56 g RDI=86 % | 422 g RDI=159 % | 9 g RDI=12 % | 1,990 kcal RDI=99 % | 8,331 kJ RDI=99 % |
How much will it cost?
For 1 Ocean bread
1.05 €
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Plain white flour (French Type 65)
Like these other recipes:
Sea water
Like these other recipes:
Leaven
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example:
Yeast
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