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!
5 hours 7 min.
Easy
1.05 €
1 Ocean bread
4 IngredientsLast modified on: October 24th 2017
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 7 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - ⌛ 1 min.
Filter 300 ml sea water to strain out any little impurities it might contain.
Stage 2 - ⌛ 3 min.
Pour the sea water into the food processor bowl, add 125 g leaven and mix briefly.
Stage 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.
Stage 4 - ⌛ 10 min.
Tip the dough into a large clean bowl and cover with a plastic sheet. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Stage 5
At the end of this resting time, take a wooden spatula or a dough cutter and lift the dough, stretching it upwards...
Stage 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.
Stage 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.
Stage 8 - ⌛ 2 min.
Shape it into a nice round ball by folding the edge under until the top becomes a smooth dome.
Stage 9 - ⌛ 2 hours
Stage 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..
Stage 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.
How much will it cost?
- For 1 Ocean bread : 1.05 €
Change currency:
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: Hamburger buns, Seeded loaf, Pizza dough, Classic French white bread, Benoîton, ... See them all 19
Sea water
Like these other recipes: How to make fleur de sel (salt flakes), ... See them all 1
Leaven
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Saucipain, Jura bread, Ali Baba bread, New leavened bread, Franche-Comté sticks, ... See them all 21
Yeast
Like these other recipes: Saint-Lô cake, Mixed seed grissini, Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants), Dipping bread with cheese, Kouign-amann brioche, ... See them all 56
Other recipes you may also like
Confectioner's custard (Crème pâtissière, or French pastry cream)
Quite similar to crème anglaise but much thicker. It is used in many pastries like choux pastry (pâte à choux) or millefeuille. January 27th 2017778 K 313.8 40 min.
Candied grapefruit peel
Not really a dessert, more a kind of sweet. After soakiing, strips of grapefruit skin are cooked very slowly to conservethem in sugar. It's a real treat with coffee at the end of a meal. December 20th 2018391 K 14 1 day 1 hour 25 min.
Bouquet garni
Used very frequently in French cuisine, a secret of French chefs, it adds flavour to a lot of recipes, and it's easy to prepare. The basic principle is to make a small bundle of herbs, bind them in green leek leaves and to tie it up, so that the whole thing can be removed and discarded easily after cooking. March 21th 2017433 K3.5 15 min.
Herb olive oil
This flavoured olive oil, easy to prepare, goes very well with Mediterranean cuisine: pizzas, pastas, pan bagnat, etc... February 21th 2011325 K3.8 25 min.
Montbenoit's canapés
A recipe from Franche-comté (lovely region of eastern France): large slices of bread coated with melted shallot, grilled bacon dice, a big slice of Morbier (cheese from the same region) and a brief spell in the oven. It really is a winter dish. October 13th 2010290 K4.6 1 hour 45 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-11-16)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.
The 6 comments already posted on this recipe