Turog ®

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Back in 1829, Joel Spiller opened up his mill in Bridgewater, Somerset. Business flourished. By the mid-1850s he more or less had a monopoly on the production of ship biscuits for the Royal and Merchant Navies. .

In the 1880s he merged with William Baker of Bristol to form Spillers and Bakers Ltd. But, it wasn't until the early years of the 20th century that he introduced the Turog ® brand of brown bread. 

It soon became a household name and, while Spillers provided the flour, they also provided the license to bake Turog ® across the whole of the UK - but to their precise formula. 

Until the 1970s, Turog ® and Hovis ® (Rank Hovis McDougall) vied for the nation's affection. You could buy it sliced, as uncut one or two-pound loaves or even as a miniature version for a penny. 

Sadly Spillers found there was more money to be made in pet foods and dog biscuits and Turog ® stopped being baked. 

If you ate Turog ® bread every day, you'd 'lay the foundations of a healthy future', or so they said...

INGREDIENTS

500 gms of wholegrain / wholemeal stone ground flour or spelt. 

320 gms of tepid water

43 gms of black treacle or regular molasses

5 gms of instant quick yeast (7 gms dried or 17 gms fresh yeast) 

5 gms crushed sea salt. 

Two well-prepared 1lb loaf tins. 

As this is a 100% wholegrain/wholemeal or spelt loaf, you may wish to give the yeast a boost. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of food-grade Vitamin C or 3/4 teaspoon of a dough improver will do the trick. 

PROCESS

Add all the ingredients into a large bowl, mix thoroughly and then knead until you have a springy but slightly tacky dough.

Place in a lightly-oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in volume. 

Tip the dough out onto a lightly-floured board, weigh it and divide it into two. 

Shape for two x 1lb prepared loaf tins. Half-fill the tins.  

Cover and return to a warm place until the shoulders of the dough have risen to the top of the tins. 

Preheat the oven to 200⁰C Fan oven (or 220⁰C  Conventional or 420⁰F) 

Dust the tops of the loaves with a little flour and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until golden brown and hollow when tapped on the underneath. 

Cool on a rack. 

Slice and enjoy with best butter, a piece of good strong cheese (have you tried cheese and jam?) or a bowl of soup....it's Turog...as it used to be! 

And the crumb shot? 

Happy baking.

Skinnergate, Darlington, Co. Durham. 
It was called 'Skinnergate' because it was the centre for the skinning and tanning of hides in Darlington from the Middle Ages right through until the end of the 18th century.