More hints for Making Bread

In our previous posts we have discussed how the different ingredients that you choose to use in your yeast breads, will affect the taste, texture, height and even the longevity of the fresh bread.  Today we are going to look at the basic steps in bread making.

How often have you heard it said, "I just can't bake with yeast...forget it."  My Mother-in-Law use to say it all the time! She made great pastry but could not get the hang of making breads.  Or you might had said that yourself.  We get the idea that we don't have the old fashioned magic needed for success.  Years ago when I started making bread by hand, I would get up early in the morning, and start kneading and shaping loaves and then baking later that day, which certainly doesn't suit our busy lifestyle anymore.  I spent a lot of time learning different techiques, step by step until I finally got a fairly good result  I will share some simple steps to follow, along with some ideas and hints, all you will need to make bread baking easy and fun and a success.  We will also have some tips on how to speed up your baking.

Room Temperature:  We often like to bake when the weather is cool and rainy and it's a joy to stay inside.  Baking is also a good way to warm up the house on those chilly days.  Unfortunately yeast dough does not rise well in a cool, drafty room, so it is up to us to create the right surroundings.

• Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature or warmer.  Some people keep yeast and flour in the freezer or fridge so you must take this out the night before to warm it up.
• Use warm water or liquid in the baking.  I use hot tap water but if your are going to use buttermilk for example warm it up in the microwave to take the chill off it,  so that it is warm as well.
• Close doors and windows so there is no draft.
• Turn the thermostat up a few degrees before starting to bake.
• Warm the room by doing other baking first like cookies etc.
• If the sun is shining through the window, set the bowl of covered dough where the sun will shine on it. (One of my customers told me she did this with a tea towel on the bowl and came back later to find the cat curled up on top of the dough with it rising nice and warm all around it)
• Turn the oven on for a minute, and then turn it off as soon as there is warmth inside. ( about 3 to 4 min.) Turn on the oven light, then set the bowl of covered dough into the warm oven and close the door.
• Set the bowl of dough into the sink half full of warm water.  Cover with a towel.
• Cover the bowl of dough with a tea towel.  Laying a large sheet of plastic over the towel hastens the rising even more.
• Wrap your covered bowl of dough in a comforter or heating blanket set at a low setting.  (You can tell we are in Canada)
• Covering the pans of shaped loaves or buns speeds up the rising process and helps develop breads and buns with a smooth, even shape, rounded on the top.

BREAD LIKES TO BE WARM NOT HOT

Kneading:  Kneading is an important factor in successful yeast baking.  If the dough is well kneaded, your bread will have an even texture without large holes or tunnels.  Kneading develops the gluten in the dough.  When gluten is well developed, it forms very stretchy fibres, and the dough rises well and produces fluffy loaves.  For this reason dough should be well kneaded, allowed to rise, then kneaded again before shaping into loaves or buns. 

White bread will stretch faster and easier than whole grain bread so it does not require as long a kneading time.  There is more endosperm in white flour ratio to the liquid so that is why gluten develop faster.  The yeast will produce gas to blow the bread up but the gluten structure is what holds the bread up.  In fact the bread will continue to rise just a little more in the oven, before the yeast dies and the gluten takes over.

The Bosch Kitchen Machine has a dough hook with a third arm to do all the serious kneading, stetching the dough and developing the gluten so the dough will not have to rise before being shaped.  This is how you save time and energy making bread.   When we remove the dough after 10 min. of kneading, it is stretchy and soft and beautifull and so we shape the loaves straight away and put them in the pans ot rise for 1/2 hour in a warm oven and then bake them.  The 10 min. of kneading is just like you kneading the dough by hand for over an hour.  With a Bosch machine it takes 1 hour and 15 min. from start to finish.

Pans:  When making large batches of dough one will need to have plenty of pans.  I like to use Baker's Secret pans approx. 4"x8" available at many places, but the following are great when in a pinch.

• Save 8 inch aluminum foil pie plates to bake round loaves.
• Any foil plates or pizza pans can be used for cinnamon buns, kuchen, tea rings or just buns.
• Line oven rack with heavy foil.  Grease them to bake 30 to 36 plain buns.  Wipe, wrap in plastic and save the foil for another time.
• Place ungreased parchment paper on any older discoloured pans.
• Arrange two loaves of bread side by side in a 9" square pan

Large Bowls:  Use a large bowl, twice the size of the dough to allow plenty of room for rising.

Shaping Loaves:  Be sure the dough has been kneaded well.  Flour is used on the counter to keep it from sticking.   All the bubbles of air should be out.  You will actually hear the dough squeak as the air comes out, when hand kneading.  Divide the dough into the number of loaves you will be making.  Place each on a board and flateen with the heel of your hand.  Continue to fold and knead.  Bring edges to the bottom of a smooth top.

With the softer Bosch bread, you can use oil on the counter to shape your loaves.  I will flatten each piece with my hands to form an oval on the counter, then roll from the bottom up in a tight roll, then lift it up and thump it down on the counter on the bottom to seal the edges.  You can see me do this on our online video.

Place into a greased loaf pan, smooth side up.  For smaller loaves, divide the ball of dough in half and place both into the loaf pan, either side by side or end to end (depend on the pan shape)  When baked, break into two loaves.

Our next post will discuss Shaping buns , rising and baking the breads