How to Bake Bread
There's nothing quite like the smell of fresh baked bread. Or the taste either. Homemade bread is generally healthier and less costly that commercial bread and opens the door to many more flavor possibilities.
By Hand or By Machine?
Baking bread takes time. There is a certain satisfaction in mixing and kneading bread dough; creating the loaf from scratch from start to finish. Bread machines let you make bread with minimal effort. Both methods produce tasty bread - and by using a 'dough' setting on a bread machine, you can shape the dough and bake in a normal oven just as you would without the machine. We find the main advantage to a machine is time - since the bread machine does most, if not all, of the work, we make more bread.
If choosing to use a bread machine, be sure to check on the bread dough during the knead cycle if a recipe is not familiar. When making bread by hand, it's easy to notice if the dough is too wet or too dry. With a machine, it's easy to assume the dough will always be perfect - this is not always the case and sometimes water or flour will need to be added accordingly.
The Ingredients
In its most basic form, bread is essentially flour, liquid, and yeast. The type of flour used, the purity of water or the flavor of oil, and the healthiness of your yeast all determine what the bread will look and taste like. Often breads also contain sugar and salt. Sugar helps activate your yeast. If a recipe includes salt, be sure to add the salt after the first cup of flour, as salt can kill yeast.
If using a machine, be sure to keep the salt and yeast separated when putting ingredients into the pan.
Yeast and Liquid
When measuring yeast for a recipe, do not assume that every packet of yeast contains the same amount. It's best to measure the yeast even when using small packets. Make sure the yeast you use is fresh. Old yeast may fail to make your bread rise. If you're unsure about your yeast, proof it first. To proof the yeast, mix sugar and warm water (in amounts called for by the recipe) in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. The water should be no warmer than 115 degrees. Hot water will kill the yeast. Add the yeast to the sugar and water. Let the yeast sit 5-6 minutes. It should begin to bubble and grow. If it does not, your yeast is bad. If most bread is made in a bread machine, proofing the yeast is only necessary if the liveliness of your yeast is in question. For handmade bread, it's often the first step in the bread-making process.
Flour
Even if flour is "pre-sifted", shipping and storage can make it settle and compress. Measureing your flour when it is packed down can mean adding more flour to a recipe than expected. To avoid this, sift your flour before measuring (which is time-consuming), or just fluff it up a bit with a spoon in the bag or canister and sprinkle into the measuring cup rather than packing it in. Be sure to level off the cups of flour using the back of a knife or other straight edge. Flour that is not packed also makes a lighter loaf, as there is more air in the flour.
Mixing and Kneading
Add the flour to the proofed yeast. If the recipe requires salt, add it after the first cup of flour. Mix the flour into the liquid - when the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, it is ready to be kneaded. Turn the dough onto a floured countertop and knead with lightly floured hands. The dough will be sticky at first, but will become smoother as the kneading progresses. Fold the outer edge of the dough onto itself toward you and push away gently with the heels of your hands. Turn the dough a quart of the way around and repeat. After 3-4 minutes of kneading, let it rest a little, then continue to knead until the dough is smooth, elastic, and no longer sticky.
Rising and Baking
Form the kneaded dough into a ball and put in a lightly greased bowl, turning once so the dough is slightly greased as well. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise. Let rise until doubled in size - for most bread this is an hour or two. When risen enough, you should be able to poke it with your finger without it springing back. Punch down the dough after rising to remove excess bubbles. Let the dough rest a few minutes and then shape into desired baking shape. Let rise until once-again doubled.
A bread machine's dough cycle will likely mix, knead, and rise once - the shaping and final rising will need to be done outside of the machine. Once the bread has risen, bake according to recipe instructions.
