Crusty loaves of bread are a joy to eat. Many find the bread breaking process quite intimidating and look at the whole thing with fear. Contrary to what many believe, baking bread is not a time consuming process. It is quite easy. You can make it within your home, using your own hands. One great advantage of baking the bread yourself is that you get to decide the ingredients. All you need is some flour, yeast , water and salt and some time to spare. It might take you a few attempts to gain competence in this ancient art, but the effort is totally worth it. Nothing tastes as good a home made bread. You can learn how to make bread following the simple instructions given below.
Complexity level: Moderate
Time required: 25-60 minutes
Resources Required:
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Flour
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Water
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Salt
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Yeast
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Any flavoring agent (Optional)
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Oven
Instructions:
1. Get the recipe and ingredients ready: Pick for yourself a good recipe, though there must be much similarity in the bread recipes you will find. Before you begin, get a feel of the art. Make sure that you have all the ingredients like flour , yeast, water and salt in the right proportions. Get a pack of fresh yeast. It would be great if you use cake yeast, as it would make a great bread. To get good results, use bread flour, though all purpose flour too can do a splendid job. Do not use cake flour. Water is good to make crispy bread. You can add orange juice to the mixture if you need a good flavor. Salt is essential as it prevents the growth of yeast.
2. Mix the ingredients: After having all the ingredients, mix them together at a temperature of 130 Fahrenheit. The fermentation of the yeast would work well when you mix them. Use an electric mixer to beat it. Keep it in a warm place. Divide the bread dough into pieces according to the specifications you need. Round the bread dough and keep it covered for a while.
3. Mix the dough: Use a standard mixer and add the last bits of flour only at the end. Make the dough soft and ensure that it is not too wet or too dry. After mixing it, add it in a mixer bowl. Do not add more flour than what is necessary as the bread loaf will end up becoming too dense.
4. Kneading the dough: Cover the dough with oil. Turn the bread dough over several times till it becomes smooth and elastic. By the time you end, the sticky nature of the bread dough should have gone. Keep on sprinkling flour into the dough throughout the kneading process so that your hands do not stick to the dough. Certain kinds of flour might need more time to knead. At the end, the dough is supposed to bounce back when you touch it hard.
5. Make the loaves and bake it: Use a greased loaf pan to make the loaves. Put the dough on it after sprinkling cornmeal. Use a knife to slash it. Preheat the oven at 400 degree Fahrenheit and place the bread inside it. Bake it for more than half an hour. When it sounds hollow, it is time to remove the bread from the oven. You can add some butter if you prefer it that way.
Frequently asked questions:
1. Should I overknead the bread dough?
If you overknead the dough there is always the danger of having the gluten structure broken down but if you are doing it using your hand, it won’t be much of a problem.
2. How can I develop the gluten properly?
You can lift the bread dough and slap it to develop gluten properly.
Quick tips:
If you need a crunchy bread, put the loaf back in the oven for around five minutes.
Things to watch out for:
Do not under-bake the bread. It is far more preferable to over-bake it.
