This No-Fail Recipe Makes Homemade Bread Blissfully Simple (2024)

FAQs

What are 4 key things to remember when making bread? ›

Not every bread should look wet on the inside, but a quality bread will have a slightly glossy finish on the inside. In addition, it will spring back when you press your finger into it. If a bread bakery claims to make a good flavored bread, you should be able to smell that flavor before you even bite into a piece.

In this episode of the Stella Culinary School Podcast we kick off our bread baking lecture series with a lesson on the four ingredients needed to make bread. We discuss the science behind flour, water, yeast and salt and how it will affect your overall bread dough recipe.

Finally, if you're feeling adventurous, why not add honey, molasses, or brown sugar to your recipe? Not only will they give your bread a unique flavor, but they'll also help keep it soft and moist for days.

5. The more sugar in yeast dough, the more slowly it will rise. Remember, sugar is hygroscopic. And in yeast dough, this means it can deprive yeast of the moisture it needs to grow.

Emulsifiers in bread:

Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471): often derived from plant oils or animal fats, E471 may have some negative health effects, including an increased risk of heart disease and weight gain.

Try a thermometer. For the best bread, controlling the temperature of the dough is just as important as proper ingredient measurements or good scoring. A dough that is too cold won't ferment at a rate that produces good volume, strength, or flavor.

If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

While bread flour is the best option, it can sometimes be used if you don't have bread flour. “Check the protein content,” advises Chef Jürgen, since it can vary from brand to brand, and an all-purpose flour that contains protein on the higher end of the range, 12 to 13 percent, will produce a better outcome.

How many minutes does it take to bake bread? ›

Bake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake bread for about 30-33 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Give the top of a loaf a gentle tap; it should sound hollow. Invert the loaves onto a wire cooling rack. Brush the tops with butter and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

200° F (100° C)

When you add yeast to water and flour to create dough, it eats up the sugars in the flour and excretes carbon dioxide gas and ethanol — this process is called fermentation. The gluten in the dough traps the carbon dioxide gas, preventing it from escaping. The only place for it to go is up, and so the bread rises.

For a basic loaf of bread, all it takes is flour, water, salt and raising agent – usually yeast (wild or store-bought). As with anything else, you'll get the best results if you work with the best quality ingredients. When buying your ingredients, look for flour that is high in protein.

Temperature is a very important factor in bread baking. In fact, it is probably the most important factor behind scaling your ingredients accurately. The pace at which a dough moves from step to step through a recipe is completely dependent on what the dough temperature is.