Kitchen 101: Homemade Bread

I feel a little like I'm giving away a family secret in writing this but to be honest I think everyone should know how to make their own bread.  It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it (even easier if you have a bread maker!) and while no written post is the same as being taught in person, I'm going to do my best to share the basics of bread making with you now.

I've thought a lot about how to go about this and I think the easiest way will be to share my basic recipe and get to important technical things as they come up.

I use just one recipe, which I alter if I want to make something a little healthier or more exciting.  The ingredients list is simple and short and of all the recipes I love, it's the only one I know off by heart.

Knowing how to make bread is awesome if you are doing a pantry challenge since the ingredients are fairly standard and you can use the dough for things like pizza bases and lunchbox bread rolls.

Bread
makes one loaf

330mL warm (not hot!) water
1 portion (ie 1 sachet, 1/2 capful) of active breadmaker's yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons salt

3.5 cups high grade flour

(If you have a bread maker, just pop everything in the basket (in order) and set it to go - I've had the best results in the past using the dough setting and finishing the baking in the oven)

Mixing

Measure out the warm water in your mixing bowl, stir in the sugar until mostly dissolved then add the yeast.  Leave for about five minutes until it starts getting frothy and foamy (looks kind of like a latte).  Not everyone takes the time to let the yeast start doing its thing before adding the flour - the main reason I do it is to find out if the yeast is still alive.  If the yeast had any moisture in it, or if it's just been sitting in the pantry for a while, it can actually expire and your bread won't rise at all.  This method means you can find out either way without waiting for two hours to find out the dough hasn't risen!
Add the oil to the bowl, then sieve in the flour and salt.  Mix to combine.

Turn out onto a floured surface to begin kneading!

Kneading

Kneading is arguably the most important part of the bread making process. Gluten has got a pretty bad rep lately, but in actual fact it is not evil and is vital in regular bread making: the gluten proteins help the dough hang on to the bubbles produced as the yeast ferments and without them you get a loaf that is dense, heavy, and sad. If you've ever tried to make gluten free bread at home you know what I'm talking about! Kneading, which involves stretching and folding the dough, helps the gluten line up to form strong protein strands - this is what traps your bubbles.  It's important that you knead the dough for a decent amount of time, at least ten to twenty minutes, for it to be effective.

I'm going to link a video here because it turns out it's really hard to use words to describe bread kneading!  My kitchen isn't set up to make a video of my own (some day!) but the second technique in this video is pretty close to the technique my mama taught me:

Kneading is a full body workout - you want to use your body weight to stretch out the dough and since it takes at least ten minutes for dough to be kneaded properly, expect to feel like you've earned a snack!

Proving a.k.a Waiting

Once the dough feels stretchy and elastic (it should bounce back when you press it) you can leave it to prove.  Put the dough back in the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave in a warm, dry place - a sunny window is good in summer, but near to a heater will do in winter - for a couple of hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Rinse & Repeat

We're nearly there!  Punch down your dough so it's little again and then on your cooking surface (a greased baking tray or tin) shape it how you wish - now is the time to tip it into a loaf tin or roll into bread rolls or stretch it out into a pizza base.  If it's your first time doing this, I'd recommend shaping it into a free-form round loaf shape in case your loaf tins aren't the right fit!  When it's the shape you want, leave it to prove a second time until it has puffed up twice its size again.  Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Baking

When the dough has puffed up, chuck it into the centre of your preheated oven.  Cooking time depends - twenty minutes for a loaf and ten minutes for bread rolls is a good starting place but do keep an eye on it.  When it's cooked, the top will have formed a crust and look like cooked bread (funnily enough!) and the bottom will sound hollow when tapped.  Hot, fresh bread is delicious but do wait about fifteen minutes for it to cool before slicing it or it will fall apart :)
Whole, unsliced bread is pretty resilient but since this doesn't have any preservatives like store bought bread does it won't last too long on the shelf once it has been sliced.

Some day, I will write up a Part Two looking at the alterations you can make to this basic bread recipe.  Although it's tasty, you can see from the ingredients list that it isn't exactly highly nutritious so I've got some guidelines for using wholemeal flour and adding seeds and grains, and for adding yummy things like herbs and garlic :)  It's always best to have a really good understanding of a recipe before you make changes so I encourage you to give this a go, it's as rewarding as baking a cake - maybe even more so - but by far a healthier baking option, lashings of butter and jam notwithstanding!