There is nothing quite like the scent of freshly-baked bread, except for maybe the taste of a slice when it’s still warm that it melts the butter. Bread is one of those foods that’s as universal as it is versatile. It can be smeared with a range of spreads (think peanut butter and jelly, paté, cream cheese), made into a sandwich, or dipped in soup. While it may seem inaccessible to make at home, it’s actually more doable than you may think. Here’s what you need to know about baking the perfect loaf.
Keep It Simple
Sure, those artisan loaves in recipe books are so beautiful you can almost taste them through the pages, but many are difficult to master. So, the only ingredients you’ll need starting out are mostly pantry staples: water, flour, salt and yeast. Yup, that’s it. Yeast is probably the only thing you’ll need to grab from a store. It plays a crucial role by making the bread rise. How does it do that? It consumes carbohydrates in the flour and coverts them to gas, which become bubbles trapped in the dough’s protein structure. The yeast, by the way, comes in two main forms: active dry (which needs to be mixed with lukewarm water to activate) or instant/rapid rise (which can be put right into the dry ingredients). They’re fairly interchangeable.
Just the Basics
Mix, knead, rise, shape, rise again, bake, repeat (if you want to make another loaf). Truthfully, bread kind of does its own thing so a lot of this will be a hands-off process. You’ll start by combining your dry ingredients, adding the wet ones and mixing until a kneadable dough forms. Then you got to get your hands dirty because kneading should take somewhere between six to 10 minutes for a smooth and elastic dough that’s still flexible. This activates the gluten. Once you finish, make your dough into a ball, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place. Set your timer for an hour. The trick is that you want the ball to be twice its size. In the meantime, choose your shape. Will it be in a bread loaf pan or freeform? When it’s risen, grab the dough and deflate it by putting it into whatever baking tool you’ll be using then cover it again with a tea towel to rise again, which will take less time than the first rising (about 30 to 45 minutes). Preheat your oven to whatever the recipe calls for and pop it in there, then wait for your perfect loaf to materialize.
Pro Tip
Hot air surrounding the loaf ensures it cooks evenly, which is why many professional bakers have steam injected into their ovens. You can mimic that at home by misting the bread with water from a spray bottle before putting it in the oven, getting it's surface wet. Also, in addition to following the time and temperature specified in your recipe, you’ll know your bread is ready when it’s a deep, golden brown and smells like toast. If it sounds hollow when you take it out of the oven, flip it over, and tap the middle of it with a spoon, it’s ready!
If you want to take your baking skills and turn them into a profession, Centennial College’s Baking Skills program can help. This certificate program is specifically designed to meet industry demands for professional bakers. That means it covers a wide range of topics in an experiential learning format includes everything from baking courses covering fine decorating and finishing skills to large quantity production techniques.
Written by: Izabela Szydlo
Resources
https://www.centennialcollege.ca/programs-courses/full-time/baking-skills/
https://www.self.com/story/how-to-make-bread-beginner-tips
https://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/1129472/bread-baking-tips/
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/bread-baking-101-beginners/
https://www.wisebread.com/a-beginners-guide-to-homemade-bread