Why Buy Bread When You Can Bake It?

By Thomas Vogt on October 13, 2013

You’re on your way back from campus after enduring 5 straight hours of grueling classes. You’re hungry, famished in fact, and the only thing racing through your mind (besides “Get home, now!”) is the delicious homemade sandwich you've been planning all morning.

You fly through your front door, skipping the cordial “Hello’s” to roommates and heading straight for the bastion of all things food, the kitchen.
You whip out some ingredients from the fridge (BLT? PBJ? Maybe even a smoked ham and pepper jack?) and throw open your bread cabinet, only to nearly drop everything in sheer surprise and terror.

You’re out of bread.

It’s happened to the best of us, and there’s nothing more infuriating than having to slab together a meal that could be amplified by a good loaf of whole wheat or sourdough bread. The great thing is, however, you can insure you’ll never suffer from bread loss by learning to make it yourself. The even better thing is, it’s cheap, it’s delicious and easy, and it’s stress relieving.

The first and more important thing you need to make bread is an open mind. Like most cooking, sometimes recipes don’t go as planned, so feel free to mess around with recipes and concoctions, altering and editing as you see fit. Next, you’ll need an oven, a cookie sheet or bread pan, and a few bowls and mixing utensils.

Now for the ingredients. For an easy white bread, you’ll need:

  • ~6 cups of flour
  • 1 tbs sugar
  • 2 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 envelope, or about 2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 2 tbs softened butter
  • 1/3 cup seeds of your choosing (optional)

It's always a good idea to gather all your ingredients before baking.

(I've included a few images of my most recent loaf, a rye sourdough bread.)

In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, the yeast, and the sugar. Slowly add the water and softened butter, beating slowly until the mixture thickens evenly. Add another 1/2 cup flour and seeds if using, and mix evenly. Add another 3 cups of flour, and mix until a soft dough forms. (A note for the mixing. I like to use a fork at first, until I've added a little over 2 cups of flour. Then I switch to a wooden spoon for more torque and leverage. )

Note: This is way too wet of a dough.


Now, flour a flat surface lightly and knead that sucker. (A quick tip on kneading: First and foremost, flour your hands so the dough doesn't stick to your digits. Then, knead the dough by gently stretching it out and folding it back in on itself. I like to hold the dough in my hands and stretch it towards myself, like I’m opening a book. then I fold the ends into the “mushroom cap” I've created, effectively making a small ball of dough. After about 8-12 minutes, the dough will change in consistency, becoming smooth, soft, and springy. To test springiness, gently poke the dough and gauge how fast it returns to shape. It it doesn't return at all, keep kneading!)

Clean your hands and butter the inside of a medium sized bowl. Place your now dough ball into the bowl, turning it over so that the butter coats all of it (This is to prevent the dough from drying out.) Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit for about an hour.

While we wait, let’s cover exactly why you need to knead. Flour contains two proteins, glutenin and gliadin. When you combine flour with water, you bond both of those proteins to the water molecule, and then that molecule to other molecules, creating chains of gluten. As you knead the dough, you’re manipulating the gluten into tighter and stronger structures. Well, so what? That’s where the yeast comes in. The yeast eats at the proteins and sugar in the dough, and creates CO2. This is then trapped in the gluten structure that you’ve created. Some breads don’t need to be kneaded however, such as no knead artisans and some sourdoughs. Instead, these doughs are mixed together and stored in cold temperatures for long amounts of time. As time passes, natural gluten links are formed (but not as compactly!) and a more airy “crumb” is developed. The crumb of a bread is the soft inside part spanning from crust to crust. The quality of the crumb is considered one of the most important parts of skillful bread making.

Hopefully that didn't take an hour to read, but now that the hour has passed, lets check your bread! If it has doubled in size, punch down the dough (don’t actually punch it, just stretch and push it until it’s deflated, an act called degaussing) and knead it until smooth again. It should feel warm and soft. Cut the down in half, and let both halves sit for about 15 minutes.

computer software

Here comes the fun part: the loaf shaping.

To make a traditional sandwich bread loaf, you’ll need a buttered ~9” x ~3.5” bread pan. Roll out the dough into a small rectangle, and roll it up from one of the long sides until the seem of the bread is on the bottom. Tuck the top half of the sides under itself until you have a continuous flat surface along the top of the dough. Squish or elongate as needed and place into the buttered pan. If you don’t have a bread pan, butter a baking sheet and set aside. Roll the dough in the method mentioned above, or create a boule (a round loaf) but stretching the dough flat and then tucking the sides under the top (creating a similar mushroom head shape again) flattening into a ball. Make sure all the sides are even!

Time to let it rise again! Wait about 45 minutes, covered, or until the dough has doubled.While we wait, let’s discuss bread washes. Washes are treatments to the surface of the dough that help it develop an ultimate crust.

  • Water can be brushed on the dough to create a sticky surface for adding seeds or grains;
  • A beaten egg with a tbs of water makes a dark crust with a slight sheen (as seen on sourdoughs). Diluted egg yolks make the crust dark (pretzel bread), while egg whites create a high sheen (french breads);
  • A milk wash will darken and flavor the crust due to additional proteins;
  • A diluted honey wash will make your crust slightly sweet;
  • A butter wash will make the crust velvety and supple;
  • And simply sprinkling flour on the dough will make it look rustic and add character.

After about 30 minutes, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Depending on which method you’re using (such as the cooking sheet) you may want to “score” your dough to help combat “oven spring.” Scoring bread is simply the act of cutting it with a sharp razor. Three diagonal or perpendicular cuts usually do, and should be performed with an ultra sharp razor or serrated knife. This is done to help the bread keep shape while it expands, also known as oven spring. Some dough's have incredible oven spring, coming out almost lopsided; some have none at all. If you notice any irregular lumps in your dough, now is a good time to score those as well.

Finally, almost time to bake. Add your wash of choice, lightly coating the bread. Now place on the middle rack and cook for about 25 – 30 minutes, turning halfway through. After about 20 minutes, your bread should be fully risen and marking your house with the wonderful scent of homemade deliciousness. (Don’t blame me if your roommates wander into the kitchen to figure out when they can eat it!)

A Rye Sourdough Bread I Made

The finished product.

Remove the bread when the crust is a golden to dark brown and the loaves sound hollow when knocked. Brush with a little butter to help solidify the crust and ensure it stays fresh and flavorful. DO NOT CUT THE LOAVES OPEN. This is a rookie mistake and leads to undeveloped and floppy bread. In order for the crumb to fully develop, the loaf needs to sit for about 25 minutes on a cooling rack or counter top. It’s tempting, I know, but it’ll be well worth the wait and wonderfully warm at that.

After ~25 minutes, you can now enjoy your creation. Notice the crumb, and how tightly (or loosely) compacted the air pockets are; is the crust thick or thin? Dark brown to golden? Or golden all the way through? What flavors are the strongest? Take note of all these things so you can alter how you cook it next time, or add seeds such as flax or rye fruit.

And there you have it. In no time at all you’ll be baking bread so good your friends will be paying you for it! (True story).

This particular rye sourdough goes great toasted with eggs, or even on it's own. Feel free to try various spreads and pairings with your fresh loaf.

 

Base bread recipe taken from About.com

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