The smell of warm bread baking in the oven is one of the great comforts of home. For some, this task seems to come innately: the yeast always activates, the dough always rises. But for many, baking bread is a daunting, day-long activity, full of finicky ingredients and too many steps.
Until now.
Follow these easy-to-understand tips and baking bread will soon become and enjoyable, and fool-proof activity for everyone!
How to Activate Yeast
The yeast can be one of the trickiest aspects of baking bread. The yeast is a living organism that is packaged in a dormant state. It’s the necessary ingredient to make the dough rise and become a light, fluffy loaf of bread. Most recipes require it to be activated in water that is between 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. If it’s too cold, it won’t activate, and if it’s too hot the yeast will die.
Instead of the guessing game, try this trick from John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg: empty one packet of dry active yeast into 1/4 cup of room-temperature water. Add one tablespoon of sugar and stir gently until everything is dissolved. This can take a few minutes, but soon it will be a single liquid emulsion.
Set this aside and wait 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid has formed a dense foam on top. At this time the yeast is ready to be added to the recipe (224-5).
How to Mix and Knead Bread Dough
These two steps are actually the most straightforward aspects of baking bread. Mix the liquid and dry ingredients until a sticky dough forms. The kneading can be done either by hand or with a dough hook in an electric mixer.
Kneading by hand can actually be quite therapeutic, but it also requires a bit more elbow grease than an electric mixer. The key to either method is to slowly add flour until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Tips to Make Dough Rise
Here is where the rubber meets the road and the yeast is truly put to the test. Different recipes call for different rising times, but most call for the dough to at least double in size. This can be hard to gauge, and most of the time it’s best to just eyeball it and trust your instincts. When it looks like it may have doubled in size, it probably has.
The Joy of Cooking offers a terrific suggestion for creating an optimal dough-rising environment: the oven. Simply turn on the oven for a minute and then turn it off again. It should have warmed just enough that it is warm to the hand, but not hot. Put the covered dough in the oven as it rises (601).
Bake the Bread
The baking times for bread can vary greatly, so keep an eye on the bread and check it often. The Joy of Cooking suggests testing doneness by tapping on the bottom of the pan. If it sounds hollow, then the bread is done (602).
Finally, and most importantly, relish in the fact that all the effort and time yielded delicious, toothsome bread that everyone will enjoy.
Works Cited:
Scharffenberger, John and Robert Steinberg. The Essence of Chocolate, New York: Hyperion, 2006.
Rombauer, Irma S. and Marion Rombauer Becker. The Joy of Cooking, New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1931.
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