Tools and Tips To Begin Your Search For The Perfect Bread

The sourdough bread craze that swept through our nation during the start of the COVID-19 self-isolation is starting to die down. Many have given up on the spicy starter in their fridge, but a few Americans are fully invested in their new baker’s identity. However, when you start exploring bread beyond the classic sourdough, a whole new set of challenges in the kitchen awaits.

Luckily, a few tools and tips can help you become an awesome baker. Here’s how to bake bread in a beginner-friendly way.

Tip #1: Do Your Homework

Just as you may have spent days scrolling through online details about proofing times, you’ll need to do more research on general baking techniques before your expert baking can begin. Don’t know where to start? Read cookbooks like Bread Biblewhich, according to recently surveyis among the top five cookbooks in the country, offering everything you need to know.

Tip #2: Weigh Something

One of most popular tips from professional bakers to amateur bakers is to measure ingredients by weight, not volume. Using a kitchen scale helps adapt your own cake to the recipes you read about and can be life changing when you start developing your own bread recipes as an ultimate baker.

Tip #3: Harness the Power of Your Flour

Good flour is the key to good bread, but not all flour is the same. While you may have had success substituting whole wheat for white and self-rising for cakes in the past, you will need to be selective about flour varieties as you build your baking skills. Read guide can help set you on the right track, but also keep track of how different flours are baked in your oven and stored in your cabinets.

Tip #4: Handle Heat

Just as bread is usually wrong with inaccurate measurements, bread can even be damaged by improper heating. And while your oven monitor may say 350℉, home bakers often fail because of the equipment. A surefire way to ensure your oven temperature matches the recipe card is to buy an oven thermometer to sit in your oven. By having the right temperature, you can get the perfect soft bread with the ratio of crunchy crust that all bakers dream of.

Tip #5: Show Some Evidence

Proofing dough is important for all yeast-baked breads. However, determining the exact point of perfect proofage can be a challenge. You’ll need to control the time, temperature, and humidity in your kitchen as you determine which environments produce well-rested bread. But many cooks will be quick to tell you that once you have mastered proofing, you can fit it into your schedule, leaving plenty of time for work. another cookbook or even out of the kitchen.

Tip #6: Bake, Bake, and Bake Some More

As with all things in life, practice is the key to becoming an awesome baker. On the bright side, baking bread offers a chance to master both a science and an art form. There are so many delicious possibilities to enter! Plus, given its popularity, bakery community easy to find online.

Good luck! And…remember to wear an apron.

photo by Mariana Kurnyk from Pexels