Tips for Baking Bread at home

First you will need some basic supplies. The biggest of which is a Stand Mixer with a dough hook. I have the standard Kitchen Aid Mixer. I have had it for 12 years and it gets used almost every day. It is awesome and I would not trade it for any other appliance out there. While you can make bread without a mixer, it is A LOT MORE work. Incidentally, I am not a believer in bread machines. I know most of them have a “bread kneading” setting that allows you to take the dough out and bake it in the oven. But it does the kneading under a closed and locked door. Most experienced bread makers will tell you that you need to “see and feel” the dough to tell when it is done kneading, and I agree with them. That is easy to do using a stand mixer and almost impossible using a bread machine. Next you are going to need a few good baking pans and sheets. My advice is to get heavy gauge aluminum pans from a good manufacturer. Do NOT by the insulated or “airbake” pans. You will need two bread loaf pans, a large cookie sheet, and a large jelly roll pan. You will also need two wire cooling racks. The other stuff is mostly the standard baking equipment like measuring cups and a silicone spatula that most people collect over time, but a few specific things are the following: a meat thermometer, a pastry brush, rolling pin, and a couple of big mixing bowls.

Secondly there are a couple of supplies that, while not necessary, are very convenient. A non-stick mat (the brand I recommend is called a Silpat and can be bought cheaply at Amazon.com) is nice to have, not necessarily to bake on, but to have on your counter to knead your bread on. The less extra flour you use to keep your dough from sticking when you hand knead it…the better. A non-stick mat helps in that regard. Also, a small digital scale is very nice. Many recipes will ask you to weigh the flour to get an accurate measurement. Also, it is nice when dividing dough into several balls to make sure you get the same sized loaves. This is the one I have and I like it (Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale). I also bought it from Amazon.com.
Next, you need good ingredients. Probably the most important is the yeast. After struggling with the crappy yeast that is sold at the grocery stores for months, I discovered a brand of yeast called SAF-Instant. And here is the great part. It is sold at GFS (Gordon Food Service) and it is cheaper than the crappy stuff at Kroger’s. Buy a bag and keep it in the fridge. It will last for months that way. Next is the kind of Flour you use. I really like the “King Arthur” brand. A bag of the all-purpose flour and a bag of the bread flour will get you started. I usually buy them at Kroger’s. They have it on sale about once a month. I try to stock-up when it is cheaper.
Now…we unleash the power of the internet. Take a few minutes and read a few articles and watch a couple of videos on how to make bread and knead dough. I have listed several below that I think are good.
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/all-about-baking-bread-00400000002719/
http://www.epicurious.com/video/technique-videos/technique-videos-bread/1915458771
http://www.connieqcooking.com/how-to-bake-bread-video-1.html
http://www.ehow.com/video_2340956_add-flour-bread.html
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons

Next…you just have to make some bread. And yea…some of the first attempts are going to suck. Making bread is about getting a feel for the dough. How it looks and how it feels in your hands. That is why most bread recipes do not give an exact amount of flour. Depending on the elevation, humidity, temperature and many other factors, the amount of flour you will need is going to vary. Don’t let that freak you out. It really does not take long to get the hang of it. So, for that reason, I also recommend you choose a couple of bread recipes and make each of them several times. That will allow you to get a good “feel” for how the dough should feel/look/rise. Once you have those down, moving on to bread that you have never made before will be much easier. And I am going to give you my recommendations for the 3 breads you should master before moving on to more complicated varieties. The first is called “Yeasted English Muffin Bread. It is a recipe that comes from James Beard. Mr. Beard has an excellent book called “Beard on Bread”. However it is not a beginner’s book. Most of Mr. Beards recipes are quite complex and require a bit of experience to understand. But this recipe is excellent. It does not require the use of a stand mixer. Just some elbow grease to stir the dough for 6 minutes or so. Plus it its very yummy bread that makes great toast in the mornings as well as sliced for dinner. Below is a link that will show you some decent photos of how the dough and bread should look.
http://sourdoughhome.com/bakingintro2.html

Now you want to make a nice crusty loaf of French bread. This will give you lots of opportunities to see and fell the dough as it kneads and you roll/shape it into a loaf. Below in an excellent recipe with some good advice and tips.
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FrenchBread.htm

Lastly, I am going to give you a recipe that I adapted from several different sources. It is a personal favorite of my wife, so make it and invite her over for dinner. It makes a very soft and delicate loaf of bread and it introduces both herbs and fats into your bread making repertoire.

Tony’s Rosemary Bread
This bread is a knockoff of the bread served at Macaroni Grill with a few revisions by me. Makes 2 loaves.
Notes
· The longer you let the dough rise the second time, the more developed the flavor of the bread will be.
· Using fresh Rosemary (while a pain) will give you better tasting and much more aromatic bread.
Ingredients
· 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (NOT the instant or rapid rise yeast)(about 1.33 of the packets)
· 3 teaspoons white sugar
· 2 cups warm water, 95 to 105F (No hotter than 110 degrees!)
· Approximately 5 cups bread flour (you can use all purpose flour, but the bread will be much heavier) (I like the King Arthur bread flour in the white and blue bag)
· 6 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive oil (I think the Goya brand of Spanish Olive oil tastes the best)
· 1 Tablespoon salt
· 2 Tablespoon finely chopped or crushed Rosemary
· ½ teaspoon of Italian seasonings (half oregano and half basil can be subsisted)
· ½ teaspoon of black pepper
Position oven rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet and spread a dusting for cornmeal where each loaf will sit.
Proof the yeast by adding the yeast, water and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well and then do not touch the liquid again until it is done proofing. Allow the yeast to activate and get foamy and creamy looking (no less than 5 minutes and no more than 10 minutes). If it does not get foamy, through it out and start over with new yeast
In a large bowl (preferably a stand mixer with a dough hook), combine 2 cups flour, salt and all the spices and stir well. Stir in yeast mixture and mix until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Now slowly add the oil. Now add the remaining flour (as much as is necessary) one cup at a time. Allow the mixer with the dough hook to knead the dough for about 8 minutes once a dough ball forms. Occasionally lower the bowl and take the dough off the hook and invert it so the part of the dough that was on top of the hook is now in the bottom of the bowl.
After 8 minutes of kneading by the mixer, turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface; knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic about another 2 minutes. Shape into a ball and place dough in a greased bowl and turn once. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled (probably about 60 to 70 minutes).
Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into 2 balls. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Use your hands to roll each ball onto a log shaped loaf. If you have a seam, put it facing down
Place both loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. I like to brush the loaves with some olive oil at this point and sprinkle some coarse kosher salt on top. This is optional, but it gives the crust a salty flavor that I like. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until nearly doubled, 60-70 minutes. Make sure to have enough room for the loaves to expand on the baking sheet without touching.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 35 minutes, or until bread tests done (about 200 degrees inside using a meat thermometer). If necessary, cover each loaf loosely with foil to prevent over browning during the last 10 minutes of baking. Remove from baking sheet immediately and cool on a wire rack.

Update – The new thing in the bread baking world seems to be the various “no-knead” bread recipes. I have tried one of these recipes that I saw on a food blog I visit (the link is posted below) and it does make tasty bread. But most of these require the dough to ferment/rise for 18-24 hours. So for me, that is a major drawback. Finding time in the early afternoon to make bread for that evening is hard enough, but making the dough a day ahead of time would be almost impossible. Too often our schedule changes or something comes up at the last minute. And it would drive me crazy to waste all the time and money on bread dough that went bad because I was not available to bake it when the 18 hours of rise time was done. Besides, I like the way dough feels when I knead it and shape it. Having dough that you don’t have to put your hands on is not something I see as an advantage. So for me…I will keep making dough the way it has been made for a long time. With a stand mixer and a digital scale ;-)
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/01/no-knead-ciabatta-bread-you-can-believe.html