How to Make Homemade Bread: davemcevers.com: Paperless Public Magazine

Ingredients

3 Cups Flour

1 Cup Plus 1 Tablespoon Hot Tap Water

A Squirt of Honey*

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon Oil (Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil, Butter)

1 1/2—2 teaspoons active dry yeast**

*The sugar in bread is most closely associated with the crust. As a general rule of thumb, the more sugars, the thicker the crust, but it is important not to overdo it. 1 Tablespoon of any type of sugar (honey, molasses, cane sugar, brown sugar) is a generally accepted amount. I just squirt some honey in the bowl, probably more like 2 Tablespoons, but I like a good crust.

**Several factors affect how yeast reacts, including temperature, humidity, and elevation. I almost always use 2 teaspoons

Text Box: Total Bread Time = 3 Hours YOUR Time = 25 Minutes

I like the ingenuity of making my own bread. Fresh bread warms both my heart and belly, and the smell evokes many fond memories. Nearly everyone on the planet eats some sort of bread, but not enough people make it at home. There is a perception that making bread is too much work, and takes too much time. This is simply not the case. Once you become familiar with the general principles, making bread is a snap. Bread making is both rewarding and economically responsible. With proper time management, your baking experience can be very productive.

The manner in which the ingredients work together is the most important aspect of making bread. In general, the more homogenous your final mixture, the better quality of bread it makes. In a large mixing bowl, squirt the honey (see note above), then add the oil, salt , and hot water and whisk until the honey is blended in, and not stuck to the bottom of the bowl. While whisking, dump in the yeast and slowly add flour (until you have reached 3/4 cup). Total whisk time should be two minutes.

Spray a thicker spatula (wooden is best, a flat wooden spoon works really well) with cooking spray. Integrate the remaining flour into the mixing bowl by poking and mixing with the spatula. When you have an unworkable mess in the bowl, dump it all onto a clean counter top. Make sure to scrape all of the ingredients from the bowl. Ingredient amounts and ratios are crucial in bread making. Work the mess with your hands until all the material is stuck together and there is no loose material on the counter top. This process should take about two minutes.

It is now time to start the kneading process. This is the most important and labor intensive part. While you do get a workout, it should take no longer than 10 minutes. If you like to read like me, James Beard, one of the world’s most respected authorities on bread, wrote a glorious book called, Beard on Bread. I recommend it for anyone interested in cooking. Here is what Beard says about the kneading process.

Now begin the kneading process, which evenly distributes the fermenting yeast cells through the dough. There are several ways to knead, but I prefer this one-handed method: Push the heal of your hand down into the dough and away from you. Fold the dough over, give it a quarter turn, and push again with the hand. Continue the sequence of pushing, folding, and turning until it becomes a rhythmic motion. Knead until the dough no longer feels sticky and has a smooth, satiny, elastic texture. This will take anywhere from 4 to 10 minute depending on the character of the flour and the warmth and the humidity of the room. To test whether the dough has been kneaded enough, make an indentation in it with your fingers; it should spring back (Beard 24).

Thus, it is impossible to nail down, with precision, how long or how much to knead the dough. The more times you do it, the easier it becomes to determine if dough is ready. It becomes a matter of feeling rather than quantifiable time. In the Introduction to Beard on Bread, Chuck Williams shares this insight:

Ask him (Beard) how long to knead the dough and the answer would probably be: Until it feels right. (Williams xi).

Metaphysics and Epistemology aside (but just for a moment), a generally accepted kneading time is 8 minutes.

You are finished with the hard part, and it’s time to start thinking of other projects. Form the dough into a ball. Lightly spray the inside of a bowl (about three times the size of the dough ball). Roll the ball around on the inside of the bowl so that it’s entire surface is covered lightly with the cooking spray. Place a towel over the bowl, and place in a warm, dry, and dark place. The oven is a good spot. If your oven setting goes down to 100°, that’s good, but nothing warmer than that. It’s okay not to have the oven on as long as its warmer than room temperature. Let the dough rise for 1 hour. This is where good time management skills are pertinent. I like to complete other things while I am waiting for my dough to rise. It’s a good time for me to clean the house, mow the yard, or in this case, upload the videos for this page. See you in 1 HOUR.

Remove the bowl from its resting spot and remove the towel. WOW! Your dough had grown to about double its original size. Punch it down in the middle and pull the edges into the center from the sides of the bowl. Remove the glob and form it into tight ball on your counter. The dough needs to rest a bit, approximately 5 minutes, to adjust to its new situation. It is a living growing thing at this point in the process. For me, a proper resting time for the dough ball is conveniently about the same amount of time it takes me to smoke a Marlboro cigarette. Do you think Phillip Morris is paying me for that plug?

After your dough has been awarded the proper resting time, use a rolling pin to form a flat mat that is a little less than the width of the baking pan. Roll and pinch the dough and form the ends (see video). Lightly spray the top of the dough with cooking spray, cover with a towel, and place into your warm, dark, and dry place for another hour. See you in one hour.

Do not preheat your oven (unless you already have it set to 100°), simply remove the towel from the pan an turn up the oven temp to 300°. You can brush the loaf during baking, (egg white for a shine, butter for and extra crisp), or you can just let it bake for 25 to 40 minutes. The time varies do to external conditions. You will know when it is done when the crust is golden brown and you can knock it with your finger and hear an echo. Remove from oven and pan, and place on a rack to cool.

Note: While it is tempting to cut right in to the bread, you should only do that if you plan on eating the entire loaf. Bread is still cooking as it cools, and lasts through the week if allowed to properly cool all the way. To solve this, make two loaves. One for you and your guests that evening, and one to last you through the work week.