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learn how to bake bread


 

How to learn how to bake bread by curvaliscious

"making bread by hand is easy and therapeutic!"

How I did it: Here's how to do it:

Ingredients
4 cups of flour (I used all purpose)
2 tablespoons of sugar (white, brown or honey)
1.5 teaspoons of salt
1.5 teaspoons of yeast

1.5 cups of warm water (you don't want the water too hot or it will kill off the yeast)
2 tablespoons of oil or margarine (I always use oil)

Mix
together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water and oil and
begin mixing it with your hands until you have a ball of ingredients
all mixed together then remove it from the bowl.

On
a clean counter, begin kneading your dough by pushing it forward with
the heel of your hands then folding it over and doing it again. Knead
your dough for 5 minutes by the clock. If you don't knead it enough, it
will result in terrible bread.

Once
you have your dough in a smooth, warm ball, take a moment to wash out
your mixing bowl. Dry it and add a little bit of oil to the bottom then
roll your dough around in the oil to coat it. Now you want to set your
bread in a warm place to rise and it can take up to 2 hours or more for
it to rise properly. I turn on my oven to the lowest setting then turn
it off and leave the light on before setting my dough in it to rise
because my house is cold. In the summer you can leave it on the counter
unless your house is well air conditioned. Cover it with a towel or
something to protect it if you leave it out somewhere while it is
rising.

Take a peek at
your dough in about an hour or so (if you are using the oven method)
and see if the ball has doubled in size. If you think it has, poke the
dough with your finger - it should indent and stay indented when its
ready. Take it from the bowl and punch it down to get all the air out
and then knead the dough again for 1 minute then shape it into your
loaf and lay on the pan or in the loaf pan. You can shape the dough
however you choose - today I am making french loaf. Allow the dough to
rise in a warm spot again for an hour to an hour and a half.

Once
risen, brush the tops with a little oil or eggs whites then bake it in
the oven at 350 for 30-40 minutes. You will know that the bread is done
if you remove it from the pan and when you tap the bottom of the loaf
it sounds hollow. If it doesn't, just put it back in the pan and cook
it a little longer. When its done, remove it from the pans and allow to
cool.

Enjoy!

Lessons & tips: Knead, knead, knead that bread! Let it rise enough and make sure you cook it properly!


 

Nov 27, 2008, 11:05AM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer


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    curvaliscious is in bed with a headache. :o(

    Not with a machine! 12 months ago

    I bake my own bread every week (usually several times a week) with the bread machine by using it to make the dough, then punching it down and allowing it to rise in the pan then baking it in the oven. I would, however, like to learn how to make bread without the aid of the machine.

    Nov 06, 2008, 02:12PM PST | 0 comments


    andymac007 is doing my tax return (yuk)

    Untitled 15 months ago

    inspired by the zen of cooking DVD

    Aug 30, 2008, 10:35PM PDT | 0 comments


    Kir_Royale

    Totally worth it. 3 years ago

    You will wonder what it is you have been eating all your life if this is how good homemade bread tastes like.

    Feb 19, 2006, 01:46AM PST | 0 comments


    ciellymcguilly

    kneading dough 4 years ago

    Oh, the sweat i generate when knead the dough… surely an earthly task that each must experience at least once…

    Plus the joy of eating a freshly baked, home-made, straight-out-of-the-oven mouthwatering bread…

    Have i succeeded in encouraging you?

    Its harder actually to bake a cake. My first attempt at baking bread are okay.. but the cake turned out too hard LOL

    Jun 08, 2005, 02:26AM PDT | 0 comments


    defiantdesigns

    I can cook, promise. 4 years ago

    Then why can’t I get bread to do what it is supposed to do? My few attempts at it have been utter failures and I’m not sure what went wrong. Someday I will try again and again and again until I succeed. Just not now. I am too emotionally fragile to let yeast get a rise out of me.

    Apr 17, 2005, 07:44PM PDT | 0 comments



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