bread again

and again and again…

So I wanted to post some thoughts and tips on my recent bread recipe.

First off…I did not list the total amount of flour at the beginning of the recipe last week…how confusing. Dang it. Sorry about that. I have since added it in so it’s there now. It was tucked into the end of the recipe in the tips…but that isn’t helpful. Thank you to the readers that helped me sort that out.

I just wanted to note that making perfect homemade bread has been my marriage long pursuit…so almost eight years running. I have made a few bricks, more than a few blobs of dough unevenly baked, a handful of great loaves, and a lot of pretty good…for homemade bread…bread {meh}. Just recently, with the help of this recipe, have I been able to consistently make pretty darn perfect bread.

Bread making has not come easy to me so I want to share as many tips as I can with you in case you are in the same boat. Here goes:

– Make lots of bread. It will get easier and you will find things that work best for you as you keep at it. You get better at kneading, rising and baking the more you do it.

-Personally I think that bread recipes seem to fit like shoes. Flats look good on a lot of people…but not everyone. My other friend who is a fantastic cook/baker does not like this recipe… and the bread recipe in my favorite cookbook of all time doesn’t work as wonderful for me. Putting a pan of water in the oven with the bread doesn’t seem help my bread  as much as the book says it should and it is kind of a hassle to me. The recipe is also way more complicated and therefore easier for me to mess up! 🙂 So…try this bread recipe on for size or try several recipes to find the one you like. But don’t give up after one time….

– Try, try, try again. I made this particular recipe at least five times before I caught a good rhythm that gave me not just good bread…but pretty perfect bread. Finally! 🙂

– And follow recipe indicators exactly. Don’t worry about estimated times as much as:

making a soft dough – add flour a cup at a time until you achieve this and if you don’t add the full 7 cups, no matter

knead for 7-8 minutes + – if by hand which I actually prefer over using my Kitchen Aid

rise until doubled – don’t under rise, it won’t be ready…or let it rise for way too long like 4 hours, it will over rise and then deflate and change the dough

roll out all air bubbles and roll up into a tight cylinder

let it rise in the pan {preferably in an oven at 175 degrees} until it fills the pan and has at least doubled

when baking don’t take that bread out until you get a hollow sound when you tap it – even if the crust looks dark to you..it won’t look as dark after you slather butter on it and after it cools.

This will help you better navigate through variables such as flour moisture, type of oven, altitude, and weather conditions that can affect your baking.

Just wanted to give some encouragement to anyone who may have tried this recipe and maybe got less than desirable results. If you are like me, bread takes practice. It is so worth it to keep at it! Deliciously worth it. 🙂

EDITED TO ADD:

One reader had a great question about pans. I answered in the comments but thought adding it to the post might be more helpful.

She asked: What about the pans? What kind do you use and have you found that pans make a difference? Dark or light metal, size, etc? I think that might be part of my problem.

I answered {and edited a little}:
For a long time I thought my pans were my problem too. But it is just a matter to adjusting to them. There is no doubt that some pans are preferable to others. I like dark non-stick and glass over aluminum but that can be personal preference.

With glass pans you have to cook it for a little longer and maybe on a lower temp but I don’t adjust the temp for my bread. Dark non-stick…maybe less time, and aluminum – longer than the cooking time. The pan that has come closest to the actual cooking time for me is the dark non-stick…funny huh?

My pans are what made me have to make it five times before I perfected the bread. I used my aluminum pans a lot and they were giving me trouble. It always takes longer and makes my bread a little browner on top for whatever reason. But it still works if I just wait a little longer {like 5-10 min) than I think I should have to. Now…this may have to do with the fact that I live 4500 + ft. above sea level. If you use the indicators I mentioned above you will be able to sort it out better for where you live. At least I hope so. 🙂

I hope that helps anyone else with this question.

ONE MORE EDIT:

Another great reader Lesli emailed me today and said that her bread worked out well! I love to hear that! She also emailed me earlier this week to ask what kind of yeast I use and that that might have some bearing on how your bread turns out.

The yeast I use is Fleischmann’s Instant Dry Yeast. I like this yeast best because it always works well for me, is cheap {I buy the double pack at Sam’s for about $4 and it lasts me forever if I keep the opened pack in the fridge and sealed packs in the freezer}, and it doesn’t make my breads have a weird aftertaste like the Saf Instant yeast does.

ALSO…I had the thought that letting your bread rise in the oven both times might be key. Whether a dough rises quickly or slowly can affect the dough. I am sure either would work fine, but rising quickly might give you better results. I have had great results doing using the oven both times.

Hope that helps!
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Happy Baking!