Want to be Baking your own Bread? Your Questions Answered.

If you’re not sure how warm your water should be, here’s a simple baker’s trick.

Take the temperature you want your dough to be, let’s say 26˚c then double it, that’s 52˚c.

Take the temperature of the flour you are using. Let’s say it’s been in the larder and is only 18˚c.

Take that from the target temperature, and that’s the water temperature you need- 52˚c-18˚c =34˚c.

The dough should be sticky when you first start to knead. Use a little flour on your hands and table but don’t try to work flour into the dough. Too dry a dough will be tough. Keep kneading and the gluten will begin to from together and the dough will come away to form a ball and take on a silky finish.

Struggling to work with rye flour? It can be extremely rewarding to bake, and very good for you. The problem is that it can be very gooey and tricky to work with.

A simple solution to this is to wet your equipment and hands with cold water. Then as you handle the dough the moisture will allow it to slide off.

Proving is allowing the yeast in the dough to feed on the carbohydrates in the flour. This in turn allows the yeast to multiply. As the yeast feeds it produces carbon dioxide witch form bubbles in the dough and gives the bread its light texture.

The first proving of the dough allows the yeast to establish itself in the dough and multiply. This also gives time for the gluten in the flour to develop.

We then form the dough into the required shape

The second prove after shaping gives the yeast access to more food. The now multiplied cells can produce lots of gas to push the dough outwards. This gives us a lighter loaf with a good crumb.

Rich doughs like buns have a lot of fat and sugar in the dough. This will slow the progress of the yeast. That’s perfectly normal, using fast action yeast will speed things up a little.

If your dry goods are stored in a cool larder let them come up to room temperature before mixing. If your flour is very cold use slightly warmer water to mix.

When proving the dough for the first time or proving the final produce place the tray in a bag (bin bags are great). Throw up the open end of the bag to catch some air then tuck the open end under the tray. This will form a tent of trapped air making the bread prove evenly and stop the bread forming a skin.

To get the best crust and finish on your bread it needs to begin cooking in moist heat. Place a shallow tray in the bottom of the oven as it is heating up and when you place the bread in the oven throw a few ice cubes into the tray below. The ice will melt then form steam and help the crust form

This is the traditional method of checking if your bread is ready. After the recommended cooking time lift the bread using a tea towel or oven cloth. Tap the base of the bread and listen. The cooked bread should make a hollow sound. If the sound is a dull thud the centre is still wet and unrisen.

The second option is to use a probe thermometer. Lighter breads like Focaccia should be between 83˚c – 91˚c in the centre. Heaver rich breads should be between 88˚c – 91˚c in the centre.

Storing dried yeast in the freezer will help it retain its power. Fresh yeast can also be frozen for a short time in an emergency. Add just a little more to the recipe to make up for the damage freezing will do.

When using dried yeast where the recipe stipulates fresh use half the weight. If using fresh in place of dried use double the weight.

Dried Yeast is normally sold in a small tin and needs to be mixed with water before use. DO NOT add it directly into the flour as it will not dissolve in the dough. Works fine, I would always recommend making a ferment to make sure the yeast is properly dissolved.

Fast Action Yeast is in the one you buy in the little tin foil pouches. Originally developed for bread making machines this is a finer grain. This means it will dissolve in a dough without pre-mixing with water. The ‘Fast Action part is because vitamin C has been added to the yeast to supercharge it and help the machine produce a lighter loaf.

It could be that your yeast is just too old and dead. Always check the use by date on the packaging before use. You may be using water that is too hot, blood heat water is ideal for use with yeast.

Never expose yeast to concentrations of fat, salt, or sugar they will kill the yeast. Be sure to separate them in the mixing of the dough.

Well, what is flour? A type of flour can be made from many grains, beans, nuts, roots, or seeds.  As long as they have enough starch content to allow us to grind them into flour.

Most of the time we are talking about wheat flour but there are many other options out there. For example, rye, spelt, cassava, arrowroot, corn, rice, chickpeas, potato, and nuts.

Bread flour also known as strong flour is made from wheat with a high protein content. Its these proteins that form gluten when moistened and kneaded. Other flours like a plain pastry flour have a lower protein content.

You can make some flatbreads using plain flour but as the name indicates they will be flat.

Don’t try to exchange bread (strong) flour for plain (soft) flour in a recipe. The larger amount of gluten in the bread flour will allow the dough to rise correctly.

Yes, substitute up to 20% of the flour with strong white flour. This will make the dough lighter and easier to work. Depending on the flour you may need to reduce the liquid content slightly