14 steps of bread baking

Four basic bread shapes

-baguette -boule -batard -pan loaf

2. Scale Ingredients

Accurate scaling, especially of yeast and salt, is crucial to good, consistent results.

7. Pre-shape:

All breads benefit from a pre-shape. This allows the baker to start the structure of the final loaf and makss final shaping easier. The type of pre-shape depends upon the final shape. A baguette, however, is typically easier to form from a log-type of pre-shape.

13. Cooling: will

Bread should be allowed to cool fully before it is served or eaten. Bread directly from the oven will have a wet, spongy crumb and a gassy flavor from the carbon dioxide still present in the loaf. In cooling, the crumb sets and excess gas and moisture dissipate from the loaf.

14. Storage

Breads that are meant to be crispy should not be stored in plastic or in the refrigerator; a paper bag or box is best. Enriched breads can be stores in plastic, but in the refrigerator they can become quite hard.

4. Fermentation: bulk fermentation,

Depending on the dough, bulk fermentation lasts anywhere from 10 minutes to overnight. During bulk fermentation, the yeast produces carbon dioxide and alcohol, and the dough's gluten network continues to develop.

1. Select Ingredients

Even though there are only four basic ingredients in bread dough, there are many variations within those four that need to be considered. What type of flour is being used? What type of yeast-fresh, active dry or instant dry? How coarse is the salt? What temperature is the water?

3. Mix

Most "artisan" breads use an autolyse (a resting period during the mixing process) and the "improved" mixing technique to attain medium gluten development while maintaining a short mix time.

11. Scoring

Most breads should be scored before they are loaded into the oven. Scoring creates a decorative appearance and also allows the bread to expand properly in the oven.

12. Baking:

Most lean doughs (doughs without fat or sugar) are baked at around 475 F (246°C) with steam. a crisp, flavorful crust. Doneness can be determined by time, color and the hollow sound heard when the generally bake in 10 minutes per pound, but artisan breads are typically baked longer than that to develop Bread is steamed to allow it to "spring" in the oven and to give it a shiny, crisp crust. A lean dough will bottom of the loaf is knocked.

6. Divide:

Once the bulk fermentation period is over, the dough must be divided, using a bench knife and a scale, to the desired weight. pre-shape.

8. Bench Rest/Intermediate Fermentation: gluten shape

The dough after pre-shape must be rested in order to relax the gluten network before the final shape can be made. The duration of the bench rest depends upon the condition of the dough, environmental conditions and how "tight" the baker shapes the dough.

10. Final Fermentation/Proof:

The dough is fermenting throughout the entire bread-making process, but this is the last chance the yeast has to do its work. The final proof can last anywhere from five minutes to overnight, depending upon the product being made, the condition of the dough and environmental conditions.

5.Fold/Turn:

The fold is often referred to as a "punch" in home-style recipes for bread. It occurs usually one hour into the bulk fermentation and has three purposes: to strengthen the dough's structure, to even out the temperature of the dough, to redistribute the yeast and yeast food and to slow down fermentation/release carbon dioxide.

9. Final shape:

There are four basic shapes in bread making: the baguette, the batard, the boule and the pan loaf