17th July 2022
How to make bread
There are few things as daunting, yet ultimately rewarding, for the home cook as baking bread. The secret to success lies in a combination of elbow grease when kneading the dough and patience while you wait for the dough to rise and double in size. Then it’s as simple as sitting back while your bread bakes and the wonderful aromas fill the air.
Bread basics
Before baking, it helps to understand the process. Here’s how it works.
LEAVENING
Along with basic ingredients such as flour and milk (see Essential bread ingredients, below), your dough needs a leavening agent, usually yeast, to help it rise. This reacts with the sugar and flour to form air bubbles in the dough. If you don’t add enough yeast, the dough won’t rise. Too much yeast will give your bread a yeasty flavour.
KNEADING
Kneading distributes the yeast evenly, and develops the structure of the gluten strands in the dough. These capture the air bubbles made by the yeast, which ensures your bread will rise and have an even, fine texture. To knead, use both hands to press, fold and turn the dough until it’s smooth and elastic. To test, press the dough with two fingers – if it springs back lightly, it’s ready.
FIRST PROVING
Once the dough is elastic, place it in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm, draught-free place. Wait until it has almost doubled in size. The rising action is known as proving, because it proves that the yeast is doing its job. How long this takes depends on the temperature of the room and the activity of the yeast. Bread that hasn’t had enough time to prove, or that has risen too quickly because of excess yeast, is likely to be coarse in texture.
PUNCHING
After the first proving, make a fist with your hand and punch down the centre of the dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough has returned to its original size. This removes any air pockets that may have developed in the dough.
SECOND PROVING
After rolling or shaping your dough, set it aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove again. When it has risen to the size specified in the recipe, it’s ready to bake. If it doesn’t rise enough, the bread will be dense and heavy.
BAKING
Preheat the oven to the temperature stated in the recipe. It has to be hot enough for the air bubbles in the dough to expand, which makes your bread rise. To test if your bread is cooked, tap it on the base – it’s ready when it sounds hollow.
Step-by-step basic bread dough recipe
Use this basic bread dough recipe to get started and then follow the related recipes to create your own bread, rolls, pizza bases, sweet scrolls and yummy pull-aparts.
Ingredients
- 450g (3 cups) plain bread flour (see Essential bread ingredients, below)
- 1 tbs (12g/2 sachets) dried yeast
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 250ml (1 cup) warm milk
- 2 tbs melted butter
Method
- Combine flour, yeast and caster sugar in a large bowl. Stir in salt. Make a well in the centre. Add warm milk and butter.
- Use a wooden spoon to stir the mixture until well combined, then use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Brush a large bowl with olive oil to grease. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 45 minutes-1 hour or until the dough has almost doubled in size.
- Punch down the centre of the dough with your fist. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 2 minutes or until the dough is elastic and has returned to its original size. Continue following your recipe (see related recipes above).
Essential bread ingredients
Use this guide to get the best results from your basic bread dough.
FLOUR
For best results, use a plain bread flour (also known as bakers flour). This has a high protein content, which helps to create the elasticity the dough needs to rise. If bread flour is unavailable, use ordinary plain flour instead.
MILK
If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough won’t rise. Too cold, and rising will take longer. To test, sprinkle on your wrist – it should be lukewarm.
SALT
Salt helps strengthens the dough and stops it collapsing during baking. Make sure the flour and yeast are well combined before adding salt. If the salt comes into direct contact with yeast, it may kill it and your dough won’t rise.
YEAST
The main type of yeast used in home baking is dried yeast, available from the baking aisle of supermarkets. It’s designed to be added directly to the dry ingredients. However, if you’re using dried yeast that has been in your pantry for a while, you need to test whether it’s still active before making the dough recipe (see above). To do this, combine the dried yeast, the sugar and 125ml (1/2 cup) of the warm milk in a bowl. Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes. If the mixture is frothy, the yeast is active. Add this yeast mixture to the flour mixture with the remaining warm milk and melted butter in step 1.
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