Breadmaking 101

So, I've started baking all of our family's bread.

I used to bake a great deal when Melissa and I were first married, but I stopped somewhere along the way. A few years ago, I tried bread a couple of times with dismal results--I had lost "the touch."

Then I read a cookbook written by the people that operate Panera Bread Company. It went into depth about the science of bread, and explained in great detail what each of the four ingredients (flour, water, yeast, and salt) do and how they interact. I tried their Country White recipe, and meticulously followed their instructions. The ingredients turned into dough, rose nicely, and baked into really tasty loaves. I was hooked again.

So far, I've also tried their Honey Wheat and classic Sourdough (using a made-from scratch starter--which reminds me: I need to feed it). My latest loaf was a Honey Buttermilk recipe, taken from an artisan breadmaking website:


Not bad, and it tasted great, but I need to improve my dough handling skills. I'm still not stretching the gluten enough to get a really light, airy crumb. Same problem trumped my first sourdough attempt. After 25 hours of fermentation (really!) I had a beautiful gluten matrix in the bowl, and the subsequent loaves proofed up nicely, but I proofed them on the counter rather than the baking sheet, and transferring them deflated them somewhat. An amateur mistake.

My girls love the homemade bread, but I know I have a lot left to learn. Maybe that's why bakers used to be guilded craftsmen...