Bread, and why it is worth making

Bread has acquired a reputation for difficulty that the process does not justify: flour, water, salt and yeast, mixed, left, shaped, left again, and baked.

What each ingredient does

Understanding this is most of the technique.

Flour provides the protein that forms gluten, which is the structure that traps gas.

Strong or bread flour has more protein than plain flour and produces a better rise.

Wholemeal absorbs more water and produces a denser loaf, which is why wholemeal doughs need more liquid.

Water hydrates the flour and enables gluten formation.

Higher hydration produces a more open crumb and a stickier, harder-to-handle dough.

Salt controls fermentation, strengthens gluten and provides flavour.

Bread without salt is noticeably poor, and salt in direct prolonged contact with yeast inhibits it, which is why they are usually added separately.

Yeast ferments the sugars, producing carbon dioxide which raises the dough and alcohols and acids which produce flavour.

Less yeast with more time produces better flavour than more yeast with less.

The process

Mixing, until the ingredients are combined, then a rest of twenty minutes or so before kneading, which allows the flour to hydrate and makes kneading considerably easier.

Kneading, which develops the gluten network.

Ten minutes by hand is generally sufficient.

The alternative — a series of folds at intervals during the first rise, with no kneading at all — achieves the same result with less effort and is what many bakers now use.

The first rise, until roughly doubled, which depends entirely on temperature rather than on the clock.

A cool slow rise produces better flavour, and an overnight rise in the refrigerator is both convenient and an improvement.

Shaping, which creates surface tension so the loaf rises upward rather than spreading.

This is the step that most affects the appearance of the finished loaf.

The second rise, shorter, until the dough springs back slowly when pressed.

Under-proved bread bursts at the side; over-proved bread collapses.

Baking, hot, with steam in the first part of the bake.

Steam keeps the crust soft long enough for full expansion and then produces the shine and crispness.

A covered casserole achieves this at home better than anything else, since it traps the dough's own moisture.

Judging doneness

Colour is the first indicator, and darker is generally better than most home bakers dare.

The internal temperature is the reliable measure, and a thermometer removes the guesswork.

The hollow sound when tapped underneath is the traditional test and is reasonably reliable.

And cooling completely before cutting matters, since the interior continues to set as it cools and cutting hot bread produces a gummy crumb.

Sourdough

Which is the same process with wild yeasts and bacteria instead of commercial yeast.

A starter is flour and water, fed regularly, which develops a stable culture within a couple of weeks.

The differences: much longer fermentation, more sour flavour, better keeping quality, and considerably more variability.

The extended fermentation has been the subject of research into digestibility and into the breakdown of certain compounds, with results that are interesting and not conclusive enough to make health claims from.

It is more demanding and more rewarding, and it is not a starting point.

Common problems

Dense loaf: under-proved, insufficient gluten development, or yeast that was dead.

Collapsed loaf: over-proved, or dough too wet for the flour used.

Pale crust: oven not hot enough, or insufficient time.

Tough crumb: too much flour added during kneading, which is the most common correction people make and the one they should resist.

No rise at all: yeast killed by water that was too hot, or salt in direct contact.

Storage

Bread stales through starch retrogradation rather than drying, and refrigeration accelerates it substantially.

Which means a bread bin or a paper bag at room temperature for a couple of days, and the freezer beyond that.

Sliced before freezing, it can be toasted from frozen, which is the practical way for a household to have good bread without baking every other day.