Bread Making Tips

Yeast - It doesn't matter if you use instant dry or active dry yeast. The only difference is the active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in warm water (90-110*F) before adding in the remaining ingredients. This activates the yeast, so your dough will get a better rise.

Instant dry yeast will do the same thing as active dry, but you can skip the dissolving in water step, and simply add it to the other ingredients straight away. Regardless of which type I use in my bread making, I do tend to always use warm water in the recipe, because a warmer environment is going to help your dough rise (or proof) faster and more effectively.

Proofing / Rising - Proofing your dough is kind of a science experiment, and will vary each time, depending on a few factors. The room temperature, the type of yeast, the moisture in the air, and the other ingredients in your recipe. Don't be discouraged if the recipe says 1 hour of proofing, and your dough still hasn't "doubled in size" after that amount of time. Just give it more time. After several trial and error loaves of bread, you start to know exactly how the dough should look and feel when it's done proofing. Make sure you're not using old yeast, as it does start to lose effectiveness past the expiration date, and this can certainly affect your rise results. You can proof your dough at room temperature, or I like to warm my oven to about 100*F and let it proof in there. There are also proofing mats and boxes that you can purchase online.

There is always risk of over-proofing your dough. This usually only happens to me if I get busy with work and forget about it (always set a timer!). It's pretty obvious when it's over proofed, because it will be about quadrupled in size, and have a lot of gassy bubbles. If you over proof your dough, it will likely fall flat in the oven when you try to bake it. I try to repurpose my over-proofed dough by turning it into pizza crust or flatbread. Another option is to bake it as is, and then turn it into breadcrumbs or croutons after baking. Throwing it away is just not an option in our house.

Kneading/Mixing - I really try to make bread recipes that don't call for a lot of hand kneading. I don't have the patience for it at this stage of life, but maybe someday I will find it to be therapeutic. If you want to get into bread making I suggest having a nice stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. There are many options available at different price points, and most of them will get the job done just fine. I have a Kitchen-Aid mixer now, but the Hamilton Beach mixer that I used for years did just as good a job. I let the dough hook do the kneading for me while I spend time cleaning up my kitchen or having another cup of coffee :)

Wheat Flour & Other Blends - There's some controversy regarding wheat flour in the U.S. I think we've all heard that the enriched, bleached, all-purpose flour is not very good for us, so if you can try to avoid buying it, great. If that's your only option, it will do just fine for producing delicious bread and pastries. I hope to get into milling my own flour someday, but I'm not there yet. The equipment is bulky and expensive, and I imagine the process is quite time-consuming (but likely well worth it).

I store my wheat flour in the fridge when I bring it home to kill any larvae that could have survived the milling process. If you've ever had bugs show up in your flour, you know what I'm talking about. When I store flour in my pantry, it first goes into food storage containers with tight fitting lids. Bread flour and AP flour can be used pretty interchangeably, but I do like to keep bread flour on hand in case I have recipes that specifically call for it. It's said to give bread a different texture, but I have yet to really notice the difference. I'm still a rookie, though.

I generally keep bread flour, all-purpose flour, oat flour, rice flour, and a gluten free blend (Like Better Batter or Nicole's Best) in my pantry at all times. I bake A LOT (especially in winter), so I tend to use these up pretty quickly.

Those are all the tips I have for now. Please feel free to reach out to me on my contact page if you have any questions. I'll add more tips and demonstration pics/vids as I continue to hone my skills. You're going to have some loaves that fail, but don't give up! Happy bread-making!