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This tutorial will
provide step-by-step illustrations for making bread. The recipe featured
here is Jan's Dough Sourdough Bread. For the FREE recipes for Sourdough
Starter and Sourdough Bread, please visit
Jan's Dough.
Assemble the ingredients you'll need
for Jan's Dough Sourdough Bread, or for the bread recipe that you are
going to make.
As you can see here, the basic bread
ingredients are:
- Bread Flour
- Sugar (some recipes)
- Salt
- Yeast
- Egg
- Sourdough Starter (in the crock
bowl, used for making any bread that calls for a "starter" such as
sourdough)
- Mixing bowls, measuring cups,
etc.
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Most recipes call for
"proofing" the yeast using warm water (and usually some small amount of
sugar). The water should be heated to 110*. Proofing the yeast helps to
properly activate it.
I prefer to heat water in a Pyrex
measuring cup, using the microwave. One cup of room temperature water
heats to 110 degrees in approximately 30 seconds.
Experiment with your microwave to
determine how long it takes to heat water to 110 degrees.
As you can see pictured here, I am
using a cooking thermometer to test the water temperature. |
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Allow the yeast to proof.
This typically takes several minutes. Here you can see that the yeast is
starting to "bloom" on the surface of the water.
During this time, you can measure the
remaining ingredients.
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When fully proofed, the
entire water surface is typically covered with yeast blooms. Stir gently
before continuing to make the bread dough.
Shown here, the flour, sugar and salt,
egg, and Sourdough Starter have been measured and are ready to be added
in. |
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For Jan's Dough Sourdough
Bread, an additional amount of warm water is added at this time. Even
though I am fairly confident about how long it takes to heat water to
110 degrees, I always check. The ambient temperature in your kitchen
(and outside) all play a significant role in the actual temperature of
the ingredients. |
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If you need to add in an
egg (or eggs), then an easy way to do this is to withhold a little bit
of water warm (in the warm Pyrex cup). Crack the egg into the cup and
whip with a fork. This will break up the white and mix the yolk and the
white more thoroughly. |
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Begin to add in the
flour. I typically add in about 1/3 of the flour, then stir (with a
sturdy wooden spoon). There may be small lumps of flour in the mixture. |
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Continue to add in the
flour and to mix with wooden spoon. Near the end, the dough will get
fairly "stiff" and it may not be possible to stir in all of the flour.
This is OK. You can knead in this amount. |
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Turn out bread dough onto
a well-floured pastry cloth (or other well-floured surface). Be sure to
scrap the bowl as completely as possible. You can mound any amount of
the flour that you were unable to mix by hand onto the pastry cloth. You
will knead in this flour. Jan's
Tip: Immediately fill the mixing bowl with warm, soapy water. This will
prevent the dough residue from turning into concrete! |
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Begin to "fold in" the
remaining flour. Put loose flour in the middle of the mound of dough,
and then fold the edges in toward the middle.
Then knead.
Continue to put un-mixed flour into
the dough, fold edges, knead, until all of the originally measured flour
has been kneaded in. |
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You should use the lower
portion of your palm to do most of the actual kneading. Your fingertips
are very warm---and very oily!
If you are first-time bread-baker, then please go to
How To Knead Bread Dough for a more complete tutorial on just
kneading dough. |
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After the kneading has
been completed (be sure to visit the tutorial for kneading bread for
more thorough instructions, link shown above), test the dough.
With two knuckles, make a slight
indentation in the dough. The dough should "spring back" (that is, the
indentation should fill in). This doesn't happen like a cartoon! It may
take several seconds for the indentation to fill in. As long as the
dough does start to "spring back" it is ready to be put on to rise. |
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In a very large crock or
glass bowl, set the dough to rise.
Grease the inside of the bowl. You can
use shortening (such as Crisco), or you can use your favorite non-stick
spray (as shown here). |
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Put the bread dough into
the greased bowl. Get the bottom of the bread dough greased. Then turn
the dough over. You may need to add a little grease to the bottom of the
bowl so that it remains well greased during the rising process. |
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Set the dough to rise in
your favorite warm spot. A "warm spot" should be approximately 85
degrees, and remain as steady a temperature as possible.
As you can see here, my "warm spot" is an
electric heating pad! This makes for a very "moveable" warm spot and
comes in handy in a small kitchen (you can put your bread dough to rise
on the kitchen table, or a TV tray---wherever you have the room!).
If you are going to use a heating pad
as your warm spot, you'll need to experiment a little in order to
determine what setting is as close to 85 degrees as possible. Plug in
the heating pad, turn it on, and set to the middle setting (most heating
pads have three settings). Put the bowl you will use to rise the dough
on the heating pad, and put a cooking thermometer in the bottom of the
bowl. Wait about 15 minutes. Check the temperature.
Adjust the setting up or down
accordingly.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
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Allow the bread dough to
rise according to the recipe directions. |
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The bread dough has now
completed the first rise. |
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You have to punch down
the dough---and that's exactly what you do. Wash your hand, make a fist,
and "punch" down the risen dough. |
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Flatten it out, pick up
one edge and fold it in half, and then fold it in half again, so that
you have about a quarter-circle-shaped lump of dough. |
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Turn it over. Now the
dough can do its second rise. If
your recipe doesn't call for a second rise, then you should now proceed
to shaping the loaves of bread. |
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Allow the dough to rise
the second time, if required. Recover the bowl and set the timer. |
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After the bread dough has
finished the first (and possibly a second) rise, you will have to shape
the loaves. Depending on the recipe you are following, or your personal
preferences for the size of the loaf (loaves) you want to make.
For a more detailed tutorial on shaping
bread loaves, please go to the third part of this three-part series
Shaping Bread Loaves. |
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Once the loaves are
shaped, set them to rise for the indicated amount of time. |
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Bake the bread, according
to the recipe directions. As
shown here, the bread has been baking for about 1/2 the required time.
The oven thermometer verifies that the oven temperature is right. In
order to make sure that the bread bakes evenly, I rotate the loaves
front to back, side to side. |
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In order to make sure
that the bread bakes evenly, I rotate the loaves front to back, side to
side. |
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The bread is done when
the bottom is a light golden brown, and it "thumps" with a hollow sound
(thump the bottom with your knuckle, it should sound pretty hollow). |
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I very rarely resist the
temptation of having a slice (or two...or three) of bread, after it has
just cooled long enough. |
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Using a bread knife, saw
off a couple of generously sized slices of bread. When the bread is
warm, you have to saw with easy motions, not putting too much downward
pressure on the loaf of bread.
Slather with your favorite butter, jam, jelly, or spread. |
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...enjoy!!! |