I make A LOT of bread, and its so easy, sometimes I take it very seriously and weigh all the ingredients {a cup of flour can weigh double or half as much as another cup depending on how you fill that cup, you can get double the amount}, proof and bake it to perfection, paying attention to every detail...
Other times I do it like this guy, lol, just a cup of this a pinch of that a drip of this...
This video will get you in the door. I would add a tsp of sugar to that recipe for sure, especially if its a little cool in your house..
Now after you made a few basics and get the hang of what the dough should feel like and you like making your own bread try expanding the ingredients a bit... THE RESULTS WILL BE NIGHT AND DAY...
First for yeast I have tried every kind, From fresh blocks to 15 different kinds of instant grans... The best I have ever used is the LeSaffre Gold, its on amazon and in some stores, but by far the best yeast have ever worked with, you would have to really mess up to get a beery flavor or to have it not rise correctly {I have never seen it happen with this product}...
The next thing to consider is a conditioner, I know four, yeast, salt equals pure bread, but a good natural conditioner will make your bread better in every single way I can think of, softer center, better crust, longer lasting, tastier, easier, just all around better...
Look at the honeyville farms product, their conditioner is priced well and works great, plus simple to use, just add a tsp for every cup of flour..
Next is the flour, King Arthurs Flours are great and readily available
Shop for signature flours | King Arthur Flour
{I have about every one of their flours in my pantry, I buy AP 50lbs at a time and the blue bag 25 lbs at a time..
So now with that said, try this mix...
3 cups flour {not packed} I do 2 cups bread 1 cup AP
1 and 1/8th cup hot water
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 TBL of conditioner
1 tsp sugar
1 TBL olive oil
Its a simple recipe with some instructions, it will mix fast, rise fast and still come perfect if you do either wrong...
Put the water in the mixing bowl, sprinkle in the gold yeast, let it stand for about 2 minutes, gently dissolve the yeast.
add all the other ingredients, turn on the mixer, the dough should mix well and about a minute after it turns into a ball shut the mixer, and let the dough sit in there for about 10 minutes...
After 10 minutes run the mixer for about 20 seconds and then pull the dough from the bowl, roll it into a ball and cover it until it double in size, shouldnt need much kneading just a few minutes of folding and pressing, then leave it be again..
After it relaxes a bit and grows some more, roll the dough into your bread, whether its a braid, a loaf, or a pan, they will all have different techniques.
I will say we are doing a braid, put your oven on 500, sprinkle your stone with cornmeal and preheat the stone to HOT, also in the lowest rack of the oven at the same time let a cast iron skillet preheat...
So in your oven you have a nice hot stone and a nice hot cast iron skillet...
After your bread has been rolled out and risen a bit more, the next step is to get it on that hot stone, I roll my loaf from my proofing cloth {flax linen works awesome}, and onto my pizza peel, then slide it from my pizza peel to my hot stone...
After the bread is situated on the stone, pour a cup of water into that lower skillet and quickly shut the oven door, lower the temp to 400 and cook until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it...
If you follow them instructions, you will be amazed at the bread that comes out of that oven, it will be far beyond what you could ever expect you could make, lol.
We were in oregon last year staying with a friend of ours, and they make their own bread, just a basic mix like in this video, except they use a little milk and butter {take away a little water, it gives the bread a different texture and flavor, I prefer to leave out the fat, but I also have a great milk/butter recipe and technique if anyone is interested}.
Their bread tasted good, and as we were talking, my wife said to have me make the bread for tomorrows dinner..
So the next day while we were out, we happened to be in a great little store {oregon is full of these market places that are amazing, we were in the mt hood area and I forget the name of the store, but it was amazing, had so much nice stuff, I actually bought myself a new flax cloth while I was there and bought one for our friends. I also bought them the yeast I use and some conditioner {they didnt have my brand but their worked well}.
So wee get back to their place and I give them the stuff, I made them the exact mix I listed above, the exact way... NO MILK NO BUTTER...
All I can say is they were FLOORED, the looks, the smell, the taste, and the next day it was just as soft as when it came out of the oven... I also showed them how to braid...
The next night they wanted me to make the bread and they had me teach them how to do it step by step. They told my wife when they were talking over the holidays that they haven't made their bread since, lol.
Anyway, bread is a wonderful talent/skill that can be perfected so easily, and gives you instant results. I started making bread when I was young, my mother owned 4 bakeries {I owned a deli for 3 years as a side business, but it grew too fast and it was going to kill me, another company wanted it building and all, so I sold it, probably one of the most profitable ventures I ever embarked on, and I enjoyed it}.
Breads are my relaxing past time. I have a bunch of friends and family that will bring my a bag of KA AP so I make them a loaf of bread, lol.. Free flour and I get to make bread...
, but I wasnt there, a friend of mine took the bread with him.. But it was far from a basic mix, there were 6 ingredients in the wash, I cooked it in a steam injected oven... ITS WAY TOO MUCH WORK...
