There are a few things you should know about the Art of Bread Baking...
- Baking bread is more of an art then a science. Using machines to help is fine but you really must be able to touch/feel the bread to know what it needs.
- Humidity and temperature matter. If the humidity is really high then you will probably need less water and quite possibly more flour. If it's super hot then you will probably need more water and less flour, that's why it's so important that you touch and feel the dough as you are making the bread. Also the temperature of your kitchen is key to rise time. You can use your oven on its lowest setting to help, but bread needs a warm dark place to rise in. So if your house is cooler then most, you might have much longer rise times then your recipe calls for.
- The temperature of the water that the yeast proofs is also very important. Your water should be "warm". Yes I could quantify that but trying to get the temp perfect would frustrate you so the way I figure out what "warm" is by using my wrist. Basically I treat my water like I would a baby's bottle. With the water running, I let my wrist tell me when the water is perfect. When the water is basically your body temperature then it's ready to use. If it gets a little to hot, don't worry get the water in the measuring cup and let it sit for a moment. Whereas water temperature is critical, as long as you don't cook, "kill", the yeast you will be ok.
- Until you get the hang of it, how you measure the flour will be very critical as well. Basically you want to spoon or scoop your flour into your measuring cup and level it with a knife. It shouldn't be packed into the cup, it should be loose and airy. Also even though most recipes call for cups of flour I measure mine in half cups. You have to pay a little more attention because of the extra counting but if you accidentally pour an entire half cup of flour into your bowl when you really only needed a 1/4 cup, it's a much easier mistake to fix then an entire cup.
- Again once you get the hang of things you won't need a recipe but until you do, find a good book or website to help. My favorite is the King Arthur Flour website but I learned to bake bread from my bread machine's cookbook. So go to your local Library, check out several and find one you like, then go to your local Bookstore and purchase it. Just don't get frustrated with the "approximations". Like I said bread baking is an art not a science.
