Bread
Bread is easier than you think to make. It's largely passive time, waiting for the next step, so it's best suited for when you have time at home. That said, I have definitely taken loaves that are proofing to friend's houses and left them in their fridge, grabbing them before I head home.
Basics
The basic bread process is:
- Pre-fermentation, e.g. sourdough, poolish, biga, autolyse sort of (optional)
- Combining ingredients
- Bulk fermentation
- Divide/shape
- Proof (second fermentation)
- Bake
Pre-fermentation
Sourdough starters are fun, but can be daunting. If you want to easily upgrade your loaves, one of the easiest things you can do is a poolish or biga. This helps quite a bit with flavor and gluten development.
They are made the same, but with a poolish, it's generally 100% hydration and biga is 70%. For a "standard" loaf of bread, I usually do 100g water/flour with 1/8 tsp yeast. Let it sit for 12 hours. Then add it to the rest of the ingredients when it's time to combine.
Autolyse
Autolyse is not really a pre-fermentation, but it is helpful for flavor and texture.
In your mixing bowl, mix your flour and water until combined. Then let rest for 20 minutes to an hour before adding the rest of the ingredients.
References
Last modified: 202410081522