Basic Bread #1: Don't be Scared. It'll be fun.

It has been said that baking is a science and cooking is an art. This is generally true, and it is this idea that can chase quite accomplished cooks right out of the kitchen when it comes to making bread. Cooking allows for self exploration and experimentation, a little flair and savoir faire. Baking demands exactedness and precision. Too much baking powder and your cooking are done for. beat you eggs too long and your light and fluffy cake turns into golden colored lead weight. What's great about bread, though, is that it straddles both worlds. A little attention to detail will allow cooks to throw the doors wide open and experiment to their hearts content.

The Details:

So here are the (relatively) hard and fast rules about bread, and we're talking dough breads here like white and whole wheat, not batter or pan breads like banana bread and carrot cake

• 1 tsp of yeast is enough to rise a 1 to 1.5 lb loaf of bread.
• Temperature IS important. Water should be slightly warm to the touch, and flour, if being stored in the fridge or the freezer must be brough to room temperature either before starting or by upping the water temperature.
• Ratios. Ratios. Ratios. This one is pretty easy, but really important for a good loaf of bread. You are going to use approximately 2.5 cups of dry ingredients (flour and sugar) for every 1 cup of wet ingredients (water, oil, milk, eggs, honey). Overshoot this ratio and your bread may be really tough. Undershoot it and it may not develop enough protein to rise well.
• Did we mention temperature? Let your bread rise someplace warm, about 85 F (29.5 C), and draft free is ideal. This may make winter bread harder to rise, but that's what furnace rooms and warm ovens are for.
• There is a need to knead. Kneading bread develops the protein in flour called gluten. Gluten is what gives bread it's texture, and allows it rise nicely. But again, you have to be cautious. Too much gluten and bread can be chewy and tough, not enough and it may not rise. Have no fear, gluten also develops NATURALLYsimply by adding water to flour! You can avoid long kneading sessions by kneading for 5 minutes, letting the bread rest for 30 minutes, kneading for another 3 minutes and then proceeding with the recipes as directed.
• Bread dough does not like metal, they react together and so try to use preferably a ceramic bowl or a glass bowl for your bread dough, and a wooden spoon

The Fun Part:

There are a couple of really great things to remember about making your own bread. First, as long as you keep your ratios in place (dry to wet) you can pretty much mix in any kind of flour and use any kind of liquid that you want. You can sprinkle the bread with any variety seed, or stuff it with everything from raisins and cinnamon to mozzorella and grilled portabellas. Once you get the best basics, you can play around as much as you like. Secondly, and most importantly, you will get to eat fresh bread just minutes from the oven, a true revelation that will explain why bread has historically been so meaninful.

How to Knead Bread:

Kneading can be quite cathartic. Flour everywhere, working alone for a few minutes of quiet, it allows time for thinking, planning, and something plotting. It is also critical for a nicely risen loaf of bread, so pay attention to it, and enjoy.

1. Kneading is done with the heal of the hand. Dust your hands with flour. Gather the dough into a ball and place it in the center of your lightly flour-dusted work surface. 
2. Drive the heals of both hands into the flour, pushing low and awaw from you, stretching the ball as you go. 
3. Using your finger, fold the far end of the dough back towards the center of your work surface and pressing it into the near end of the dough ball. 
4. Repeat the heal push and fold 3 or four times and you should end up with a slightly wide roll of dough. 
5. Rotate the dough one quarter turn, and repeat steps 2-4.
6. Continue this process, dusting with additional flour if the dough starts to stick to the work surface, for the prescribed about of time.

So, if you're ready to get started, here's a basic white bread recipe you can use to get started.