Bread Making Basics

Created exclusively for Craftsy by Ashley Rodriguez & Jessie Oleson Moore

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Exploring the Different Types of Bread Yeast

How to Knead Bread Dough

Rustic Artisan Bread Recipe

How Sourdough Bread Is Made

How to Store Homemade Bread

Meet the Experts

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EXPLORING THE DIFFERENT TYPES

of Bread Yeast

Fun fact: There are over 1,500 types of yeast. But, don’t let that overwhelm you and your baking aspirations. In the food world, where yeast is primarily used in bread recipes, there are really just a few types in common rotation.

All types of yeast, which is actually a microscopic fungus, have the same goal: to reproduce, eat and convert sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. It’s this action that helps it make bread rise.

There are two key types of yeast used in bread making: dry and fresh. Here, we’ll discuss the most commonly used varieties of yeast, including considerations for baking with each type.

By Jessie Oleson Moore

Ciabatta via Craftsy member abbeyjane1

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Dry Yeast

If you go to the grocery store and ask for yeast, this is probably what they’ll show you. It’s by far the most popular type of yeast for at-home baking, owing to its long shelf life — kept in the refrigerator, it can keep for up to a year.

ACTIVE DRY YEAST

Active dry yeast is the most commonly used type of yeast for the at-home baker. You’ll find it either packaged in jars or in pre-measured packets. It is characterized by fine, yet discernible beige-colored granules, which are activated before being added to a recipe, typically in a small amount of warm water (not hot, which can kill the yeast) and sometimes with a little bit of sugar. Once added to a bread dough, it will provide two rising periods in the bread-making process of recipes.

INSTANT ACTIVE DRY YEAST

Instant active dry yeast is also referred to as “bread machine yeast.” Finer in texture than active dry yeast, instant yeast can be added to a recipe without first being activated in water. Though the way it’s added is different, the actual rising process it provides is similar to active dry yeast, so it can be used interchangeably in recipes.

RAPID-RISE YEAST

This type of yeast is characterized by its granules, which are finer than active dry yeast. It is fortified with enzymes that make it rise easier, so two rising periods in your bread making are not necessary. You can just shape the loaf and bake after the initial knead. Because rapid-rise yeast acts differently in recipes, it should not be used interchangeably with active dry yeast.

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Fresh Yeast

Compressed yeast was first introduced in the 1820s. It is a fast-acting yeast, but it doesn’t last long. It only keeps for about two weeks, making it more ideal for commercial bakers than the typical at-home baker.

PRESSED YEAST

This type of yeast comes in pressed, compact little blocks. It can range from being quite light to dark beige, depending on where you buy it. It is very fast-acting, and once activated, it stays active for longer than a dried yeast. Typically, because its shelf life is short when left out, it will be kept in the freezer and defrosted fully before use. Its short shelf life makes this an ingredient more favored by extremely frequent bread makers and commercial bakers, who say it imparts a sweeter, more subtle flavor on your bread.

Note: Pressed yeast is typically sold in cakes. One cake is not always one serving: for instance, a 2-ounce cake will actually be equivalent to about three 0.25 ounce packets of yeast. Always check the recipe for the amount required.

LIQUID YEAST

You probably don’t use this one often, but until the early 1800s, liquid yeast was the most common type. Because liquid yeast is a live culture, it is extremely perishable, and the later developments of active dry yeast and pressed yeast tend to discourage its common use in the kitchen.

WHAT ABOUT BREWER’S YEAST?

This is a deactivated type of yeast that is used for brewing beer but is also used as a dietary supplement (it can also be referred to as nutritional yeast). While it can be an ingredient in bread, it is not going to react the same as the types of activated yeast listed above.

Pressed yeast via Wikipedia Commons

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Kneading bread is not only relaxing but also crucial to the bread-making process. Whether you’re doing it by hand or with a mixer, read on to learn how to knead bread dough for perfect loaves every time.

I really believe that kneading dough by hand is the most relaxing of all the kitchen tasks. I become entranced by its rhythmic movements: the soft push and pull, push and pull. You begin the process with a shaggy mass of dough with clumps of flour scattered throughout and then at the end of it you have a smooth ball of dough that looks nothing like how you started.

There’s an electric kitchen tool for practically every task these days, and I will indeed sometimes employ the stand mixer to do my dirty work for me when it comes to doughs. But when time allows, then I will indeed knead by hand. The process and methodical movements steady me and connect me to my grandmother and mom — who never would dream of using a machine to do the kneading.

HOW TO KNEAD

Bread DoughBy Ashley Rodriguez

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Why the Need to Knead?

Gluten has gotten such a bad rap lately, but really, it’s not all bad. In fact, in this case, gluten is wonderful and exactly what we need to get a chewy bread with great structure.

You see, gluten is a protein present in flour; bread flour has a lot, cake flour has very little. With pastries; cakes, cookies, muffins, etc., you don’t want gluten. You want the finished product to be very moist, tender and light. So we will take care not to overmix those doughs and batters. But with bread the opposite is true; we want some chew, some pull, some bite, which comes when we develop the gluten.

So that’s what we are doing when we knead — developing gluten.

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Where to Begin?

Initially, your dough won’t look like much at all. It will be lumpy, sticky in parts, and dry and over-floured in others. That’s perfectly fine.

STEP 1:

Lightly flour the surface you are using to knead then dump out your dough.

STEP 2:

Start by forming it into a rough rectangle. Take the back two sides of the rectangle and fold them toward you. Then use the palms of your hands to push the dough away.

Rotate the dough 90° then repeat that process for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth. Sometimes giving the dough a minute to relax and then going back to it helps to create that smooth mass.

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STEP 3:

Continue to flour as needed without making a tight dough. If the dough is sticking to the surface or your hands, adding a bit of flour is perfectly fine.

STEP 4:

You know you are done when the dough is smooth, a bit tacky and holds its shape. After you are finished continue with the recipe, which generally is to let the dough rest, covered in a warm spot. After all that work the dough needs some time to relax, hydrate, and to let the yeast eat up all the sugars and develop gas.

Note: The best flavored and textured breads get a good long fermentation (or resting). I will generally make my doughs then let them hang out in the fridge for at least one day and up to three.

Everyone adds their own personal flare to kneading. Some have a softer touch, others use it as their exercise regimen. As long as the basic motion is the same, you are developing the gluten and doing exactly as you should. Put away those machines and flour your hands, kneading by hand is the perfect stress reliever in the kitchen!

Kneading in a Stand Mixer

Kneading in a mixer is a great alternative when you want to keep your hands clean and free to do other tasks.

STEP 1:

Use the dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed, once all the ingredients are incorporated, until a smooth, stretchy and slightly tacky dough forms, about 5 to 7 minutes.

STEP 2:

Then continue with the recipe as instructed.

I’ve not noticed a huge difference in texture with kneading by the machine vs. your hands. But, either way, soon you’ll have fresh bread and that is just about the most beautiful thing we can make with our hands or a machine.

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RUSTIC ARTISAN

Bread RecipeBy Ashley Rodriguez

With many things in life, slow and steady wins the race, and this artisan bread recipe is no exception. Artisan bread is a sort of fancy way of talking about bread that hasn’t been mass-produced but rather created slowly and with great care. Use this recipe to bake your own and learn how virtuous your patience really can be.

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Making Artisan Bread at Home

Slow really is a key part in this process. This recipe uses very little yeast, so the bread rises over a long period of time. So long, in fact, that it needs a night of rest to fully develop.

The benefit of this is that the dough is given the chance to slightly sour, which gives the final loaf a pleasant and interesting flavor. If I plan well enough in advance, I allow my dough to rest in the fridge for two or even three days.

This process takes quite a bit of time but much of that time has nothing to do with you at all, it’s just the bread relaxing, expanding and working on that gluten.

Recipe Notes

A few things to note about this process that might be different than how you normally bake bread:

• The dough is too wet to knead so we use time and folding to develop the structure and gluten. I fold with a rubber spatula by bringing the dough up and over on itself several times and then again every 20 minutes for a couple of hours.

• The bread is baked in a pan with a lid. In commercial bakeries they have special ovens that release humidity during the initial phase of baking the loaves. This is what helps give the crust a deep crackle and thick outer layer. The bread is baked for 30 minutes with the lid on and then an additional 30 minutes or so with the lid off so that the crust can get a deep golden color.

• Any time yeast is involved I realize there is a bit of intimidation and then I go and throw in a few whole new ideas, but I assure you it’s easier than you think and the results are always impressive. My advice; have soft butter and good jam waiting for that first, warm slice. There’s nothing better.

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Basic Artisan Loaf

INGREDIENTS:

• 3¼ cups / 1 pound all-purpose flour

• 1¾ cups / 400 g lukewarm water

• 2½ teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon yeast

STEP 1:

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt and lukewarm water. It will be slumped and very wet.

STEP 2:

Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let sit overnight. You can also refrigerate the dough for up to three days.

Note: If you’ve refrigerated the dough, let it come to room temperature, which should take about 2 hours.

STEP 3:

Use a spatula to fold the dough on top of itself to let out some of the gas. Repeat this folding every 20 minutes for a couple of hours. This will help develop the gluten and give the loaf structure.

When you are ready to bake, place a 3 or 4-quart oven-safe lidded pot in the oven and preheat to 450°F for 1 hour. Do not fold the dough while you wait for the oven to preheat.

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STEP 4:

Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Pour the dough into the hot pan. Give the pan a gentle tap on the counter to distribute the dough. Cover and return to the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the crust is golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

STEP 5:

Remove the loaf from the pan. If you want a deeper set and more intensely caramelized crust, you can return the loaf to the oven outside of its pan for another 5 to 10 minutes. Otherwise, let it cool completely on a rack before slicing and serving.

This bread is great with a bowl of hot soup, toasted and topped with poached egg or slathered with butter and homemade jam. No matter how you slice it, your patience will be rewarded with fresh, crusty-yet-fluffy piece of homemade artisan bread.

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The process of baking sourdough bread seems to have a cloud of mystery surrounding it. The history of ancient starters passed down through generations can leave people scratching their heads. Where do these starters come from? How is sourdough bread made? What makes it different?

Read on to discover the true story behind sourdough, from starter to finish!

HOW SOURDOUGH BREAD

is MadeBy Ashley Rodriguez

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What is Sourdough?

Sourdough bread is made from a natural yeast starter. Yeast is actually present all around us: in the air we breathe, on our skin and in our homes. Yeast is everywhere. Yeast begins to form when a mixture of flour and water is left out for an extended period of time. The mixture will attract yeast in the environment, causing it to start nibbling on the naturally occurring sugars. This new mixture, called a starter, acts like conventionally dried yeast while creating a thick crust, soft interior and delightful tang signature to sourdough.

The History of Sourdough

It is believed that sourdough has its origins during the age of Ancient Egypt, around 1500 B.C. As with many inventions, sourdough was probably discovered by accident when a baker left out a bit of dough long enough for the yeast present in the air to start feasting. See, sometimes dirty dishes have a benefit!

This historical baker must have realized that the leftover dough (the starter) was strong enough to leaven the bread. Voilà! Sourdough was born!

Health Benefits

Many people are surprised to discover that the special starter yeast used to make sourdough contributes to more than just the bread’s flavor and texture. Using a starter provides health advantages not present in other breads today made with conventional dried yeast.

Making a loaf of sourdough does take a bit of time, but time allows the natural yeasts and bacteria to slowly break down starches typically difficult for our bodies to digest. The gluten is able to slowly break down into amino acids, further aiding in digestion. So, if you have a mild sensitivity to gluten, you may be able to consume sourdough because much of the starchy gluten has already been broken down.

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Baking Sourdough: How to Do It Yourself

We’ve touched briefly on how to create your own starter. It really is as simple as leaving out a mixture of flour and water (the mixture should be about the same consistency as pancake batter). I’ve tried many different starters. One particular recipe called for a bunch of grapes to sit in the mixture, as yeast is very active on grapes. Still, the simplest, just flour and water, seems to be the best.

When making the starter, let the mixture sit uncovered in a warm place until you start to see a few bubbles. At that point, your starter is telling you it is hungry. Don’t

starve the starter! Feed it with a bit more water and flour and then cover it with a clean towel. Allow the starter to grow while sitting on the counter, feeding it every couple of days until it becomes bubbly and smells sour.

The starter should be so light and airy that if you put it in water, it would float. Your starter is now ready to be made into bread!

Add about 2/3 of your starter to more flour and water until a wet dough is formed. Add a bit of salt and knead the dough. You want a very wet dough as that will produce a soft, airy crumb and a thick, crisp crust. Because of the texture of the dough, you’ll need to knead it by banging it on the counter then folding it onto itself. This is the same form bread makers have been using for centuries.

The dough takes longer to rise than when you bake bread using store-bought yeast, but the soft, pleasant tang is well worth your patience.

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So now you have your very own starter, unique to your house and the environment. Pretty great, right? You can refrigerate your starter, feeding it every week or so. Or you can leave it out on the counter, ready to bake anytime you want fresh bread.

Feed your ready-made starter by discarding 2/3 of it and adding in more flour and water until it reaches the same consistency. Don’t forget to save and put aside some starter each time you bake a loaf!

Starter is for more than just a baked loaf though. You can use your starter to leaven pancakes, pizza dough, waffles or even as a batter for fried foods.

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From crusty French and ciabatta to soft sandwich loaves, making homemade bread is truly a culinary art. However, the freshness that makes artisan bread so delicious can also be its downfall. Because fresh bread is devoid of preservatives, it often goes stale much quicker than pre-sliced loaves from the grocery store. This is great news for flavor, but bad news for long-lasting quality.

Since quality and taste are at the heart of bread baking, it’s important to know how to store bread properly. Once you learn the basics, you’ll never risk your fresh bread going stale before you’ve had the chance to enjoy it. Whether pretzels or bagels, you can find a way to make the shelf life of your bread really stretch, lest we waste one crumb of these delicious, carbohydrate masterpieces.

Boules via Craftsy member krafla

HOW TO STORE

Homemade BreadBy Jessie Oleson Moore

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So How Do You Keep Your Delicious Fresh Breads From Going Stale? Let’s Explore.

There are methods for how to keep bread fresh, varying on the type of bread and desired length of storage. Each method aims to prevent exposing the bread to extreme dryness or moisture, allowing it to keep just right. By looking at some common methods of storage and examining the pros and cons of each, you can decided which method is most appropriate for your type of bread.

Option 1: Leaving It Out

With a few tricks, fresh bread can maintain freshness while being “left out” in the open. When left out uncovered, bread will form a crust and become quite stiff and stale. There’s a reason why restaurants serve their bread in cloth-lined baskets. Aside from a charming visual, the cloth protects the bread from drying out. Drier climates cause bread to dry out rather quickly. Breads that contain fat, such as Parker House rolls, will fare better for longer.

Generally speaking, bread shouldn’t be left out for extended periods of time. However, if the outer edges of your bread have become stiff from sitting too long, the bread inside may be just fine. Simply slice off the hardened outer portions with a bread knife and then use, or use a different method to store the rest.

Sourdough Peasant Bread via Craftsy member Bread

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Option 2: Bread Box

These days, most people think of bread boxes as an antiquated part of the phrase “is it bigger than a bread box?” and not much else. But truthfully, these old-fashioned contraptions could make a comeback. Bread boxes are actually quite an ideal way to store bread, as they allow bread to breathe without exposing it to so much air that the bread dries out.

Bread boxes don’t have to be built into kitchen cabinetry. There are a variety of models that are free-standing structures, made of ceramic, metal or wood (think: covered butter dish, but bread-sized), that can rest on top of a counter.

If you do not have space for a bread box, its results can be imitated by covering the bread with a clean, dry kitchen towel and then putting it in a paper bag. This method mimics the bread box by allowing the bread to breathe but still protecting it from the elements.

Option 3: Plastic

Plastic can be the best, or the worst, way to store bread. When bread is double-wrapped in clean plastic and stored in a cool, dry place, plastic can extend bread’s life. This is especially helpful in drier climates, where bread can dry out quickly.

However, if there’s even a drop of moisture present, the water can incubate in the non-breathable plastic, making the bread mushy or worse, moldy.

Option 4: Freezing for Longer Storage

Freezing bread is the best way to keep homemade bread fresh for longer periods of time. Wrap the cooled, dry bread thoroughly in plastic. Be certain there is no moisture or condensation. The bread can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months (you can store longer, but the flavor may suffer). One trick for freezing bread is to slice the bread before storing, saving you time and frustration. Sliced bread thaws more quickly, and can be easily placed into the toaster for quick warming.

Avoid: Refrigeration

When it comes to using the refrigerator for storing fresh bread, just say no. The refrigerator will dry out your bread. While it’s fine to put a prepared sandwich in the fridge for a few hours, storing your bread (sliced or unsliced) in the refrigerator gives it an unappealing texture and is not suggested.

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Fixing Stale Bread

There are a few last-ditch methods of softening hardened, stale bread. Interestingly, they closely mimic methods for softening brown sugar.

• Add a slice of apple to the packaged bread: the apply may soften bread enough to give it a second chance.

• Microwave magic: place slices of bread on a moistened (but not wet) paper towel, and microwave for 10 seconds.

Give Stale Bread New Life

Sometimes, despite best efforts, bread goes stale. If it’s too crispy to be enjoyed as-is, consider giving it new life as part of a French toast casserole or as homemade croutons. Homemade bread crumbs can also be used for a number of different recipes. This way, your bread can still be a component in some good eating.

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Craving more? We’re just getting started! Discover the techniques you need to master a variety of nutritious, artisan sourdough breads, from starter to beautifully baked loaves, in the online Craftsy class Handmade Sourdough: From Starter to Baked Loaf, taught by expert bread maker and accomplished instructor Richard Miscovich.

Your friends and family will notice the difference when you present them with perfectly formed boules, batards and more. Click the button below to enjoy special savings when you sign up today, and start crafting your best bread yet, with these expert techniques!

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MEET THE EXPERTS

JESSIE OLESON MOORE

Jessie Oleson Moore is a writer, illustrator and professional seeker of sweetness who runs CakeSpy, an award-winning dessert website. Her first book, CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life came out in October 2011, and her second book, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods, was released in May 2013.

ASHLEY RODRIGUEZ

Ashley Rodriguez is the creator of Not Without Salt, the winner of Saveur Magazine’s Best Cooking Blog. She studied in professional kitchens before becoming a mother of three. Now Ashley spends her time, cooking for her family, teaching cooking and baking, and photographing it all. Ashley just finished writing her first cookbook, Date Night In, which will be released in December 2014.