1. Read - Get a book on Bread and read it all. She suggests Bread: Artisan Breads from Baguettes and Bagels to Focaccia and Brioche for beginners.
2. Start with high quality ingredients (flour, water, salt and yeast).
3. Write everything down.
There are 10 tips total, and I will be revisiting them when I am ready.
Here is a bread recipe (ingredient list here... full recipe page here: http://www.farmgirlfare.com/2011/01/farmhouse-white-easy-basic-white.html) that I think I will start with. Some of the ingredients I do not have yet. Some I will get but I do have bread flower (it is not organic as she request, but I will try it first before going and buying more flour.
4 cups (1 lb, 4 oz / 566 grams) organic all-purpose flour
1½ Tablespoons* (17 grams) instant yeast
2 Tablespoons granulated or brown sugar
2 Tablespoons safflower oil (or your favorite neutral oil, or melted butter)
4 cups (2 pounds / 908 grams) warm organic milk (or water), about 85° F
About 6 cups (1 lb, 13 oz / 825 grams) organic bread flour
1½ Tablespoons (22 grams) salt
After thinking about why I picked this one because the pictures look great and the one time I tried bread before it was almost the opposite -- very dense finished product. These look airy and full of air bubbles -- Like something I would buy in a bakery. So, this is where I will start my practical practice and I will continue to work on other bread studies and learning that can be applied to this bread or other styles.
ACTUALLY.... I'm changing my mind. I am going to start with a starter (since that was one of my "Need to Knows." I found directions here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/follow-that-food/sponge-starter-recipe/index.html
Ingredients:
More later.
After thinking about why I picked this one because the pictures look great and the one time I tried bread before it was almost the opposite -- very dense finished product. These look airy and full of air bubbles -- Like something I would buy in a bakery. So, this is where I will start my practical practice and I will continue to work on other bread studies and learning that can be applied to this bread or other styles.
ACTUALLY.... I'm changing my mind. I am going to start with a starter (since that was one of my "Need to Knows." I found directions here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/follow-that-food/sponge-starter-recipe/index.html
Ingredients:
- 7 ounces warm water
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh yeast
- 7 ounces organic bread flour
More later.
Lovely topic! I like your mentality of getting back to the basics with breadbaking, although it is also a topic that would allow for you to go crazy and get very creative or fancy with breadbaking. Both children and adults will find this topic intriguing. I look forward to your final product!
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