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How to make good bread, making best yeast, knead bread at perfect temperature
from: groviIf you love baking, you probably know that there is no bigger joy than to watch your golden goodies emerge out of the oven. Bread baking is a complete art. It is not easy to that perfectly crusty loaf of goodness if you don’t know the right tricks of the trade. So check out our prof chefs answered to all your common bread baking FAQs
The mains
The most important task before you start baking anything is to have a real good recipe. A reliable recipe needs to have easy directions and proper proportions mentioned. It terms of bread baking, your flour is the key. Close to that comes the temperature of water or other liquids required to knead the dough. For instance too warm or too cold can ruin the bread texture. Tepid water, works well. If these two things are taken care of, good bread is on its way!
Dry versus liquid yeast
There is a huge debate about which kind of yeast brings about the best result in breads. Alain says that all types of commercially-available baker’s yeast are made from the exact same strain of yeast. The difference between different types of yeast depends on how much water they contain. It is best if you opt for instant dry yeast for it is easy to use and convert in recipes.
Flour power
The best bread flour is organic. Most gourmet stores stock on natural bread flour, so opt for those. Check for a protein content of about 11-12% and a fairly high concentration of minerals (all mentioned on the packet). It should be slightly coarse – which means that not all of the germ and bran should have been sifted out in the milling process.
Knead-based
Kneading can be done by hand or in tabletop mixer like a KitchenAid. If you are using a mixer, keep it on a low speed so that the dough structure develops slowly. Make sure you knead it just until it shows some elasticity and smoothness. It shouldn’t be too hard.
Temperature check
Breads that are meant to be crusty, like baguettes, should be baked at high temperature, around 475°F/243°C. On the other hand breads that contain enriching products such as milk, butter, eggs and sugar should be baked at a lower temperature (375°F/190°C). As such breads are likely to get burnt fast, it is important that you bake them at a lower temperature.
The perfect loaf look
Every type of bread has a different set of standards. A perfect baguette, for instance, should have a creamy, chewy crumb with a collection of large and small holes and a crisp, brittle crust. A whole wheat bread on the other hand should have a spongy, somewhat dense crumb and a thick, dark crust. Similarly a dinner roll should be soft and easy to break.
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