Baking Bread

Okay, so this isn't part of the original project but I thought I'd put it in here anyway because I think that everyone should try to make their own bread some time, and what better way to start than with this recipe I've got here? It's  the easiest bread in the world to make (okay obviously I've never tried making all the bread in the world, but it's not complicated nor does it involve strange ingredients). Really. It's not hard at all. It takes a while to do, but it's not difficult. (Amanda, it doesn't take a superwoman to do this! I'm sure you can do it too :))

I made these breads a few days ago, and they turned out really well, so I hope they do the same for you. There's no milk of animal bi-products in it, so in other words, it's completely vegan. You don't need that many ingredients to make it either. Once again, I use the metric system and here it is White bread with a Crisp Crust (makes about 4 baguette sized loaves);

What you need:

• 6 dl water ( approximately 2.5 cups (2.54 if we're picky...))
• ½ dl oil ( 0.2 cups). I used canola oil, but olive oil should be fine too.
• approximately 16 dl flour (regular wheat. It should work to substitute for whole wheat too, if you prefer) (approximately 6.75 cups) NOTE: You may not need all of this IN the dough. Some of it you'll have for baking the bread.  You may need to use more or less than this.
• 2,5 teaspoons salt.
• 25 g yeast (0.878 ounces, round to 0,9)

And that's it!  That's all you need.

How to do it;
So....how do we do this?

1. Well, the first thing to do is heat the water to about finger temperature (the best way to measure this is to actually put your finger in to the water every now and then to track the progress) after which you add the oil

2. Divide the yeast in a bowl, unless you have yeast from a bag which is already divided in to smaller pieces. If you have that, just throw it in there. When you're done, pour the liquid over the yeast and mix until the yeast is dissolved. This might be hard to see as it gets pretty turbid/cloudy and you won't see a thing but do your best. like the picture to the right shows.

3. Add the salt.

4. Here's the tricky part; the flour. If you use too much, the bread will get hard and it won't be tasty at all. What I did was that first take a cup and mix it with the rest. When that was pretty much lump-free, I took another cup and did the same. I did this with about half the flour, and then I started using less and less flour for each time I added some, which gave me a better (clearer) idea about how much I should use. It's kind of hard to explain how the dough should be, but it shouldn't be sticky and it shouldn't be really firm either. If you take a piece which seems non-sticky and you start rolling it in your hand and it becomes a bit sticky, then that's okay. You're going to add more flour anyway.

5. Let this be for an hour or so to make the dough ferment/prove/yeast (I had to look it up and I found these three, which to me makes no sense, but basically, the dough should swell, which you probably already had figured out, but anyway) under a kitchen towel.

6. After an hour has passed, put some flour on the counter or table and take the dough out. Work it and this time, they shouldn't be sticky when you're working with it.

7. You can choose different forms of the bread. I chose the baguette form, but you can also make them round if you want (You could probably make them square or heart shaped too, but  I don't know what that will do to the timing of the whole thing. The round breads and the baguettes have the same timing and steps).  If you choose the round form, you shouldn't make 4, but rather, make 2. Anyway, shape the bread to the desired shape (for me; 4 loaves, baguette style). Put them on a baking sheet.  Slit the breads diagonally.

8. Leave them be for another 35 minutes and turn the oven on for 275 degrees C ( 527 F).

9. Right before putting them in the oven, brush the bread with water (yes, water) and put them in for about 10 minutes in the middle of the oven.

10. Take them out and brush them again with water after the 10 minutes have passed and then put them back in for another 5 minutes. The reason you do this is so the surface will be crisp. Of course, it's not like store bought bread in the end, but personally, I think this is better.

11. Let the bread cool off under a kitchen towel before enjoying the freshly baked bread.

That wasn't so hard, now was it? =) I admit it takes some time, but I think its worth it.

Hope you like your newly baked bread and I'll be back with something soon (hopefully)!