Questions tagged [bread]

Questions about kneading, baking, storing, and culinary use of any kind of bread.

This tag covers the traditional loaf of bread in addition to flatbreads, sourdough, pita, and anything else that one might reasonably call "bread".

Tips for effectively tagging questions, in order of preference:

  • If your question is specifically about preparing/baking bread, also tag it
  • Include the sub-type of bread if possible (, , etc.)
  • If asking for advice on a specific bread technique, include the technique (e.g. )
  • For questions concerning the raw, unbaked bread dough, use the tag
  • Consider adding a cuisine tag for localized styles of bread (e.g. for Naan)
  • When the question concerns specific ingredients in bread-making, try to include tags for those ingredients (e.g. , )
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Why should I let bread cool before slicing and eating?

Many recipes for bread and such suggest that bread should be fully cooled (like 2 hours or so) before eating. It's sooooo tasty right out of the oven - why wait? Does something important happen in the cooling time that's worth waiting for?
rfusca
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What is the ideal hydration for bread dough?

I made a bread that called for 1kg of flour and 700ml of water. That is a 70% hydration. The problem was that the dough became absolutely soaked, so in the end I added more than 500g more flour. Which meant that my salt ratio was off... The…
BaffledCook
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Milk instead of water in bread

I was looking at mantou recipes (mantou is a fluffy Chinese bun), and the recipes were remarkably similar to bread except less proofing and using milk instead of water. If I were to make regular bread with milk instead of water, what would happen?
cfire19045
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What is the purpose of sugar in baking plain bread?

My recipe says 1 tablespoon of sugar per loaf. This seems like too small an amount for flavor. The recipe is as follows: 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons active-dry yeast 1 tablespoon sugar 2 tablespoons oil 1 cup water knead, wait 1 hr,…
Brian Webster
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How can I create steam in a normal oven to promote bread oven spring?

Oven spring and a crisp crust on bread are largely due to high heat and high humidity. Commercial bakery ovens have steam injectors. How can I replicate this high humidity environment in my home oven? I've tried spritzing and ice cubes and…
rfusca
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Cracked oven proof dish - trying to understand the physics of what went wrong

I was baking bread for the first time in years the other day, and the instructions said put a baking tray full of water in the bottom of the oven. I didn't have a metal baking tray, so I put a ceramic ovenproof dish in the oven, and let it warm up.…
samfrances
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Kneading bread with arthritic hands-any tips?

I love to bake bread, but its too painful to knead it by hand for long enough! Anyone have any work-arounds? I'm not a seasoned bread maker, and I have a bread machine, but I don't like bread baked in it!
Heather
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Preventing my toast from becoming wet when I put it on the plate

Since I moved to my new flat, I have a problem when heating bread in any way. What happens is that if I put it on a plate, it gets very wet on the plate side. This is so acute that drops appear on the plate. If I put paper around the bread, both get…
Felix L.
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How do you raise your dough in cold seasons?

It is winter down here in Australia and I find it challenging to find a warm spot to raise my bread dough. What I have been doing is placing the dough in the oven (not switched on) with a pot of hot water, replacing it once or twice. The oven…
zachary
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How much salt can I safely add to bread dough?

I recently made ciabatta, which turned out very well, with a good crust and nice open crumb. However, I felt it could use more salt to give extra flavour. I'm aware that salt and yeast do not make good bedfellows (or should that be breadfellows?),…
ElendilTheTall
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Techniques to get a nice golden-brown crust on bread

How do I make sure the crust of a baguette, etc. turns out a nice golden-brown when baking?
derobert
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What ensures big holes in my bread?

Is it a high hydration rate? Minimal kneading? High-protein flour to hold hydration?
Industrial
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How was the usage of yeast for bread discovered?

From where did people get the yeast for their bread??
user41277
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How did people make bread before sugar was 'discovered'

Modern recipes (as far as I know) for bread includes sugar. Sugar gives the yeast a food source, which supports it growth and allows yeast to give bread many of its qualities. It hit me the other day that sugar (produced from sugar cane) is a…
Hoytman
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Why not make sourdough bread from young starter?

I made my own starter 3-4 days ago, and it has been growing well; I have fed it twice so far. As far as I know, it is recommended that you feed starter for about 7-0 days before you use it to make bread. My question is, why? If my starter is already…
Ovi
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