How To Bake Bread

The Phases of Bread BAking

Mixing:  Dissolving yeast in water is the first step. After that, the flour, salt, butter, oil, sugar, honey or other ingredients are added in a sequence that strengthens the dough’s structure but also protects the community of yeast cells that does the heavy lifting of leavening the dough.

There are five different types of dough—called Families of dough. Each one uses its own sequence of adding ingredients to get the best results.

Kneading/Folding/Development: Dough needs strength to provide structure. Manipulating the dough builds the protein structure of the dough, what is often called the gluten network.

Bulk Fermentation: Resting the dough allows the yeast cells time to eat and digest the starch in the dough, creating CO2 bubbles. This is what causes the dough to rise in volume.  In the process, alcohol and flavor compounds are developed in the dough. Just as grapes go through this process and become wine, bread dough also ferments as it develops flavor. Sometimes this can take several hours or overnight, as with a sourdough bread. For dinner rolls on the Thanksgiving Day table, fermentation can be as short as 30 minutes.

Scaling & Shaping:  Once the bulk dough has fermented, it is divided in a process called “scaling”. Those dinner rolls from above are 1-2 ounces (c. 50 grams), baguettes are often 12 ounces (c. 300 grams), and a sourdough round, called a “boule”, can average 1.5 pounds (650 grams). Shapes vary according to how the bread will be used—sandwich loaves, soft pretzels, breadsticks, braids, or cinnamon swirl roll-ups.

Proofing:  To restore volume in the breads, the shaped pieces rest in a warm spot with moderate humidity, 80℉ or 27℃ with 70% humidity. The gluten structure of the dough relaxes, the shapes fill with small bubbles of CO2, and the shapes expand in volume. Commercial yeast doughs, like those using active dry or instant yeast, generally proof in under an hour. Sourdough breads take longer, from two hours to overnight in the refrigerator.

Decorating:  Doughs that have fat in them, like butter, eggs, or milk, are generally brushed with a glaze also made from fat. Egg wash, milk glaze, and even Dutch crunch.  Lean breads—those with little or no fats in the dough, must be scored or cut in order to create a release valve of sorts for escaping steam as the dough bakes. A Lame, or baker’s razor blade, is a common tool for decorative slashes made on breads like baguettes and most sourdough breads.

Baking: Breads bake in three distinct stages. The first stage generally includes steam that can be introduced into the oven chamber in any number of inventive ways, such as using a tray of hot water placed on the lowest rung in an oven. Steam prevents a crust from forming on the breads. This lets the breads to expand to full potential during this “oven spring” stage of baking.

For the second stage of baking, the steam must be removed from the oven chamber. Removing a pan must be done carefully to prevent burns. In this dry oven chamber, the heat can now penetrate the dough and bake the interior to the proper temperature. The crust begins to form at this stage.

For the third stage, the goal is creating the perfect crust—both color and texture. Raising or lowering the oven thermostat at this stage is an important skill for the baker to master.

A final test is the internal temperature of the bread. Lean doughs like sourdoughs and baguettes are properly baked when the internal temperature is 200℉ or 93℃. The more butter and/or sugar in the bread, the lower its internal temperature should be.