Everything You Need to Start Baking Bread at Home
Nothing comes close to freshly baked bread. Well, other than the loaf you made yourself. We would always recommend you to try baking bread if you’ve never done it before. It is simple, requires little equipment, and produces delectable results.
No matter what kind of bread you decide to make at home yourself, you always need the same equipment to produce delicious results. Baking bread can take a bit of practice to get everything right, but once you get the hang of it, you will love your own homemade bread.
In this article, we are going to discuss everything you require, so that you can start baking any kind of bread.
Sourdough Starter
Sourdough starter, a mixture of wild yeast and bacteria, can produce the tastiest breads ever. Similar to commercial yeast, wild yeast causes the bread to rise, and different acids are produced by the bacteria to enhance the bread’s flavor and prolong its freshness.
Additionally, it’s really simple to grow a starter. All you have to do is combine flour and water and leave it alone. Yet, for the initial two weeks, you must take care of and nurture your starter. If not, it might not develop into a robust material that is suitable for manufacturing bread.
You should check out this site for all the Sourdough Starter tips you could ever need.
Different Types Of Flours
Without high-quality flour, you cannot create good bread.
White flour can be used, but whole grain flour yields the tastiest and healthiest loaf. However, there are several options for rye, spelt, einkorn, and emmer flours. Whichever flour you use, the more recently it was milled the better. This is because flavor and nutritional content degrades over time.
Dough Scraper
Similar to how a chef in the kitchen is helpless without a chef’s knife, a baker in the bakery is helpless without a dough scraper. It’s a very helpful tool for baking bread. Use it to split dough following bulk fermentation, to form your loaves before baking, and whenever you need to remove dough off the work surface.
You’ll quickly find yourself using it all the time.
Food Scale
Unlike cooking, baking requires precise measurements, and the most accurate way to measure is by weight. Dry components, such as flour, can be measured in a variety of volumes, resulting in wildly varying ingredient amounts.
One cup of flour can weigh as much as 175 grams or as little as 100 grams, depending on your scooping technique. Yet, 100 grams of flour are always 100 grams of flour.
Loaf Pan
Although loaf pans are typically associated with “artisan bread,” they are extremely useful to help shape your bread. Moreover, using a loaf pan provides support for grains like einkorn and rye flour that make a weaker dough.
Paring Knife/Razor Blade
You must score the top of your loaf just before placing it in the oven so that it may puff up to its maximum capacity. The slash will produce a beautifully finished loaf and add a range of textures that would not otherwise be possible without your expertise.
A double-edged razor works well, but be cautious when handling it and keep it out of young children’s reach. Alternatively, any knife you have, such as a paring knife, will do. You just need to ensure that it is sharp enough to cut through your thick and proved dough well.
Proofing Basket
After giving your dough its final shape, you must give it a comfortable place to unwind and mature before baking it. Proofing is such an important element of baking bread. Thus, which proofing basket you choose depends on your particular preferences. Some are lined with linen, while others are not.
Also, whether you need to provide a basket will depend on the type of bread you are creating. More delicate dough will benefit a lot more from a proofing basket. While most people leave their dough on the baking sheet they intend to cook their dough on.
Conclusion
Baking any kind of bread is an extremely relaxing thing that anyone can do. Also, there is no denying that the taste of homemade bread is better than store bought. If you are new to the world of baking bread, then you need to make sure that you have the tools and ingredients we have outlined above.
No matter what type of bread you intend to make, you need to ensure that you have certain objects, to help you to be really successful.