Recipes and tips and tricks for baking bread?

since this weekend I have discovered the hobby of making homemade bread my first attempts were quite good. but I was wondering if some of the other enthusiasts wanted to share some recipes and tips and tricks for making their own favorite bread.Recipes and tips and tricks for baking bread?
Bread dough is like a teenager: it likes to be left alone for long hours and the cooler your house is, the longer it needs to be left alone.





I bake most of our bread on parchment paper on a pizza stone in the oven for a chewy crust. If I want a softer bread, I bake it on trays or in a loaf pan.





If you want a soft, squishy bread, add 1 tablespoon of powdered milk (or use milk in place of water) because the milk proteins relax the gluten structure.





If you're using a low-gluten flour like rye or wheat, add 3 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten for a better rise.





The recipes on this site have been kitchen-tested and I've made a few of them as well. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/Reci鈥?/a>





Good luck - very few things are as satisfying as bread making.Recipes and tips and tricks for baking bread?
I used to live down in the Caribbean and had a hard time finding bread, that would stay fresh or was not a Wonder type loaf, so I started making my own.


I came across a Hops Bread recipe that is really good and so simple to make. I 've tried it several times being back in the states and it has not turned out so good, so this may be a warm and humid climate recipe. Even when the bread does not turn out so well its still delicious right from the oven, it just gets hard after the day.





About 4 cups of flour you don't have to level it just measure 4 cups into he bowl


1 1/2 teaspoon salt


1 tablespoon sugar


1 tablespoon yeast


1 tablespoon shortening you can use butter also


1 3/4 cups water - add 1 cup then add a bit at a time, you may not need all of it


Method:


Mix together the flour and yeast. Dissolve sugar and salt in the water. Add water mixture and shortening to the flour. Mix and develop (knead) dough properly. Let stand for 30 minutes. Make into 16 buns and place them on baking trays 3'; apart from each other. Let it proof for one hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
The simple french bread is the most versatile and forgiving. I find the cheaper unbleached flour is the best as it has a high gluten content and is full of flavor. This bread can be made into roles by rolling out after the final kneading and cut with a 3.5'; cutter into roles that are great for sandwiches. Another thing I like to do with this bread is to stuff it with spinach and Italian sausages. Brown the sausage first after cutting into 5'; or 6';use uncooked fresh spinach. break off the dough enough to make a 6'; loaf and flatten out to the shape of a french loaf. Than place the sausage and spinach, than fold over the dough and bake. These keep well when frozen and can be heated up in the oven for a meal for those of us on the go. It is a healthy grab and go meal. Experiment with other fillings. Other leafy green veges work as well. Try other meats and combinations.Always partially cook meats first. I have used breakfast sausage and a plane omelet.Of course fry the omelet first and brown the sausage always. Don't over cook the sausage in either case it will finish cooking in the bread while baking.


BrianX has supplied a good French bread for these ideas. Use the bread machine and remove the dough after the seond rise and have fun. personaly I don't like the machine, I like the feel and exercise of kneading the bread. Seems more organic. no rude comments please.
It depends on what kind of bread you like, but if I was going to try relearning from the ground up, I'd probably use something like the recipe below. It's a French bread recipe that I developed for my bread machine; unfortunately I'm not too sure about weight conversions. (And you really do want to get a scale for breadmaking; all the better if you can swing a digital scale with metric and US measurements.)





1.5c (350mL) tepid water


2 tsp kosher salt


4c (approx 450g) unbleached AP flour


2 tsp (approx 7g) instant yeast





Bread machine: Put the ingredients in the pan in the order shown, then run on a dough cycle.





Stand mixer: put the ingredients in the mixer bowl in the order shown, then mix with a dough hook until the dough just comes together in a shaggy mess. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes, then knead with the dough hook at moderate speed for ~3minutes. Let rise for 90 minutes.





By hand: Put the flour in a mixing bowl and whisk in the yeast, then make a well in the middle and add the water. Mix together by hand until a dough just forms, then let it sit for 10-20 minutes. Add the salt and knead by hand for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy, then let rise for 90 minutes.





All methods: Once the first rise is over, fold the dough over on itself (this redistributes the yeast and gives it more food), then let rise again for 60 minutes and divide in half. Form the dough into balls, stretching the outer surface taut and folding the cut part underneath the ball and pinching it shut (use a bit of water if necessary). Form into round loaves or roll out into a snake shape for baguettes and let rise again, covered on a sheet of parchment, until doubled.





Preheat the oven to 500F with a pizza stone inside; leave it for about 20 minutes. Put the loaves, still on the parchment, directly on the pizza stone, slash with a razor blade (a cross pattern for a boule, a stripe pattern for baguettes) and bake until the internal temperature of the bread is 200-210F (stick a probe thermometer into the bottom of the loaf, preferably in a crack or fold towards the middle of the loaf); this will be 15-20 minutes for a baguette, and a half hour or more for a boule.
there really aren't any tips or tricks besides making sure the dough is smooth and elastic.... and I can't give out the recipe (its a family secret lol jk)
While I have never baked bread, I often read this blog about it. Check it out. http://www.brewandbake.com/