I have been asked a few times if I could show folks how to make bread. I keep a running dialog with a few people that make bread often. The following are the few tips I can offer:
Read/buy the following books:
Tartine Bread; Chad Robertson, 2010. My main resource. Well written. Inspiring. Clear directions. San Francisco Sourdough. Any book with the Tartine name on it is quality.
Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza; Ken Forkish. 2012. Lots of information. Very focused on bread making methods, quality ingredients and processes. Ken Forkish has lots of youtube videos that help improve bread making process.
Beard on Bread; James Beard, 1973. My first bread book. A classic book by one of America's greatest chefs and cookbook authors. Worth the space on the shelf.
Advice:
Make bread often. Practice makes perfect. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I try to make bread every week. Sunday is a great day, I try to combine it with laundry or grading homework folders, it provides a breakfast item all week. There is nothing more powerful (other than teaching students biology) than taking four basic ingredients and making a living, breathing ecosystem and then destroying the life in that ecosystem to create an edible sculpture that sustains human life.
Read/buy the following books:
Tartine Bread; Chad Robertson, 2010. My main resource. Well written. Inspiring. Clear directions. San Francisco Sourdough. Any book with the Tartine name on it is quality.
Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza; Ken Forkish. 2012. Lots of information. Very focused on bread making methods, quality ingredients and processes. Ken Forkish has lots of youtube videos that help improve bread making process.
Beard on Bread; James Beard, 1973. My first bread book. A classic book by one of America's greatest chefs and cookbook authors. Worth the space on the shelf.
Advice:
Make bread often. Practice makes perfect. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I try to make bread every week. Sunday is a great day, I try to combine it with laundry or grading homework folders, it provides a breakfast item all week. There is nothing more powerful (other than teaching students biology) than taking four basic ingredients and making a living, breathing ecosystem and then destroying the life in that ecosystem to create an edible sculpture that sustains human life.