Baking bread is a rewarding process, as long as you have all the right tools.
When you want a homemade loaf of bread, there are a variety of recipes you can use, along with a variety of tools. However, there are some tools that you'll use almost every time you make bread. Most of these can already be found in your kitchen, so you can get started as soon as you pick a recipe. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Bread Machine
For those looking for a quick way to make breads, a bread machine will take care of all the work for you. In most machines, all you have to do is measure and add the ingredients, make sure the yeast is in a well in the dry ingredients, and press start. Bread machines allow you to pick whether you just want to make the dough or if you want to cook the loaf as well. It's much less time-consuming than making bread by hand.
Pans
When making bread by hand, you'll need a variety of pan sizes, since not every recipe will make enough dough for a standard-sized pan. Some recipes will make less dough, others more and a variety of pans will prevent cooking issues. Cookbook authors Daniel Leader and Judith Blahnik say cast-iron pans are the best, followed by heavy-gauge aluminum and then glass pans. You can get large pans for your bigger baking projects or even mini pans for creating decorative serving trays.
Thermometer
The temperature of your ingredients is extremely important in bread making, so check temperatures often with a kitchen thermometer. If any ingredient or even rising temperature is off, it can stop the yeast from activating or otherwise affect the bread making process.
Bowl
Leader and Blahnik recommend using a wood or ceramic bowl for mixing and resting the dough. They say using the same bowl will also help your baking experience, because it will rise at the same speed and the bowl will become seasoned. Cookbook authors Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno warn against using metal bowls, since they conduct heat and will cause the dough to rise too fast.
Measuring Tools
You'll need measuring spoons, dry ingredient measuring cups and wet ingredient measuring cups. Since wet ingredients activate the dry ingredients in breads, keeping them separate will prevent any mishaps while baking. A kitchen scale can also be used to accurately measure the dry ingredients.
Couche
A couche is a device used to "proof," or solidify the shape, of dough for breads like baguettes. You can purchase a couche at a cooking or baking store, or you can make your own. Using a floured fabric, create the shapes of the loaves supported by books or pieces of wood at the ends. Place the dough within the shapes and keep an eye on them to make sure the structure is remaining firm.
Mixing tools
When mixing ingredients, you can do it by hand or use a mixer. When mixing by hand, you'll want to use a wooden spoon. Treuille and Ferrigno recommend using a stand mixer when mixing electronically. Stand mixers come with a dough hook that will do the kneading for you, as long as you keep an eye out for over-kneading.
Dish Towels
Dish towels are essential for bread making. They are used to cover the dough while it is rising, trapping the heat inside the bowl while allowing some moisture to be released.
Pastry Brush
For breads with an egg or sugar gloss, you'll need a pastry brush. A pastry brush is delicate enough to brush glosses onto the dough without disturbing the shape and strong enough to brush them onto the cooked breads as well.
Tags: bowl will, bread hand, bread making, Cookbook authors, enough brush, ingredient measuring, ingredient measuring cups
