Tips for New Cooks - Bread
There are few basic things I want you all to know as you bravely go forth
into the wonderful world of recipes. What I've attempted to assemble is some of the basic info that you might not find anywhere on the recipe or in the cookbook. I'm hoping to "fill in the blanks" for you, so to speak. Let's start with bread.
Yeast Bread Basics
Basically most bakery products that are cakey or bready are made with yeast
or baking powder or baking soda. If you are following a recipe that calls
for yeast, here are some basics you should know:
* Yeast feeds on sugars and starches in the dough. When it grows, it
produces carbon dioxide which makes your dough rise with air bubbles.
* Too much heat, sugar or salt can kill the yeast though, so follow recipe
instructions carefully.
* In order for yeast to grow, it needs a warm (but not hot) environment.
This is why recipes often call for warm milk or water in the list of
ingredients.
* There is usually some sugar called for in yeast bread recipes, to feed the
yeast. And the salt called for is for taste and to help control the yeast
growth.
* Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the
bread machine by becoming active more quickly and they can be mixed in with
other dry ingredients.
Bread Machine Basics
* Baking bread in a bread machine usually involves yeast, flour, and liquid.
Sugar is usually added to provide the yeast some food and the salt is added
to help control the yeast activity and for taste.
* You add the ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order recommended
by the machine manufacture or in the recipe.
* Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the
bread machine by becoming active more quickly and they can be mixed in with
other dry ingredients.
* The mixing and rising all take place within the machine. But the baking
can be done in the bread machine or you can press the "dough" cycle and then
when the first rice is over, the bread machine will stop. You can then take
the dough out of the pan and place in a loaf pan. Let it rise and then bake
in the oven.
Quick Bread Basics
* Quick breads are breads like muffins and biscuits that are "quick" to make
because they don't involve kneading or any rising time.
*Usually baking powder or baking soda is added to the dry ingredients in the recipe to create bubbles in the batter or dough as it bakes. How it works is that the baking soda, for example, is combined with an acid like cream of tartar, buttermilk, yogurt or vinegar in the batter. Together they produce bubbles from the carbon dioxide gas that is produced, allowing the dough or batter to rise as it bakes. It reacts immediately when moistened so it is usually mixed first with dry ingredients and last with the liquid ingredients.
*Baking powder contains the acid (cream of tartar) and the baking soda together. Once they are moistened, they react together to produce the bubbles of gas.
~Elaine
Related Topics: Bread Recipes, Clean Kitchen, Better Food
Technorati Tags: cooking, tips, recipes, bread, yeast, quickbread, breadmachine
into the wonderful world of recipes. What I've attempted to assemble is some of the basic info that you might not find anywhere on the recipe or in the cookbook. I'm hoping to "fill in the blanks" for you, so to speak. Let's start with bread.
Yeast Bread Basics
Basically most bakery products that are cakey or bready are made with yeast
or baking powder or baking soda. If you are following a recipe that calls
for yeast, here are some basics you should know:
* Yeast feeds on sugars and starches in the dough. When it grows, it
produces carbon dioxide which makes your dough rise with air bubbles.
* Too much heat, sugar or salt can kill the yeast though, so follow recipe
instructions carefully.
* In order for yeast to grow, it needs a warm (but not hot) environment.
This is why recipes often call for warm milk or water in the list of
ingredients.
* There is usually some sugar called for in yeast bread recipes, to feed the
yeast. And the salt called for is for taste and to help control the yeast
growth.
* Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the
bread machine by becoming active more quickly and they can be mixed in with
other dry ingredients.
Bread Machine Basics
* Baking bread in a bread machine usually involves yeast, flour, and liquid.
Sugar is usually added to provide the yeast some food and the salt is added
to help control the yeast activity and for taste.
* You add the ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order recommended
by the machine manufacture or in the recipe.
* Bread machine yeast and rapid-rise yeast are specially formulated for the
bread machine by becoming active more quickly and they can be mixed in with
other dry ingredients.
* The mixing and rising all take place within the machine. But the baking
can be done in the bread machine or you can press the "dough" cycle and then
when the first rice is over, the bread machine will stop. You can then take
the dough out of the pan and place in a loaf pan. Let it rise and then bake
in the oven.
Quick Bread Basics
* Quick breads are breads like muffins and biscuits that are "quick" to make
because they don't involve kneading or any rising time.
*Usually baking powder or baking soda is added to the dry ingredients in the recipe to create bubbles in the batter or dough as it bakes. How it works is that the baking soda, for example, is combined with an acid like cream of tartar, buttermilk, yogurt or vinegar in the batter. Together they produce bubbles from the carbon dioxide gas that is produced, allowing the dough or batter to rise as it bakes. It reacts immediately when moistened so it is usually mixed first with dry ingredients and last with the liquid ingredients.
*Baking powder contains the acid (cream of tartar) and the baking soda together. Once they are moistened, they react together to produce the bubbles of gas.
~Elaine
Related Topics: Bread Recipes, Clean Kitchen, Better Food
Technorati Tags: cooking, tips, recipes, bread, yeast, quickbread, breadmachine
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