A Guide to Bread Making - 12 Steps For the Home Baker

Jump to:

• Introduction
• 1. Scaling
• 2. Mixing
• 3. Bulk Fermentation
• 4. Folding/Degassing
• 5. Dividing
• 6. Preshaping
• 7. Bench Rest
• 8. Shaping
• 9. Final Fermentation
• 10. Scoring
• 11. Baking
• 12. Cooling

Introduction

In baking and pastry, there is a method for just about everything—a set of guidelines that you can apply to almost any recipe that uses the same technique. In bread making, we follow a series of steps that take us from weighing and measuring ingredients to baking and cooling our finished loaves and buns. Not all breads follow these twelve steps exactly (shokupan, for example, doesn't get scored), but the overall concept remains the same.

Leavened dough is thought to have occurred entirely by accident—possibly when a bowl of mashed grains became inoculated with naturally occurring yeast and/or bacteria. Over time, by adjusting factors like water content, flour type, fermentation time, and temperature, people figured out how to control the outcome of their dough. These key variables—the factors that make each type of bread unique—can generally be organized into one or more of the twelve steps listed below.

Although bread making is fairly straightforward, the science behind it is quite complex. It's not necessary to dive deep into all that just yet; here, I provide a simple outline for a basic understanding of the bread-making process.

1. Scaling

The first step in bread making is to measure out your ingredients. I recommend weighing all ingredients on a digital scale; it's the only way to ensure 100% accuracy.

If using measuring cups, make sure to use the right tools (dry vs. liquid) and proper scooping techniques (ex: fluff & level off flour).

Learn how use a scale and why it's the only way I measure

2. Mixing

Dough strength and structure are critical to making a proper loaf of bread. One of the most common mistakes home bakers make is not developing their dough properly. Poor gluten structure, often caused by under-mixing or not giving the dough enough time and folds, results in dense loaves and buns that lack structure and volume.

When you add liquid to flour, the proteins in the flour—glutenin and gliadin—link together to form gluten. As the baker, you can choose to use mechanical methods (kneading or using a mixer) or time (or a combination of both) to help you achieve full gluten development. Keep in mind that not all doughs are suited to both methods.

• By kneading the dough, you force the flour to absorb water more quickly, creating a strong gluten matrix in a much shorter amount of time.
• By combining flour and water, and allowing time for the gluten network to develop (as in the case of no-knead bread).

No-knead bread generally relies on time, along with several stretch-and-folds, to develop strength and structure. It's a great method if you don’t have a mixer, are working with higher hydration doughs, or simply prefer to bake by hand. No-knead bread is better suited for lean doughs, such as sourdough, baguettes, country loaves, and similar types.

If you're using a mixer, it's crucial to mix your dough to the proper stage of development. For home baking purposes—and for the sake of simplicity—I recommend mixing all doughs to full gluten development in all recipes, unless stated otherwise. You can use a mixer for any type of dough, but I especially recommend it for enriched doughs, such as brioche, sandwich bread, croissant dough, shokupan, and others.

3. Bulk Fermentation

Bulk fermentation is when you place your dough in a bowl, cover it with a towel, and leave it to rise for a few hours, or until it has doubled in size (not a hard set rule, and size varies depending on the type of dough). Although you can't see it happening, the yeast is busy converting sugar (derived from the flour) into carbon dioxide and alcohol—an event that becomes evident as the dough begins to swell.

When is bulk fermentation over? This depends on several factors: dough type, yeast variety and quantity, dough temperature, and ambient temperature. Generally, 1.5 to 3 hours is a guideline for many basic recipes using commercial yeast. For sourdough, the range can vary greatly. For the sourdough recipes on this site, 3 to 4 hours is the general rule.

You can carry out bulk fermentation at room temperature or in the fridge (the latter is generally known as retarding).

4. Folding/Degassing

Some doughs (typically lean doughs, such as baguette, ciabatta, and sourdough) require a fold or series of folds during bulk fermentation. There are several reasons for performing this action, but most notably, it creates structure in the dough by aligning and strengthening the gluten strands.

Degassing: This is often referred to as "punching down," but there’s no need to actually punch anything. Simply removing the dough from the bowl and getting it ready for pre-shaping/shaping generally does the trick.

5. Dividing

If you're making rolls or multiple loaves of bread, you'll need to divide your dough. When doing this, it's important to cut the dough (don't tear it!) and try to make as few cuts as possible. A bench scraper is the best tool for this task.

A scale will help ensure size consistency and uniformity. Doughs of varying weights may bake unevenly.

6. Preshaping

It isn't always necessary to preshape your dough. Many home bakers skip this step for the sake of simplicity.

Here are a few suggestion on when you should preshape your dough:

Uniformity: When making multiple loaves, preshaping ensures uniformity. Cutting dough into exact weights can lead to irregular pieces, but preshaping helps make all pieces the same size and shape.

Relaxing the Dough: Preshaping allows the dough to relax before its final shaping, making it easier to handle and less likely to resist or tear during the final shaping.

Strengthening the Dough: If your dough is lacking strength, preshaping helps add additional structure and improves its overall strength.

7. Bench Rest

Bench rest is the period of time after preshaping and may not always be required. During this rest, the dough is given time to relax, making it easier to handle and less likely to resist or tear during the final shaping. Estimated time is generally 15-30 minutes, but it's important to check whether the dough is relaxed enough to shape.

8. Shaping

Shaping serves many purposes, with two key functions being:

• Creating tension in the dough, providing structure, strength and uniformity.
• Giving the bread its identity—shaping affects the texture, crumb, crust, and overall appearance.

For beginners, I suggest starting with sandwich loaves and focaccia for shaping practice. Sandwich loaves can be shaped much like batards, but the pan gives that additional support and assurance that baking free-form can't provide.

9. Final Fermentation

Most (but not all) yeasted bread doughs go through two fermentation stages: bulk fermentation and final fermentation (technically, bench rest is an intermediate fermentation stage, but many people skip it, so I won’t count it). The length of fermentation affects flavor, texture, and the overall structure of the finished loaves and buns.

The final proofing time depends on dough type, yeast variety and quantity, dough temperature, and ambient temperature. Generally, 1.5 to 3 hours is a guideline for many basic recipes using commercial yeast. For sourdough, the range can vary greatly. For the sourdough recipes on this site, 3 to 4 hours is the general rule.

10. Scoring

Once you place your dough in the oven, yeast rapidly produces carbon dioxide in response to the change in temperature. The jolt of heat causes the dough to spring up, with higher temperatures resulting in a more dramatic rise. Some of the carbon dioxide created during this process can't be contained within the loaf and needs a way to escape. If we don't create an exit for the excess gas, it will find a weak spot in the dough and cause a blowout. To control the expansion, we create our own weak spot by scoring the dough.

As a general rule, we score lean doughs that bake at higher temperatures. Enriched doughs (such as brioche and sandwich bread) and slack doughs with high hydration (like ciabatta) don't typically require scoring.

Scoring can also be used to differentiate types of bread.

11. Baking

When you place your dough into the oven, several processes take place:

Oven Spring: Yeast rapidly produces carbon dioxide in response to the change in temperature.

Gelatinization: Starches swell as they absorb water and begin to thicken.

Coagulation: Proteins solidify as they are heated.

Caramelization: Browning occurs due to sugar.

Maillard Reaction: Browning occurs due to proteins reacting with sugars.

(Obviously, I'm oversimplifying things here; the purpose is not to give you an in-depth science lesson, but rather to provide a general understanding of the baking process.)

It's important to note the role steam plays when baking lean doughs at higher temperatures. You will need to keep your dough moist for the first 10-20 minutes to allow for maximum expansion. If there is no steam, the crust will form too quickly, and your bread won't expand as it should. Dough baked with adequate steam will produce a loaf with a crust that's thin, shiny, and crispy.

If using steam, vent the oven after 10-20 minutes to allow the extra water vapor to escape.

12. Cooling

Although it may be tempting to tear into your loaf while it's still warm, it's actually better to let the residual moisture evaporate. Slicing into your bread too early can lead to a gummy crumb. To cool your loaves, use a wire rack, ensuring there is enough space underneath for adequate airflow. Wrap the bread once it has cooled completely.