7 Tips To Make The Perfect Bread At Home

One can make a plethora of dishes with the help of bread. This includes bread rolls, bread pizzas, bread jam, sandwiches, bread pakoras, and whatnot. Even when one doesn't have a lot of ingredients to make a delicious dish, just applying some butter on bread and putting tomatoes and cucumbers inside two slices of bread also tastes good. 

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However, when choosing bread for making any of these dishes, one has to make sure that they're fresh, as it makes a lot of difference. Sometimes, the bread doesn't taste bad because it's old but because it's not made up of the right ingredients. To avoid such problems, one can simply make bread at home. Making bread at home is a very simple task, but here are some tips that one needs to take care of.

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* Yeast

There are different types of yeast that one can find to make bread. This includes fresh yeast, fast-acting dried yeast, and active dry yeast. The person must choose the type of least that is mentioned in the recipe that they're following specifically. Most of the breads are made by using fast-acting yeast as it's easy to blend and also gives a very nice texture and taste to the bread. Also, this type of yeast is perfect for home bakers as it is not that hard to handle.

* Salt Usage

Most breads require the addition of some amount of salt. However, one must be extremely mindful while adding salt because adding a lot of salt in bread dough can lead to spoilage of the taste and may also cause health-related problems. One must always measure the amount of salt being added to the bread carefully. This is one of the biggest advantages of making bread at home as one can choose to add salt as per their liking. Salt also affects the action of yeast, so one must avoid adding salt to the bread just after adding yeast.

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* Give Time

A person must always give enough time to the bread dough to be able to rise. Bread is a food item that requires a good amount of time to settle. So it's important to let the bread dough rise while a person can do other chores. If a person doesn't have enough time to bake proper bread, then the best option is to go for soda bread as it doesn't need any kind of rising. It's also opportune for beginners who do not know anything about baking.

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* Different Flours

Making bread at home gives one the liberty to try different types of flour. Generally, people like to make bread with all-purpose flour, but one can go for wheat or even multiple grains. The quality of the flour can make a huge difference. One must always choose the supreme quality of a particular flour and something that is not extra strong in its flavour. It's a common perception that flours that are naturally high in gluten generally rise better than other flours. So it's okay if a multi-grain bread doesn't rise as much as an all-purpose flour bread 

* Measuring

Measuring every ingredient that is used to make bread is an indispensable part of making a perfect bread. Even the smallest difference in the accurate amount of water, salt, and yeast can make a huge difference in the bread. Also, using too much heat to bake the bread is going to kill the yeast. So it's important to make sure that the oven temperature is not too high and rather warm. The water used to make the bread dough should also be at room temperature.

* Kneading Dough

When it comes to kneading the flour dough, one has to pay a lot of attention to the moment of their fingers and palm. Kneading with hands is always considered better than using any kind of machine as it gives better elasticity to the dough. If the dough is too sticky, then one can leave it for 10 minutes so that it can settle. Remember that a person must not take too much pressure to bake the perfect bread on the first go. With practice, the quality of the bread starts becoming better with each attempt.

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* Put The Dough In A Cool Place

If a person wants to let the dough rise properly, then a great idea is to leave it overnight in a cool place such as a fridge. If it's winter, then one can simply put it in a corner of the kitchen and make sure that there is no source of heat. Remember, before using the dough that is kept in the fridge for a long time, it should be left at room temperature for at least ten minutes to let it attain its proper shape.