Yeasty Boys... my guide to making bread

Rise my little friends... rise..... it's alive... it's alive!!!!
Breadmaking is probably one of the hardest things to do in the kitchen. You are depending on spores to reproduce and create gas inside elastic-based flour. You're also trying to do it in a home kitchen which also doubles as a daycare, accounting office and love shack... not a temple of bread making

The challenges that I've seen are the following:

- the altitude, humidity, temperature of the air affect the rise of the dough and humidity of the dough;
- sometimes the dough takes on a yeasty-smell due to under baking, over rising or rapid rising;
- stiff dough (usually being stiff is not a problem, but in breadmaking it is);
- ugly bread (yeah, bread is ugly too sometimes);
- explaining to yourself... you're wondering why you spent $5 and 5 hours to make a loaf of bread you could have bought for $4.75 at the store;


Over the past 10 years, I've been dabbling in bread to varying degrees of success. The following are tips that I've learned through trial and error....
1) always use bread flour;
2) always use regular yeast, not quick rise;
3) never make bread if you are in a rush;
4) allow at least 3 hours for the first rise, and at least 1 hour for the second rise;
5) always dissolve the yeast in a warm liquid with a touch of honey, for at least 5 minutes (it tests the activity of the yeast too);
6) always use salt, it cuts down the activity of the yeast;
7) use a mixer with a dough hook (spiral corkscrew hook is the BEST, not the J-hook... in fact, I'm waiting for my kitchenaid mixer to blow so I can get a spiral corkscrew, since they don't sell attachments for the size of my mixer);
8) add all dry first, sift the flour, and then slowly add liquids, up until the dough separates from the hook.... always try to add the most liquid without having the hook hold onto the dough. The more water absorbed, the more malleable the dough will be. This may take some time, but you'll know the feeling of seeing the dough peeling off the walls of the mixer, but with a stickiness to it, not dry;
9) try to weigh your ingredients by weight (water too) and take a note of humidity and temperature. This will help you determine how much water and flour you'll need for the next time;
10) once the dough has the right consistency, spray a deep bowl with PAM cooking spray, and cover with saran wrap;
11) I use my oven to rise my dough, with the door closed 80% (I use a roll of tape to prop open the door). Leaving the lightbulb on, it generates heat on a consistent basis. If your oven can go down to and maintain a temperature of 80degrees, you can do that;
12) Use a Pizza baking stone ($20) at any kitchen store.

Good luck, would love to hear from any of you if you have any stories to share.