Tired of mass-produced bread from the petrol station and keen to take up baking yourself? Here’s how to bake good bread from scratch. Check out the header video to see our top tips and the right tools. For English subtitles, click the gear icon, «Subtitles/CC» and «Auto-translate».
Bread Padawan Simon Balissat and I have once again plunged into the extensive Galaxus kitchen range and put together the ultimate starter set for bread baking. You’ll find out which tools you really need and which ones you can definitely remove from your shopping cart. Don’t like watching videos? Then here’s a summary for you.
The basics for good bread
Shaping your bread
Bake like a boss
One last key fact
Oh, and my book will help you get there (I almost forgot to do some shameless self-promotion).
In theory, you could go straight to a kitchen appliance such as KitchenAid or Kenwood. However, if you want to explore bread baking first, you’re best off kneading your bread dough by hand (which doubles as a workout). All you need to get started is a bowl, kitchen scales, a dough scraper, a pastry brush (with real hair, please) and a spray bottle. The spray bottle may sound a bit unusual at first, but it’s a must. Check out the header video to see why. If you’re asking yourself if you really need kitchen scales, the answer is yes, absolutely. Rule-of-thumb estimates are a no-no when baking bread – unless you like mediocre bread. To show you what I’m talking about, here’s my tip for your first addictive bread baking experience (recipe in German).
On top of your hands-on baking skills, your equipment is also crucial to ensuring your bread gets a nice shape. The second time you let the dough rise, place it in a container that has the same shape you want your baked bread to have. Either use a pasta sieve or treat yourself to a practical round or oblong proofing basket. Whichever one you go for, make sure to line it with a well-floured kitchen towel or a linen cover specially made for proofing baskets before placing the dough in it. This will keep it from sticking. You’ll also need an oblong loaf tin for baking certain recipes – such as this fluffy, soft toast (recipe in German). An adjustable-length cake tin is perfect for this – you’ll have one if you got my starter kit for sweet pastries.
Here’s the thing: if you’re happy with your first attempts at baking, but sense there’s room for improvement, rest assured. There is – with a baking stone. This oven-sized firebrick is worthwhile for anyone who bakes bread more than twice a month. That’s a fact. It takes your favourite staple food up another 10 levels without you having to work on your baking skills for a single minute. Place the stone on the grate in the oven when preheating and bake your bread directly on it. No tray, no frills. The result? Even fluffier and crispier bread (recipe in German) that lives up to the term food porn. That’s boss level. A cast-iron pot has a similar effect on appearance, bite and flavour, but limits you to a round shape. If this doesn’t bother you, go for it.
Here’s a really important thing to keep in mind when you’re baking bread for the first time: getting the right equipment is a wise decision and a good start, but it takes practice and patience to achieve that perfect loaf of bread. Every single photo on my blog and in my books is the result of three years of training, more than fifteen years of experience and several hours of precise preparation, baking and pretty presentation. And after all, the most important thing about your home-baked bread isn’t that it looks good on social media, but that it tastes good. To put it in a motivational quote – you can do it!
