MEASURINGTHE most important secret of making bread. Exact measurements.
That’s the key to successfully baking bread. Exact measurements.
With wet ingredients, use ONLY measuring cups with the
cups/ounces marked clearly on the
side. After filling the measuring cup,
place it on a flat surface and view it at
eye level to make sure the amount of
liquid is exact. Then, double check.
With dry ingredients, always “level off”
the measurement with the back of a knife
or a spatula to make sure the measure-
ment is exact. Another helpful tip is to
never use the cup to scoop the ingredi-
ents (for example, f/our). By scooping,
you could add up to one tablespoon of
extra ingredients. Fill the measuring cup
with a spoon before leveling off.
The SECOND most important secret of making bread.
Put the ingredients into the breadmaker in the EXACT order
given in the recipe. This means:
-
FIRST, liquid ingredients
-SECOND, dry ingredients
-
LAST, yeast
Also, make sure ALL ingredients are at room temperature, unless
otherwise noted (that is, between
77-85°F
or 25°C -30°C).
Temperatures too cool or too high can affect the way the bread
rises and bakes.
Last, its a good idea to start with fresh ingredients
(especially fresh flour and yeast).
Now, lets try a simple (but really good) recipe.