There are many kinds of breads. They are made with yeast, sour dough, soda, baking powder and these are just the ones that rise like white, wheat, multigrain, Irish, French, baguettes, dinner rolls and countless more.
If you store wheat, you need to have a hand or electric grinder. Many excellent grain grinders are available to buy these days. Set your grinder on fine and grind several cups of wheat to make fine flour OR buy white or wheat flour already ground. If you grind your own wheat, you have all the nutrition present. Because often commercial flours are bleached and otherwise treated, they often are enriched with vitamins.
If you want to bake a bread that rises, you need to understand certain techniques.
Mixing, kneading, forming, proofing, baking and storing.
Before beginning if using yeast, start with a cup of warm water which has has some sugar or honey added. You add yeast to this and let it sit until it bubbles and expands. Yeast ‘grows’ in this mixture and when added to the other bread ingredients, it is what causes bread to rise and have a lovely texture.
Find a recipe that sounds good. THEN…..
Mix the flour, salt, sugar, water, oil and the bubbly yeast mixture together. Yeast gives off carbon dioxide.
Knead the dough which means pounding and pushing it around for 10 minutes. Wheat is made up of a fibrous substance which is called gluten. When you knead it, pockets are formed by the gluten in the dough which capture the carbon dioxide and make the dough rise.
Let Rise. Usually the dough is put into a greased bowl, covered with a clean cloth and left in a warm place to double in size.
After dough is doubled in size, bring the dough back to the counter and form it into whatever shape you like. Traditional bread shape means you fold it up tightly into an oblong shape and put it into a greased bread loaf pan. But you can make it into a ball or a long loaf and put it on a greased cookie sheet. You can pull or cut off small pieces, roll them into balls, place them next to each other in a greased jelly roll pan to make pull-a-parts. Or cut dough into even pieces, form them as you would like, put on a greased cookie sheet, let rise again until double in size, bake and you have rolls. So many possibilities!
Remember after forming the dough always cover it with the cloth again and let it rise a second time.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to the suggested temperature. When the proper temperature is reached, place the bread on a center rack and begin to bake it. After baking properly, if you tap the loaf, it will sound hollow when done. Turn it out of the pan or off the cookie sheet onto a rack or towel and let it cool OR slice it immediately (slathering it with butter, honey or some other delightful topping) and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Store bread at room temperature in a bread box that isn’t completely air tight or freeze it for extended enjoyment.
If you want to welcome guests to a cozy home or even sell your home, bake bread and let the wonderful, wholesome fragrance penetrate the air. It wins over hearts and stomachs every time.
