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Basic White Bread

Source of Recipe


My own - Adapted from Good Housekeeping 1950's edition






List of Ingredients



• 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup warm water
  
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoon) active dry yeast
  
• 1 cup whole milk*
  
• 2 tablespoon soft shortening*
  
• 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 5 1/2 cups* white bread flour*
  
• *NOTES
  






Instructions



1. Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast, give a slow stir. Set aside 10 minutes.
   
   
2. Scald 1 cup milk, de-scum, cool to lukewarm. Stir in 2 tablespoons shortening, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup warm water. Add milk mixture and 2 cups white bread flour to dissolved yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth and elastic.
   
   
3. Stir in 2 1/2 cups of remaining flour gradually. If necessary, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to make a soft dough which leaves sides of bowl. Turn out onto a floured board and form into a ball.
   
   
4. Knead* dough for about 10 minutes, adding more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, as necessary, until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky.
   
   
5. Place in lightly greased bowl, turning the dough to grease all over. Cover with greased waxed paper and a light towel.
   
   
6. Place in a non drafty, warm place and allow to rise until doubled (45-60 minutes).
   
   
7. Punch down in the bowl and turn out onto lightly floured board, knead a few times to dispel any air bubbles and divide into 2 equal portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
   
   
8. Shape each portion into a loaf. Place seam side down in 2 greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4" loaf pans. Cover with a light towel.
   
   
9. Allow to rise in a warm place until dough rises above top of pan in centre and corners are filled (45 to 60 minutes). The dough should be "crowned" over the tops of the loaf pans.
   
   
10. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
    
    
11. Bake at 375 F (190 C) on lower oven rack for 25 to 30 minutes. In order to make sure that the bread bakes evenly, rotate the loaves front to back, side to side. Most home ovens are not perfect in heat distribution.
    
    
12. Remove the loaves from pans immediately. Brush top crust with butter if a softer crust is desired. Cool on wire racks, turning over occasionally so that the moisture doesn't settle and the crust dries evenly.
    
    






Final Comments


NOTES:
Whole milk improves flavor, use 2% if you prefer.

Scalding helps reduce enzimes which could retard yeast developement. Not absolutely nescessary with pasturization. But, you don't need the stuff that formed the scum either. (Just kiddin')

Shortening has a much higher melting point than butter and holds the ingredients together better during the heating up period in cooking. Even during the rise, butter has probably melted and seperated in the dough. Shortening has 50% less saturated fat than butter and shortening doesn’t contain water as does butter or margerine. Shortening, most often, produces higher, lighter-textured baked goods.

Good bread depends on gluten developement. Flour milled specifically for bread has a higher gluten /protien, 12% - 14% content than all purpose flour, 10% - 11.5%. Incidently; cake flour is typically 7%-9% protein; pastry flour, or cookie flour, 9-10%. High protien and bagel flours, 14-15%, but the bread becomes chewier. For best results; use the right flour. For more on flours, go to Flour - A treatise, theartisan.net

The amount of flour required (within 1/2 cup) depends on brand, type of flour, and humidity. Flour, when packaged, has about a 14% moisture content. During storage, the moisture content can vary. The older the flour the more moisture it loses. This is why on a dry day using old flour, your dough may require more water than on a wet day using new flour.

Kneading the dough is one of the most important steps in bread baking. This step more than any other will determine the outcome of the bread. Most failures are due to improper kneading, or not kneading enough!

tutorial on kneading bread - janktheproofer.com

Making Bread...it's easier than you think!

Here's how to knead a basic yeast bread dough.

From ehow.com how to knead bread dough.



Kneading the dough is one of the most important steps in bread baking. This step more than any other will determine the outcome of the bread.

Instructions
STEP 1: Start with dough that has been measured and mixed properly.

STEP 2: Turn the dough out on a clean, floured work surface.

STEP 3: Flour your hands well.

STEP 4: Use the heel of your hands to compress and push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself.

STEP 5: Give the dough a little turn and repeat Step 4. Put the weight of your body into the motion and get into a rhythm.

STEP 6: Keep folding over and compressing the dough until it becomes smooth and slightly shiny, almost satiny. Check your recipe for specifics. The most common test for doneness is to press it with your finger. If the indentation remains, it's ready for rising. You can also try stretching part of the dough into a rectangle. If it can stretch into a thin sheet without breaking, you've kneaded it enough.

Tips & Warnings
It's difficult to over-knead dough by hand, but it's actually very easy to do with a machine, so check it fairly often.
Kneading one loaf's worth of white-bread dough by hand should take about 10 minutes. Kneading two loaves' worth takes almost double the time. It takes longer for whole-wheat flour as well. (An all-whole-wheat loaf would take twice as long to knead, but you'll seldom make an all-whole-wheat loaf.)

Kneading does three crucial things for bread: it distributes the yeast and other ingredients evenly and thoroughly, it develops the gluten in the dough, and it introduces air. The gluten, or wheat protein, is what enables the dough to stretch instead of collapsing when the yeast grows inside it. If the gluten isn't developed, the dough won't rise well and will produce a heavy loaf - rather like a brick.
Some bread recipes call for a second kneading just before the dough is added to the loaf pans. Professional bakers call this benching and shaping the dough.


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