Blog 6: Bread Baking

 This week we were assigned to bake bread. The recipe I used is explained at the end of the blog along with pictures of the bread. This was a fun task, and it went relatively smoothly for me. I enjoy baking usually so I enjoyed this task. My bread came out great and I even had enough to give to friends! The only part of this journey that I was concerned about was the length of time to bake my bread. My recipe called for tools that I did not have such as a baking stone. Therefore, I had to improvise which caused me to change the baking process slightly. I got lucky with my baking time because I wasn't really sure how long to bake it for, but I was concerned, as baking it too much will make it hard and crispy but baking it for too short of a time will cause it to still be wet and not done properly. I got lucky and baked it for 35 mins at 350 degrees and this was perfect. My bread was soft on the inside and crunch on the outside. The only thing I would do differently if I were to make bread again was to make some kind of sauce or butter to paint on the outside, as I felt it was missing something. Overall, I enjoyed this assignment and my friends and I enjoyed the bread I made! 

The recipe was:  - 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast

                           - 1 tablespoon of salt

                           - 1 tablespoon of sugar

                           - 2 cups of warm water not over 110 Degrees F

                           - 5 1/2 to 6 cups All-Purpose Flour

                           - Cornmeal of flour for dusting

                           - Boiling water

Then in a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients, the yeast, and the water. Then dissolve the yeast and let it sit for 3 minutes to fully dissolve. Once dissolved add 1 cup of flour at a time, with each cup fully mixing before adding the next cup. Once the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl put it on a floured surface and begin to knead the dough. Make sure the surface stays fully floured otherwise the dough will start to stick. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes. Then let the dough sit to clean the mixing bowl and grease it with olive oil. Knead the dough again for 2-3 minutes and put your fully kneaded dough into the bowl and lightly cover the top of the dough with olive oil. Your dough should be fully oiled on every side. Cover with a damp towel and keep warm until the dough doubles in bulk which will take about 1-2 hours. Then once the time is up, shape the dough by punching it down and briefly kneading it to eliminate air bubbles. Cut the dough in half and shape into two Italian loaves. Put the dough loafs on a baking pan and cut three slits into the top of each. 

This was where I didn't follow the recipe and I made it up as I went. I then put the pan into the oven and baked on 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes and took it out to cool before cutting into it and enjoying!