How to Bake Bread: Essential Techniques & Methods
Learn bread baking fundamentals—mixing, fermentation, shaping, and baking for homemade loaves.
Bread is four ingredients (flour, water, salt, yeast) and the patience to wait. Done badly, it's dense, gummy, and disappointing — exactly the way most beginners fail. Done well, it's the best food on the table, and it costs less than $2 to make at home. The gap between bad and great is mostly about understanding what each step does, not about secret recipes. This guide is for the home baker who wants real artisan bread — the kind with a deeply browned crust, an open crumb structure, and a complex tang that comes from proper fermentation. We'll cover everything from choosing flour to scoring patterns, from no-knead techniques to long cold fermentations, and from the Dutch oven trick that made artisan bread possible at home to the internal-temperature thermometer that ends guesswork. Don't be discouraged by your first loaf. Bread is a skill that takes 5-10 bakes to lock in. After that, you'll have a weekly ritual that produces better bread than $8 bakery loaves for $1 of ingredients.
Flour Choice: Bread Flour vs All-Purpose vs Specialty
Bread flour (King Arthur Bread Flour, 12.7% protein, $5/5lb bag) is the workhorse for artisan loaves. The higher protein content (vs 10-11% in all-purpose) develops a stronger gluten network, which traps more gas during fermentation — bigger rise, more open crumb. All-purpose flour works fine for sandwich loaves and quick breads but produces a slightly tighter crumb. Whole wheat: replaces some white flour (start with 20-30%) for nutty flavor and complexity. Rye: dense, sour, often blended (10-30%) with bread flour. 00 flour: for soft, tender loaves like ciabatta and focaccia. The single best investment for the home bread baker is a 5-lb bag of King Arthur Bread Flour — it works for everything from focaccia to baguettes.
Hydration: The Most Important Number in Bread Baking
Hydration percentage = (water weight / flour weight) × 100. It determines the crumb. 60-65%: sandwich loaves and bagels — tight, even crumb, easy to shape. 70-75%: standard artisan loaves like country bread — open crumb with moderate holes. 75-85%: ciabatta and focaccia — wet, sticky, very open holey crumb. 85%+: high-hydration sourdough — wild open crumb, requires advanced handling. Higher hydration = better flavor and lighter crumb BUT harder to shape. Start with 70% hydration for your first loaves — sticky enough to develop good flavor, firm enough to shape. The recipe: 500g bread flour + 350g water + 10g salt + 3g instant yeast.
💡 Tip: Weigh ingredients in grams, never measure by cup. Bread baking is the one place a $15 kitchen scale (Escali Primo or OXO 11lb scale) makes the difference between consistent success and random failure.
The Autolyse: The Step Every Beginner Skips
Mix flour and water (no salt, no yeast) until just combined — a shaggy, sticky mass. Cover and rest 30-60 minutes. This 'autolyse' allows the flour to fully hydrate and the gluten to begin forming naturally without kneading. The result: a smoother, more extensible dough that needs less mechanical kneading later. Add the salt and yeast AFTER the autolyse (salt slows fermentation and tightens gluten; both interfere if added too early). This single step — discovered by Raymond Calvel in the 1970s — is what separates artisan-quality bread from mediocre at home. It costs you 30 minutes of waiting and dramatically improves the final loaf.
Kneading vs Stretch-and-Fold (The No-Knead Method)
Traditional kneading (10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in a stand mixer with dough hook on speed 2) develops the gluten network mechanically. It works but is unnecessary for high-hydration doughs. The modern alternative: stretch-and-fold. During bulk fermentation, every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours, reach under the dough with wet hands, stretch it up, and fold it over itself. Do this 4 times (rotating 90°). Total: 4 stretch-and-fold sessions, each taking 30 seconds. The dough develops gluten as it ferments — better flavor, less work, less mess. This is the technique used in Tartine and Forkish-style sourdoughs.
Bulk Fermentation: When Is It Done?
Bulk fermentation is the first rise — the dough doubles, gas develops, flavor compounds form. At room temperature (72°F), this takes 3-4 hours for a yeasted dough, 4-6 hours for sourdough. Three signs it's ready: 1) Volume has increased by 50-100% (sourdough less, yeast more). 2) The surface looks domed and lively, with visible bubbles. 3) The dough has lightened and feels jiggly when you tap the bowl. The poke test: lightly flour a finger and press the dough; it should spring back slowly, leaving a slight indentation. If it springs back immediately, it needs more time. If it doesn't spring back at all, it's over-proofed (the gluten has weakened). Cold fermentation: refrigerate after a 1-hour bulk and let it ferment for 8-48 hours. This deepens flavor dramatically and is how bakeries achieve their characteristic tang.
Shaping: The Skill That Determines Loaf Structure
Shaping creates surface tension that holds the gas inside the dough during the final proof and oven spring. For a round loaf (boule): turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, gently pre-shape into a round, rest 20 minutes, then final-shape by pulling the edges into the center, flipping seam-side down, and using your hands to drag the dough across the counter to build tension underneath. For a baguette: pat into a rectangle, fold in thirds like a letter, roll into a log, taper the ends. Shaping requires confidence — handle the dough decisively, not timidly. A well-shaped loaf is taut and round; a poorly-shaped one is flat and saggy. After shaping, place seam-side-up in a flour-dusted banneton (round proofing basket, $15 on Amazon) or seam-side-down on parchment for the final proof.
The Dutch Oven Trick: How to Bake Bakery-Quality Bread at Home
The biggest secret of modern home bread baking: bake the loaf inside a preheated cast iron Dutch oven. The Dutch oven (5.5-7 quart, Lodge Enameled at $65 or Le Creuset at $380 — both work identically) traps the steam released by the dough during baking. This steam keeps the crust flexible during oven spring (the initial rise), allowing the bread to expand fully and developing a crackling, deeply colored crust. Procedure: preheat the empty covered Dutch oven at 500°F for 30 minutes. Score the dough, transfer it on parchment into the hot Dutch oven, cover, bake 20 minutes. Remove the lid, drop the heat to 450°F, bake another 20-25 minutes until deeply browned. This single technique turned thousands of home bakers into artisan-level bread makers.
Scoring: The Pattern Isn't Decoration
Just before baking, slash the top of the loaf with a sharp blade (a lame, $8, or a fresh razor blade). This isn't decoration — it controls WHERE the bread expands. Without scoring, the loaf bursts randomly along its weakest seam, producing an ugly tear. A clean 1/2-inch deep slash at a 30° angle to the surface (so the cut creates a flap that opens during baking) directs the expansion. Patterns: single slash for boules (lengthwise across the top), three diagonal slashes for batards, four parallel diagonals for baguettes. Pro tip: dip the blade in flour before scoring to prevent sticking. Score immediately before the loaf goes into the oven — wait, and the surface skins over.
Baking and Cooling: Internal Temperature Is the Only Truth
Bake at 450-500°F (depending on recipe) for 35-50 minutes total. The crust should be deeply browned — bordering on what looks like 'too dark' to nervous home bakers. Don't trust color alone; use an instant-read thermometer (ThermoPop, $30): the bread is done when internal temperature reaches 205-210°F (96-99°C) for lean white loaves, 195-200°F for enriched (brioche, sandwich loaves). Cool COMPLETELY on a wire rack — at least 1 hour, ideally 2. The starches continue to set as the loaf cools, and the interior is actually still cooking. Slicing hot bread gives you gummy, sticky crumb — wait. A loaf you can hear crackling as it cools (the 'song of the bread') is one that's developed properly.
Common Failures and Their Causes
Dense, gummy crumb: under-fermented (give it more time) or under-baked (check internal temperature). Bread didn't rise in the oven: dough was over-proofed before baking; the gluten was too weak to hold expansion. Solution: shorter final proof next time. Burnt bottom, raw inside: oven too hot or Dutch oven too close to the heating element. Solution: put a sheet pan on the rack below the Dutch oven to deflect heat. Pale crust: under-baked or insufficient steam. Solution: leave the lid on the Dutch oven longer, finish at higher heat. Bread tastes flat: not enough salt (use 2% of flour weight). Bread tastes too yeasty: too much yeast or too short fermentation — use less yeast and let the dough develop longer.
Рекомендуемые рецепты
Часто задаваемые вопросы
Do I really need a Dutch oven to bake good bread?
It's the single biggest upgrade for home bread baking. The trapped steam during the first 20 minutes is what gives artisan loaves their crust and rise. You can fake it with a roasting pan and a tray of ice cubes on the oven floor, but the Dutch oven method is far more reliable. A Lodge enameled Dutch oven is $65 and lasts decades.
Why is my bread dense and gummy?
Two most common causes: under-fermentation (the dough didn't develop enough gas — bulk longer next time) or under-baking (use an instant-read thermometer; 205-210°F internal is the target). Slicing hot bread also creates gummy texture — always cool at least an hour before slicing.
Can I bake bread without a stand mixer?
Absolutely. The no-knead / stretch-and-fold technique requires no machine. Mix by hand, do 4 stretch-and-folds during bulk fermentation, and the gluten develops without kneading. This is actually the technique most modern artisan bakers prefer for high-hydration doughs.
What's the difference between bread flour and all-purpose?
Protein content. Bread flour is 12-13% protein (more gluten, stronger structure, bigger rise), all-purpose is 10-11% (softer, tighter crumb). For artisan loaves, bread flour is noticeably better. For sandwich loaves and pizza dough, all-purpose works fine.
How do I know when my bread is fully baked?
Internal temperature is the only reliable measure. Lean breads (baguette, country loaf) are done at 205-210°F. Enriched breads (brioche, sandwich loaves) at 195-200°F. A ThermoPop or any instant-read thermometer ($30) takes the guesswork out. Color alone can mislead — some loaves brown fast on the outside while still being raw inside.
Bread baking is the rare skill where the result far exceeds the effort. One hour of active work spread over a Saturday produces a $1 loaf that beats $8 bakery bread. The Dutch oven is the single most important investment ($65 for a Lodge). After that, it's just flour, water, salt, yeast, and patience. Bake one loaf a week for 8 weeks and you'll have a skill for life. The bread will be better at week 8 than at week 1, and your kitchen will smell like a bakery every weekend.