Don't you just hate it
when you follow a recipe to the letter
and when the bread baking is finished the bread not only looks
nothing like the recipe book's picture, but tastes terrible as
well?
There is no denying that bread baking as with baking anything is
a delicate process.
Bread baking involves so many things that first time bakers are
often discouraged after a few failed attempts to turn out
professional looking and tasting loaves.
Little do they realize that if they only possessed the
professional Baker's secrets bread baking would be so easy that
the bread would practically make itself!
For instance: How many amateur bakers know the secret to keeping
bread from sticking to the pan every time?
None! So when they try their hand at bread baking for the first
time their bread sticks to the bread pan, and ends up a crumbled
mess if they try to force it out.
Then they cry and give up thinking that the problem lies with
them.
The shocking truth is that it doesn't!
The problem lies with their lack of knowledge of THE baker's
bread baking secret.
The secret professional chefs and bakers won't tell you, the
secret they guard so jealously.
My father happened to learn this bread baking secret in his
younger baking days (which is no surprise since his great great
grandfather was a chef for the White House and owned his own
bakery) and has passed it on to his children ever since.
Okay, okay, I know you're probably screaming at me by now "Beth,
get on with it! Tell us the bread baking secret already!"
So here it is; You will need only one tool besides for the oil
and bread pan you already have, and that is quite simply
CORNMEAL (you shouldn't need more than 1/4 to 1/2 cup for two
loaves of bread).
"Cornmeal?" you ask doubtfully. "YES, cornmeal!"
No, you do not add the cornmeal to the bread ingredients! That
is not the bread baking secret.
What you do is you oil your pan as usual, and you lightly
sprinkle cornmeal on all of the sides and bottom of the bread
pan.
Now you can safely place your bread dough into the pans without
fear of it sticking to them.
While your bread is baking instead of sticking to the pan, your
bread will stick to the cornmeal and slide easily out of the pan
when done baking.
You may need to use a butter knife and slide it in between the
pan and the bread before turning the pan over and allowing your
bread to pop out.
A lot of the time this will be unnecessary however and your
bread will pop out just by your turning the bread pan upside
down.
You will probably also want to use the butter knife to scrape
the excess cornmeal off the bottom and sides of the bread as you
may not care for the taste of cornmeal.
This bread baking secret will work whether you're baking a
batter bread or a rising bread (also called yeast bread). I
personally use it for both.
Here is another treasured bread baking secret, this one only for
batter breads:
On the last ten minutes of its baking time cover the bread pan
containing the batter bread with another bread pan (a steel
bread pan works best), and leave it on until the bread is
finished baking.
This will keep the batter bread from burning or becoming too
hard on top. You may vary the time you leave the steel bread pan
on according to how your batter bread usually looks when it is
finished.
If it is a very dark brown on top and difficult to slice because
the top is so hard, then 20 minutes will work best. But if it is
just a little too hard on top and a little too brown the 10
minutes should suffice.
Do not cover the bread at all if it usually comes out golden and
soft on top after the baking is completed.
You may also glaze a batter bread on top with a tablespoon of
melted butter mixed with a tablespoon of honey, and sprinkle
some flaked coconut or sliced nuts on top of that.
To glaze you start by taking the bread out of the oven five
minutes before the required baking time is finished, then spread
the butter/honey mixture on top of the bread, sprinkle on your
coconut or chopped nuts and bake for the remaining 5 minutes.
Here is another useful bread baking tip for rising breads...
If your bread loaves over rise (say because you were busy and
forgot about them), then you can use a pair of scissors to cut
off the excess sides, being careful not to cut any dough from
off of the top.
You may then use this excess dough to make rolls. You simply oil
a pizza or cookie sheet and form the dough into several small
balls.
Rise them for another half hour and then bake on 350 degrees
Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Do yourself a favor and put these tried and tested bread baking
secrets immediately to use in your kitchen, and your family will
rave over the results.
