ASB Basics: Bread
November 12, 2016 | By Jeremy Scheck | Leave a Comment
Making bread is not an exact science. Depending on the day, you may get completely different results—I think that’s the fun! This recipe can be adapted easily with simple adjustments. For softer bread, bake at 400° F a few minutes longer and omit step 11.
If you have never made bread before, these TheKitchn links are really helpful.
- Active Dry & Instant Yeast: Best Tips for Working with Yeast
- Working with Yeast: Be Not Afraid!
- Bread-Baking Tip: How to Tell When Dough is Kneaded
- Bread-Baking Clinic: Under-kneading and Over-kneading
- How to Do the Windowpane Test When Kneading Dough
- How to Shape a Sandwich Loaf of Bread
- How to Tell When Bread is Done
ASB Basics: Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 1/2 cups (235ml) of water at 110° F *
- 3 1/2 ---4 1/2 cups (420-540g) bread flour
- 2 tbsp honey or sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup, mix 1/2 cup of the water and the honey. Pour over the yeast and mix slightly with a fork. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to foam. If your yeast does not foam, either it is dead or your water is the wrong temperature.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine 3 1/2 cups flour and salt. If you don't have a mixer, you can just use any large bowl, but you'll have to knead by hand.
- After the yeast mixture is ready, pour it into the flour mixture with the rest of the water. Mix on medium--low speed.
- Add more flour in small amounts, pausing the mixer for each addition and starting back up again on low, until the dough comes together into one ball. Knead with the mixer on medium--low speed or on a floured surface by hand for several minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. To test if the dough is ready, gently pull a piece of dough from the ball. If it pulls back toward its original form, it's ready.
- Put the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover the bowl with greased aluminum foil.
- Leave the dough on the counter to rise 30--60 minutes until it has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 450° F Convection and place a baking pan or tray with raised sides in the bottom rack of the oven.
- Shape the dough as desired and place it onto a floured pan or silicone mat--lined pan.
- Let the dough rise again, uncovered, until it doubles in size again.
- Halfway through the second rising, slash the dough with a sharp knife.
- Place pan with the dough in oven----
- Before you close the oven door, throw a few ice cubes in the heated pan on the bottom rack and immediately close the door of the oven.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Check the bread for doneness**
- If not done, bake for 2 to 5 more minutes and then longer if needed. If done inside but not browned, broil on low for a minute.
- Cool on a wire rack until lukewarm before cutting into the bread.
Notes
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.