DOUGH FUNDAMENTALS
Every bread recipe here rests on the same handful of ideas: what the yeast is doing, which dough you are making, and what each stage should feel like under your hands. Learn them once and the recipes stop being instructions to follow and start making sense.
Yeast Basics
Types Of Dough
Step By Step
YEAST BASICS
Yeast is a single celled microscopic organism. Give it what it needs to grow, a source of nourishment, warmth and oxygen, and the cells multiply rapidly. That is the whole trick behind a risen loaf: feed the yeast, keep it warm, and it lifts the dough for you.
It is also one of the oldest leavening agents we have. The yeast used in baking is a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and it is a natural source of B vitamins.
So when a recipe asks for lukewarm water, a little sugar and a warm spot to rise, it is simply setting the yeast up to do its job.
TYPES OF DOUGH
Three doughs cover almost everything on this site. They use the same ingredients in different proportions, and each one behaves differently once the yeast gets going.
Basic Dough
Basic bread dough contains flour, salt, a small quantity of sugar, shortening and yeast, mixed to a soft dough with lukewarm water. Knead until the surface is smooth and the dough is elastic.
Rising Time
20 to 30 minutes
Texture When Baked
Fine and even, without large holes
Sweet Dough
A sweet dough has more sugar and often contains milk, eggs, increased shortening, dried fruit and spices. Knead until the surface is shiny and the dough becomes elastic.
Rising Time
Slower: the richer and sweeter the dough, the slower the rising
Knead Until
The surface is shiny and elastic
Batter Dough
A batter contains a large quantity of liquid and is a thin, dripping consistency. Mix until the batter comes together and no threads are visible.
Rising Time
Very quick
Texture When Baked
More open and a little coarser
STEP BY STEP: YOUR FIRST DOUGH
Work through these in order with any basic bread recipe in front of you. The photographs show what each stage should look like.
1
Mix the flour, salt and sugar together, then add the Anchor Instant Yeast to the dry ingredients.
If salt or sugar sits on top of the yeast it slows the yeast down and it may not work.
2
Rub the margarine in with the fingertips.
3
Add the lukewarm water and mix to a soft dough.
4
Knead well for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
5
Place in a greased bowl, cover, rest 5 minutes.
6
Test with two fingers: if the indentations remain, the dough has risen enough.
7
Knock down with the knuckles, divide and shape per the recipe.
8
Cover and rise in a warm place (28°C). On a cold day, set the pan over a tray of hot water and cover.
9
Rise until double, about 25 to 30 minutes.
10
Brush lightly with water and bake per the recipe.
11
Tap with the knuckles: a hollow sound means the bread is baked.
If salt or sugar sits on top of the yeast it slows the yeast down and it may not work.
TOPIC QUESTIONS
Why is my dough not rising?
Yeast needs warmth, moisture and time. Water hotter than about 45°C kills it, and a cold kitchen slows it right down. Check the date on your Anchor Instant Yeast, use water that feels just warm on your wrist, and leave the dough somewhere draught free to do its work.
Question 2
Answer 2
Next Lesson
Baking Outcomes
What a good rise, crust and crumb look like, and how to read your loaf.
Next Lesson: Baking Outcomes
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