Basic White Bread

JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
Basic White Bread Recipe
For KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Ingredients:

1/2C (4 oz.) milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons Instant Yeast (.34 oz.)
1-1/2 C (12 oz.) warm water (105F to 110F)
5-6 C (1# 13 oz.) Unbleached bread flour

Directions:

1. Combine milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm (less than 110 F.
2. If using active dry yeast, dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. If using Instant Yeast, just add it to the flour and mix it in before adding liquids.
3. Add lukewarm milk mixture and water to 4 1/2 C (1# 6 oz.) flour. Attach bowl and dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and mix 1 minute. Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 C (2.5 oz.) at a time (slowly so it doesn’t fly out of bowl), until dough clings to hook and cleans side of bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch. (At this point I take the dough and knead it for 5-7 minutes, adding flour as needed, until I get the “feel” I want from the dough.)
4. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
5. Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf and place in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
6. Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

For Hamburger and hot dog buns, divide the dough into 2-1/2 oz portions and shape into a ball. Allow dough balls to rest for 5 minutes, then flatten with the heel of your hand and place on cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. Allow about 1” between rolls for expansion/proofing. For hot dog buns, shape into about 5-6” long tubes with seam down. Brush with whisked egg white/water mix and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake at 400 F for 12-14 minutes or until 200 F.


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JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
Beautiful shine on that loaf :)

What kind of oven do you use Joe?

A basic Fridgidaire gas oven. Nothing fancy, just basic. Nice bread comes from developing techniques for knowing when your dough is mixed just right, minimal working the dough after you punch it down, and quickly shaping your loaf making sure to wrap the loaf tight, pinch all the seams tightly so they don't come apart, then be sure the seam is on the bottom. Basically, reading about bread and making it frequently will give almost every baker a beautiful loaf each and every time.

Oh, the most important advice I can give to any home baker, is to use a kitchen scale and convert all of your volume measurements into weight. I even weigh all of my liquids, because measuring cups LIE! This way you will get the same results each and every time you make your recipes.
 

PieSusan

Tortes Are Us
Super Site Supporter
There you go, more bread baking wisdom. I have had good luck with following the cookbook authors advice when it comes to how they measure. In the beginning of most books, they will tell you what size egg, whether or not to sift the flour, spoon the flour or dip and sweep. These are things often overlooked. But Joe has surpassed the typical homecook and has gone straight into professional baking territory where everything is weighed instead of measured.

Hats off to you!!! I imagine this is your one year anniversary or thereabouts of your bread baking career!

Well done, sir. Well done.
 

JoeV

Dough Boy
Site Supporter
I imagine this is your one year anniversary or thereabouts of your bread baking career!

Well done, sir. Well done.

Thank you. Yes, it was one year ago this month that I started learning how to bake bread. I started with a bread machine and within two weeks I took it back and stayed with the KitchenAid stand mixer and also some hand kneading. We have not had a loaf of store bought bread in the house since I started baking.
 
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