On the rise

As with all things righteous and good, there is more to a good loaf than just ingredients. Technique is key, and you know what that means...

So you've got all of those ingredients mixed and your dough ball is formed, but what now? First, we knead. Is there a right way to do it? Of course!

If you're lucky enough to have a stand mixer or food processor at your disposal, push the "on" button. Congradulations, you're kneading.

For the rest of us (or those who just want to do it by hand) it's just a tad more complicated (but don't worry, it's really easy). Turn the dough out onto your work surface. You want to keep the dough from sticking, and for most people this means sprinkling some flour on the surface. A certain aforementioned book writer mentions that another good (and maybe even better, since it won't add extra flour that can dry out your dough) method is to use just a touch of oil, or even water. Not so much that the dough slips everywhere, but just enough to keep it from sticking to the work area. I'll leave it up to you what you use.

Actual technique is fairly simple. The idea is to mix the dough in a uniform motion in order to form those sheets of gluten. Place your palm in the middle of the dough ball and push in and pushing outward. Fold the dough over itself (so that what was on top is now in the middle), give it a quick quarter-turn, and repeat.

See? Easy. Just keep that up for 10-15 minutes.

After the dough is properly kneaded, it's a good idea to form a nice smooth skin on top. This will help keep all the gases formed by the yeast inside and lead to a nice rise. You can get this effect by pulling away from the top of the ball and tucking it under itself. When you've got a nice smooth top just pinch the bottom together.

And now the all important rise. Dough likes a moderately warm climate (room temperature is pretty good). You can easily leave the dough in the mixing bowl, cover it with a towel so that it won't dry out from exposure to air (also rubbing the outside with just a dab of oil is helpful here), and let it sit on the counter for an hour or two until it's risen to double its original size.

If you're in a hurry, you can take a note from the pro's and build your own proof box. You'll want to make sure that your oven can run low enough (110 F will kill the yeast), so if it has a setting that will keep it around 90-100 F you're good. Killing the yeast will leave you with sad, unleavened bread, and no one wants that - so please, use a thermometer to be sure. Grab a standard baking dish (anything that will hold water will work, really), fill it with boiling water, and stick it in the bottom of that oven. Set the dough on a higher rack and let it rise. That little trick should cut the rise time about in half.

If you're not in a hurry and want to add a little flavor to your bread, try going for a nice slow overnight rise in the refrigerator. The colder temp will slow down the yeast and allow flavorful bacteria (which would be eating the same sugar as the yeast if those hungry little things didn't take it all first) to develop. I suggest giving this a try, as it'll add a whole new dimension of flavor.

Once you have your risen dough, it's time to punch it down. Really you just have to press (and not all that hard, even) down the middle. This will let out a lot of the gases that caused the first rise (but hey, there's another rise on the way, so don't worry), but what you're really doing is breaking up the yeast. Budding yeast is kind of like the 25-year-old who's still mooching off of his parents and living in the basement. He's a fully grown yeast cell, but he's just not letting go of his immediate family. Having a few big clumps of yeast isn't going to be as efficient as a bunch of little yeasties all spread throughout the dough. Punch down the dough, fold it over, punch down again... you get the idea. You only need to fold it a few times, more or less so that what was on the outside before is now in the middle. This will break up those clumps of yeast, allowing Jr. to go off and start his own family.

You'll want to form the dough into its final shape (whatever you want - a loaf, rolls, twists... I'm not going to tell you how to eat your bread) for the last rise, but first let it rest for a few minutes. Let the gluten recover from the beating it just got, and it'll be easier to work with.

For the second rise you can let it sit on the counter, or try the proofing method. I suppose that you could let it rise in the refrigerator again, but by this time I'm getting impatient and want to eat. Choose your rise method, and go for it. Again you want the dough to roughly double in size (and, by the way, it should happen faster the second time around).

Now it's time to bake. And yes, there's more to this than simply tossing it into the oven and walking away. The nature of the beast is that you're fighting a battle as soon as you put the dough in, because you want one last good rise (called "oven spring") before the crust sets. This rise comes from yeast giving one last hurrah before getting killed off (those guys just can't take heat), and also from the liquid turning to steam and giving some extra lift. So you need a good hot oven to make this happen, but not so hot that the outside crust sets before the dough is expanded.
If you have it right, you'll have a nice, beautiful loaf (or rolls, or twists, or whatever). If not, here are a few things that can happen (but now you'll know why they're happening):

If there's an air pocket near the top crust, the oven was too hot. The crust set, gases couldn't get out, and so they just rose to the top and stayed there.
If the top busts open somewhere, the same sort of thing happened. The crust formed early and the gas was trapped inside... but instead of just sitting there and forming an air pocket they decide to get the heck out of dodge, and they break loose. This particular problem can be helped by slashing the dough before baking. Not only does it look cool, it allows gases an easy exit.

Now that the dough is done baking (and you know it's done because you popped in your trusty thermometer and it read 180 F, right?), it's time to take it out of the oven. But wait, hold off on ripping into it (I know it's hard, believe me). Give it just a few minutes to rest. Let those proteins set up. It'll be worth the extra wait.

And there it is. You've got the lowdown on the ingredients, you've got good technique, and soon you'll have the wonderful smell of fresh baked bread.