![]() |
Cooking Tips Information |
|
|
How to Bake: How Long Should My Bread Rise?
It depends. The best way to tell if the dough has risen enough is not by time-though it helps to set the timer so you don't forget about your dough-but by look and feel. It will look soft and bloated. When you touch the dough, it will be soft and your finger will leave an indentation when lightly pressed against the dough. If it is not ripe, the dough will tend to slowly spring back. If you want light, fluffy bread, the dough should rise until it is puffy. The more gas incorporated in the dough, the lighter it will be. Of course, if too much gas is captured in the dough, it may collapse. The trick is to let it rise until you get just to the edge and then bake it. In most cases, that means that the dough will double-or more-in volume. With a free-standing loaf, since the pan can't support the loaf, you cannot let the bread rise as much. How long should it take? A lean, moist dough in a warm kitchen will probably rise in 45 minutes or less. A firmer dough with less moisture will take longer to rise. Yeast is very sensitive to temperature; even a few degrees less in the kitchen can extend the rise time significantly. A change of 17 degrees will cut the rise time in half. It doesn't hurt to let dough rise slowly. Bread that has risen slowly has a different flavor than fast risers, a more acidic flavor-hence the sourdough flavors in slow rising breads. Professional bakers use refrigeration to "retard" the rise. You can use a cool spot in the house or even a refrigerator to slow the rise. (The bread in the spotlight product picture-New England Herb-was placed under an open window on a cool day to deliberately slow the rise. Total rise time, first and second rising combined, was about five hours.) While lean breads are deliberately retarded to enhance the flavors, rich doughs or doughs with ample sweeteners or flavors will gain little with an extend rise since the flavors and sugars tend to mask the natural flavors of the yeast. For more articles like this visit The Bakers' Library. © 2004 The Prepared Pantry
MORE RESOURCES:
Cooking-Tips - Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
50% Less Cooking 50% Less Cookingwithout hitting the fast food button! Don't you just cringe when some clever kitchen type tells you what you could be doing with the leftovers in the fridge, when it's plainly obvious the leftovers will stay there until they walk out by themselves!More often than not, saving money with leftovers, although a great idea, takes a lot of time in preparation and relies on many other ingredients being available. So. Once-A-Month-Cooking: How to Make Your Plan Work As one of the oldest children in a family of nine, I know that cooking for a crowd can almost be a full-time job. Once-a-month-cooking has been a lifesaver for our family. Using Bread Machine Mixes in Your Oven You don't have to own a bread machine to enjoy the variety of bread machine mixes. And you don't have to make blocky, square loaves with holes in the bottom. Cake Baking Tip Guide Successful cake decorating is all about preparation. Baking and preparing your cake for decorating is a critical part of the total process. Two for One Dinners: Turkey If you find leftovers boring, uninviting or downright "yuck," then here are some ideas to put the "zing" back into mealtime. With a little creativity your home-cooked meal can easily become a delicious meal another night. Clarifying Butter Clarified butter is a delightfully rich concentrated butter that can be used in cooking and making mouth watering sauces. Traditional methods for making this rich butter concentrate can be a little intimidating at first, but not anymore. How to Peel Almost Anything The great English cook Prue Leith once famously remarked "life's too short to stuff a mushroom". I feel pretty much the same way about peeling a grape. Storing Fats and Oils The human body requires the intake of six types of substances for survival: Fats, carbohydrates, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Certain fatty acids are essential to our health and fats and oils are important components of our food and their preparation. Prepare the Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes Would you like to prepare the best Garlic Mashed Potatoes that you enjoy at your favorite restaurant, but have no idea where to start to achieve that wonderful and delightful flavor? There are a variety of ways to create the best garlic mashed potatoes that you have ever tasted but when it comes down to which way is best is according to your own taste buds.When you take a look at garlic you will see that there are various kinds of garlic that you can use for your mashed potatoes such as German red garlic, Spanish Roja garlic, Leningrad garlic, and Yugoslavian. 6 Steps to Grill the Perfect Steak There's nothing better than a nicely grilled juicy steak.But how come I can't duplicate that restaurant, expensive, juicy, melt-in-your mouth, perfectly grilled steak?Well, I found out how to grill steak perfectly - and here's how you can too. Barbecue for You In may just be in human nature to barbecue. Well, we have been doing it as far back as time can denote. 10 Deadly Bacteria That Can Get In Your Food (And How To Stop Them From Getting There) Thousands of types of bacteria are naturally present in our environment. Not all bacteria cause disease in humans (for example, some bacteria are used beneficially in making cheese and yogurt). Fruit Cake Are you the fruit cake in your family? Before you raise your eyebrow, I would suggest you read on to know what I mean.The fruit cake has tantalized the world for centuries. Wok this Way! (Part 4 of 5) Cleaning and Caring for Your Wok Non-stick woks do not require seasoning, and come with simple cleaning instructions from the manufacturers, while steel carbon and iron woks require seasoning. Cleaning a seasoned wok is a lot different than a non-stick wok, and this is what we will cover here. How To Eat Fresh Vegetables - Ideas for Working More Veggies Into Your Diet Fresh, uncooked veggies are so healthy and it's important to work them into your meal plan somewhere. The majority of American's don't eat enough vegetables and most vegetables consumed in the American diet are cooked potatoes in the form of french fries. 10 Simple Ways To Safely Store Food Storing foods can present its own set of problems. And different types of foods have different storage requirements to prevent bacteria from setting in. Flax Seed Will Add A Little Extra Flavor To Your Recipes Flax seed will add a pleasant nutty taste to any recipe. The attractive, round reddish-brown seeds of flax add flavor, extra texture and good nutrition to your breads, cakes, muffins, and other baked goods. Must Haves for Any At-Home Chef With the holidays on their way soon, many people will be beefing up kitchens to handle the increased demand for 'fit for a king' meals. Not being a professional Chef shouldn't stop you from being able to cook like one. Low-Budget Meals In a Minute Ever go home and look in the fridge only to find it sadly, echoingly empty? Well, look again my friend.. Perfect Picnics - Frugal Food Safety Tips Summer is finally here and for a lot of us that means heading out to the lake or to the park for a picnic with friends or family.Unfortunately, if we're not careful when we plan, transport and serve that picnic, our outing might not end up happily. |
| home | site map |
| © 2008 |