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Homemade bread in the oven - how to bake delicious bread at home

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I baked my first homemade bread in the oven according to the simplest recipe: flour, water, yeast, salt and sugar. When he took out a ruddy krahuha, there was no limit to pride! Although it turned out to be lopsided, it rose and baked perfectly. For me, this is the most important thing, and we will bring beauty later. Inspired by the first success, I repeated the recipe for homemade bread a couple more times and took up loaves with cuts, round loaves, and bricks. But I want to tell you and show you how to bake delicious bread in the oven at home according to a basic recipe. Because it is better to start acquaintance with baking bread from the basics in order to understand what and why to do and what will come of it.

Homemade yeast bread in the oven. Recipe

If you have experience in baking, feel free to start cooking, and for beginners, I advise you to first read the tips and recommendations under the recipe.

Basic bread recipe. Having mastered it, you will be able to bake delicious bread with different additives. For example, fragrant, with sesame, Provence herbs, give it a different shape. The recipe will also help you out during fasting - lean wheat bread is baked without eggs and milk, and oil can be removed from the composition of the ingredients. Yeast lean dough is prepared on water, kneaded very easily, the bread turns out to be fluffy and tasty.

Ingredients

For homemade yeast bread we need:

warm water - 250 ml;
sugar - 1 tbsp. l. without a slide;
salt - 1 tsp without a slide;
wheat flour - 480 g (180 for dough + 300 for dough);
fresh yeast (cube) - 15 g;
sunflower oil - 3 tbsp. l.

How to cook homemade bread in the oven

Let's start making dough for bread by preparing the products. We measure the right amount of yeast, making sure that they are suitable (expiry date on the package). Add salt and sugar. Grind all the ingredients to a liquid slurry using a spoon or spatula.

We heat the water, we try it by hand. Warm until you feel a pleasant warmth. Add warm water to yeast, stir.

Pour in the sifted flour. Stir, get rid of large lumps.

In terms of density, the mass will be medium, like dough for pancakes.

We cover the container. We put in heat for 30-45 minutes or longer. Ripe dough will rise several times, become perforated with a sour smell.

We stir the dough, releasing carbon dioxide and again making it liquid so that after kneading the yeast can once again raise the dough.

Sift the flour, add not all at once, but in parts - it is easier to bring the dough to the desired density. Immediately add about 250 grams.

We make a recess in the flour mound, pour in sunflower oil to make the dough more elastic and the pastries tasty.

Mix everything with a spoon until a thick, loose lump of dough is obtained. Sprinkle a little flour on a board or table, spread the dough and begin to knead it, rolling it away from you and pulling it towards you. I use the back of my hand with smooth, but strong movements.

After a few minutes, the dough will no longer be so rough and sticky, it will become denser, drier and easier to knead. Knead another ten minutes. At the end of the kneading, you will feel how air bubbles burst under your palms, the dough is soft and plastic.

We roll the dough into a bun, such as in the photo. Trim, sprinkle thickly with flour.

For proofing the dough, a small saucepan with a rounded bottom, a bowl, a cauldron is suitable. We cover with a towel, sprinkle with flour thickly.

Put the dough sprinkled side down, leave the top smooth. If there is no flour, the dough will stick to the towel, a beautiful kolobok will not work. We wrap the edges of the towel on a bun, put the dough in a warm place to rise twice.

The dough for yeast bread should rise to the side or slightly higher. You don't need to knead the dough. Turn on the oven, let it warm up to 180 degrees.

When it heats up, very carefully turn the bowl with the dough over, laying the gingerbread man on a baking sheet covered with paper. We try not to damage the dough, it is very tender. I cover the bowl with a pan and turn it over. The dough comes out easily, does not knead, it remains only to remove the towel from the kolobok.

We put the baking sheet on the middle level and bake homemade yeast bread for 35-40 minutes at 180 degrees. The crust should turn golden, become golden-ruddy.

We take out delicious bread from the oven, cool on a wooden board or wire rack, without covering with anything.

Slice warm or cooled bread and serve.

I am sure that your first yeast bread will turn out great, because now you know how to bake delicious bread in the oven at home and you will certainly want to consolidate your success. I collected simple and tasty ones in the corresponding section, there are a variety of them, all with detailed descriptions and tips.

Now traditions are being revived, and homemade bread baked in the oven at home is again perceived as a symbol of comfort and homeliness of the hostess. In a house that smells of fresh pastries, it is warm and calm, they are waiting for you there, where you relax and forget about all the problems. And the taste of homemade bread - it cannot be compared with purchased loaves! Let the bread be not an ideal shape, but you baked it with love, invested a piece of your soul, and such bread will definitely be delicious.

Which flour to choose for bread

For the first time, I advise you to choose the easiest bread recipe at home, bake delicious wheat bread. Other types of flour require some skill and skill, and wheat flour dough is very easy to work with. It has a lot of gluten, so the dough rises well and can be given a different shape - roll a loaf, a bagel, bake a loaf, a brick.

If you add whole grain flour, then the dough will rise less, but such bread will be healthier. The dough with the addition of cornmeal will be bright yellow, grainy to the touch and heavy. It rises easily, but it cannot be approached for a long time, it can fall in the oven from prolonged proofing. Recipes for rye bread are best left for later, rye flour is capricious and unpredictable. There is no gluten in it, so the dough hardly rises and baking such bread is a real art.

Wheat flour comes in different grades: higher, first, second and gritty. They differ in the degree of grinding and the content of gluten (the more it is, the better the dough will rise). Flour mixtures from different varieties are usually sold, therefore it is generally accepted that in unmarked flour the average percentage of gluten (25-28%). Types of flour with labels are valued higher, but also more expensive. Gluten in them 28-30%.

As such, the concept of "grade of flour" does not imply the quality of the product, but the intended use for a particular use. For example, pastry dough is made from the highest grade, and for bread it is better to use the first or second grade. Baking does not get stale for a long time, it turns out with a delicate porous crumb, tasty and keeps its shape well.

Why sift flour

Flour can contain not only garbage, bugs and worms, but also various additives that manufacturers do not skimp on. For example, starch. During storage, it cakes and sticks together with plates. By sifting flour, you rid it of all impurities, break up lumps and saturate it with oxygen. Any pastry made from sifted flour turns out to be more fluffy and soft - it has been tested on our own experience. Buy a fine-mesh sieve or a special sieve mug and your homemade bread will always be fluffy.

Preparing dough for bread

Bread at home is made in two types - on the dough and in a non-dough way. Opara is a batter made from flour, liquid, yeast and sugar. She is easy to prepare. Yeast is diluted with water and sugar, flour is added, and the mixture is left warm to ferment for at least 30 minutes, but usually takes about an hour. Readiness is determined by volume, appearance and smell. Yeast, interacting with sugar, release carbon dioxide, which raises the batter. The ripe dough will increase in volume, become loose, and a sharp sour smell will appear. But the main sign of readiness - it will begin to sort of settle, fall through - this means it's time to knead the dough.

How to knead the dough

Flour, butter are added to the dough and the dough for bread is kneaded. You need to knead the dough until the bun is soft and smooth, in time it is from 10 to 20 minutes. At the first stage, the dough will be rough, dense, wet, and tear when stretched. As kneading, certain processes occur in it, the state of gluten changes, the dough becomes soft, elastic, and ceases to stick to hands. After kneading, the yeast dough is put on proofing to increase in volume. After one or two hours, the dough becomes fluffy, smooth, easily takes the desired shape when molded.

Bread molding

You can bake homemade bread in the oven of various shapes: round, oval, loaf, brick. First, the dough is kneaded by hand so that carbon dioxide comes out, then it is rolled into a bun or placed in a rectangular, round shape or on a baking sheet, where it is allowed to rise again. In some cases, immediately after kneading, they are placed in a mold. There it fits, and then sent to the oven. In order not to explain for a long time how to do what, I suggest watching a video on shaping round bread.

How to bake bread in the oven

It takes 15-20 minutes to preheat the oven. Usually bread is baked at a temperature of 180-200 degrees on the middle tier. For the first ten minutes it rises, then the crust thickens and there will be no rise. The door must not be opened at first, so as not to violate the temperature regime, the dough from cold air may settle. Too high a temperature is also undesirable - bread can tear at the top or sides. Cooking time and temperature depend on many factors, so it is better to follow the recommendations in the recipe, and in the future you can already rely on your experience and intuition.

Happy baking! Your Plushkin.

Every nation has recipes for baking bread. The recipe for bread is about the same everywhere, all bread recipes are based on flour and water. This is the simplest bread recipe: knead flour with water - and bake bread. A recipe similar to this is still used by primitive peoples. Flour may be different. The most popular is wheat flour, but bread is baked from rye flour, bread from corn flour, and wheat-rye bread is also made. To make the bread fluffy, the dough can be fermented. Most often, yeast is used for this, it turns out the so-called. yeast bread. Bread without yeast is more difficult to prepare, but it is considered more useful. Unleavened bread can be prepared in two ways: using sourdough or using sparkling water. The sourdough bread recipe is old and more time consuming. Sourdough for yeast-free bread is made from germinated wheat grains or from hops. In addition, you can make bread with kefir, bread with kvass or beer. The composition of the bread does not end there. Bread can contain a variety of ingredients, from seeds and dried fruit, to eggs and meat. Wheat bread, white bread, rye bread, black bread, Borodino bread, French bread, Italian bread, sweet bread, custard bread, bread in an egg, bread with cheese - all types of bread cannot be counted. Someone likes a recipe for white bread, lovers of black bread will choose a recipe for bread made from rye flour. And then there is the ritual bread. All believers eat bread during fasting. If you are planning to bake lean bread, the recipe should not contain eggs and animal fats.

Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers knew how to bake bread, but many of us today have lost the knowledge of how to make bread. To know how to bake bread, it is not necessary to graduate from a culinary college. A person without a “baker” crust can bake bread at home with a fragrant crust. We will tell you the recipe, but you will have to fill your hand.

Homemade bread is the most delicious. Making bread at home is not that difficult. For example, at home you can cook delicious rye bread in the oven, you can find its recipe on our website.

Rye bread loved by many. Homemade rye bread with a crispy brown crust smells especially delicious. That is why so many people want to learn how to bake rye bread. Make rye bread at home once, and it will make you forget about the bread section in the supermarket.

A homemade bread recipe can use both baker's yeast and sourdough. The homemade bread recipe always leaves room for your imagination in terms of additional ingredients. Add nuts, dried fruits, spices and spices to your taste in the dough. Baking homemade bread can take place in the oven or a special bread machine. Literally anyone can make homemade bread in the oven. The recipe for bread in the oven is actually no different from any other bread recipe. Of course, there are some subtleties that will help you learn how to bake bread in the oven correctly. Firstly, successfully baking bread at home in the oven is, of course, largely dependent on your oven. Bread dough should stand for 10 to 15 hours in a warm place. Bread in the oven is baked at 180-250 degrees. After an hour and a half, baking bread in the oven will be completed. And it's quite easy to bake bread in a bread machine. Bread recipes for a bread machine will not cause you any difficulties and save a lot of time. That's why she's a baker.

Make homemade bread! At your service is a recipe for black bread, a recipe for Wheat Bread, a recipe for Borodino bread, a recipe for French bread, a recipe for Bread without yeast, or otherwise a recipe for Bread without yeast. Knowing how to bake homemade bread is also useful for making bread dishes. Of course, they will be tastier from homemade bread than from store-bought. So do not be lazy and cook bread, recipes with photos will help you.

Homemade bread, which can be prepared according to a variety of recipes, is considered one of the most delicious dishes. Its composition allows you to diversify the menu, including unusual and healthy ingredients during cooking. Delicious, home-baked bread will become a signature dish, fill the house with its aroma and create a unique atmosphere of coziness and comfort.

flour for cooking

For those who are just starting to practice this interesting and enjoyable business, there are a lot of quick and easy options. For those who already have experience of this type of cooking and can afford to diversify the usual composition, we offer components that are amazing in terms of taste and degree of usefulness.

However, the initial composition of home-made bread dough includes a number of products that are almost always used, and flour is among them. It is the main component of any test.

Any flour can be used for baking: wheat, corn, rye, buckwheat, barley, oat or a mixture of types and grindings. Different types of this ingredient allow you to get different flavors, increase the degree of value in terms of the final product.

Yeast and sourdough

Yeast is an essential ingredient in most bread recipes. At home, baking this product is most often done with them, since it is with their help that the dough rises, the final product acquires the necessary splendor and porosity. Yeast can be dry or fresh, the choice depends on the preferences of the hostess and the expected result.

Sourdough options are very diverse. There can be more than a hundred of them, they differ in the type of the main product, the combination of additional ingredients.

For example, such ingredients for the preparation of this product as kefir, barley, malt, raisins, hops, and wheat have found the greatest use in baking. Home-baked sourdough bread acquires an exquisite aroma, the vital activity of yeast is activated, vitamins and nutrients are preserved.

Homemade bread differs significantly from store-bought bread because it tastes great, is healthy, and has a long-lasting, tantalizing aroma.

cooking secrets

The process of making fragrant pastries, sourdough and bread dough at home has a number of features, so recipes and cooking methods can vary significantly depending on the option chosen.

Sometimes professional chefs share a number of secrets that allow you to make bread at home faster. There are relatively few of them, but following them will save time, correctly approach the process of choosing the type of sourdough, baking technique and preserving the finished product.

Secret number 1: dough preparation

Any type of dough must be prepared strictly according to the chosen recipe. What is suitable for one cooking option may not be relevant for another, therefore it is recommended to choose the practical subtleties individually.

The main task when baking bread at home is to obtain a lush, attractive and appetizing product. This can be achieved by following the rules in the process of preparing the test:

the consistency should be dense;
the dough should not stick to the hands during its final kneading;
if, with full adherence to the step-by-step instructions, the dough continues to be inelastic, sticky to your hands, you need to add as much flour as the dough requires.

These rules will improve the appearance of the finished product and its taste.

Secret #2: Test Preparation

To improve the taste of bread baked at home in the oven, as well as to increase the duration of its storage, professionals advise to let the dough stand for some time before baking.

Laid out in a mold, covered with a towel, the finished dough will "rest", saturate with oxygen, which will make the product more magnificent, appetizing. The standing time for the finished dough can be different - on average it is fifteen minutes, after which the form is set in a preheated oven.

Secret #3: Baking and Keeping Fresh

Since the finished dough is quite dense in its consistency, in order to bake it more evenly, it is recommended to preheat the oven thoroughly and even the form in which the bread will be cooked. This will make it possible to avoid unbaked areas and raw lumps of dough in the finished loaf.

One of the attractive qualities of freshly made bread should be considered a ruddy crispy crust. And in order for it to turn out when making bread at home in the oven, you need to hold the finished loaf for some time (about 15 minutes) in the turned off, but still hot appliance.

Classic Dough Ingredients

Beginning cooks can be recommended a method of how to make bread at home, which is the easiest to perform, does not require special kneading skills and at the same time gives an excellent result - fluffy bread with a golden crust, much tastier than purchased in a store.

For its manufacture, the following products will be required:

loose sugar - four tsp;
flour - 4 full glasses of 250 ml;
yeast (preferably dry) - 2 tsp;
filtered water - two glasses;
table salt - two tsp.

Easy bread making

In general, the process of baking bread for all recipes is similar and may differ only in the duration of some stages. Baking bread at home according to this recipe is the simplest technique and will allow novice chefs to test their strength and gain experience.

The sequence of actions is as follows:

First, water is heated, then sugar and yeast are dissolved in it.
After infusing the finished solution for fifteen minutes, it is thoroughly mixed, filtered, salt and flour, previously sifted, are added. A thick, viscous dough is kneaded from the listed components, which is left to proof at room temperature for 10 minutes.
The oven is heated to 30 ° C, a container with dough, covered with a lid, is placed in it. The residence time of the finished dough in the oven is determined until it triples in size (approximately 2 hours).
Now the form is placed in the oven with a temperature of 220 ° C, baked for 10-17 minutes, then the temperature is reduced to 180 ° C, and the process continues for another 30 minutes.

After turning off the finished loaf, it is left in the oven for some time, then the bread is taken out, covered with a clean towel and allowed to cool.

Rye bread with garlic

Professionals suggest using original techniques for baking at home. The recipe for rye bread can be diversified by adding garlic to it, which will give a special flavor and turn ordinary bread into a real table decoration and an original snack.

The components of the test should be taken as follows:

rye flour - 300 grams;
vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l.;
water and wheat flour - 400 g each;
salt - 2 tsp;
brown or white sugar - 3 tsp;
garlic, depending on preferences - 5-8 cloves;
yeast (preferably dry) - 2 tsp.

If you want to make bread at home without sourdough, baking according to this recipe is perfect.

The technology for making this product is also simple and can be done using the simple baking technique described earlier, but with some adjustments: the garlic is crushed and added to the sifted flour, and the baking time is increased to 35-45 minutes.

Yeast-free bread on kefir

The absence of yeast in the recipe makes the finished bread more useful, while the degree of porosity of the crumb does not decrease, the taste remains delicate. To improve the baking of such bread, it is recommended to make several cuts on the crust during its preparation.

The composition of the recipe includes the following components:

wheat flour of the first or highest grade - 500 g;
sugar and salt - 2 tsp each;
medium-fat kefir - 150 ml;
filtered water - 210 ml.

The process of making bread at home looks like this:

85 g of flour and sugar are added to kefir, everything is thoroughly mixed.
The composition is left under cling film for a day.
After that, in the pre-sifted remaining flour, you need to add the resulting leaven and salt, mixing thoroughly with your hands.
Lubricate the form with butter, sprinkle with flour and lay out the resulting dough.
Place a baking sheet on top, also oiled.
The dough is formed in the form of a loaf, covered with a cloth on top and placed in an unheated oven.
After 3.5 hours, the dough is thoroughly kneaded again, then re-shaped in the form of a loaf and left in a cold oven for another 25 minutes.
Now the oven is heated to 220 ° C, the bread is baked for 17-20 minutes, then the temperature is reduced to 180 ° C, and baking continues for another 30 minutes.
Next, the top parchment is removed, the finished product remains in the switched off oven for another 11 minutes.

White bread with sourdough

Cooking at home on sourdough follows a similar technique, but the recipe may vary slightly depending on the wishes of the cook: components can be added that improve the taste of the final dish, increasing its biological value.

raisin;
dates;
prunes;
nuts (peanuts, walnuts - chopped and added to the dough);
seeds (linseed, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin).

Sourdough has long been considered the healthiest way to make bread because it does not use yeast that can disrupt the gut microflora.

A feature of this bread recipe at home is the ease of preparation of sourdough: it requires only wheat flour and water.

Cooking Ingredients:

water - 300 g;
wheat flour - 500 g;
whole grain flour of any kind - 150 g;
salt and sugar - 1 teaspoon each;
1 st. l. refined sunflower oil.

Sequencing:

Water (50 ml) should be heated, poured into a deep bowl. Add flour (150 g), knead the dough. The resulting sourdough is poured into a plastic container, covered with cling film and placed in heat for 3 days.
After the elapsed time, remove the film, discard the top layer of the leaven: only its middle part is used. The same volume of flour and water is added to the dough again. After kneading, the mass is left warm for 12 hours.
Next, the upper part of the dough is removed, the same ingredients are added to it again in the same amount, the dough is kneaded and left warm for an hour.
Now the remaining components are added. The dough is divided into 2 equal parts, from which oblong loaves are formed like a baguette, cuts are made on their surface for better baking.

Bread is baked on oiled paper for 15 minutes, temperature - 220 ° C, then - 35-45 minutes at 160 ° C.

Borodino bread

At home, the preparation of such a product is considered quite complicated, so beginners need some practical training.

To start, prepare the rye sourdough:

Four st. l. heat water to 50 ° C and add the same amount of rye flour, mix thoroughly. Keep the mixture warm for 24 hours.
Then add two tbsp to the solution. l. warm water, stir and leave warm for 3-4 days, covered with gauze. Stir morning and evening.
After the appearance of a pleasant smell, the sourdough is ready.

To prepare Borodino bread at home, you need to take:

fermented malt - 25 g;
sifted rye flour - 75 g;
ground coriander - 1 tsp;
filtered water - 250 ml.

Components for the test:

coriander for sprinkling - 10 g;
second-class wheat flour - 75 g;
molasses - 20 g;
salt - 1 tsp;
purified water - 55 ml;
rye flour - 250 g;
sugar - 3 tbsp. l.;
previously prepared sourdough - 155 g.

The sequence of actions for making Borodino bread at home is almost the same as that described for white bread. The only addition is getting tea leaves: flour is mixed with coriander and malt, poured with boiling water and left, wrapped, for two hours in warmth.

Before baking, sprinkle the top of the mold with coriander and send it to the oven preheated to 220 ° C for 20 minutes. Then the temperature is reduced by 20 ° C and the product continues to bake for another hour.

Ready bread is taken out and covered with a cloth to cool. Delicious product is ready!

In order to understand the conditions under which bread is prepared and what the real price of one loaf is, the AiF correspondent went to production - to a private family bakery.

White or grey?

A family bakery is located in a small business center. Everything is baked here: from the usual wheat loaf to baguettes, croissants and muffins. Before entering the production, you need to disinfect your hands and shoes, change into special clothes so that dirt and dust do not get into the dough.

“Do you know how hard it is to find good flour? - complains bakery owner Roman Bunyakov. “She comes to us from Orenburg and Penza.” The baker shows me two types of flour: wheat and rye. “Quality wheat flour cannot be crystal white - it is ivory, velvety, slightly starchy to the touch, but it should crunch when squeezed in the hand. - The novel immediately demonstrates this. “However, it is bleached in order to sell the customer a perfectly “white” bread.”

Roman shows me his bread made from wheat flour: it is grayish in color. "Any flour will darken when baked, even if it's mixed from different varieties," he explains. “We use flour with good gluten and high protein content, which allows us to form the correct structure of the bread.” The baker presses hard on the crust and releases. The loaf returns to its original shape. “If the flour from which this bread was made had little gluten, it would have remained with a dent,” says Bunyakov. - But in Russia there are very few natural flours with such indicators. Buyers take almost all the grain from the fields for a penny, from them the grain goes to mills and factories. From there, the flour in bags and flour trucks goes to the packaging enterprises and only then to the shelves of shops and bakeries.”

Large producers want to buy cheaper flour from mills, but with good gluten. “And mills of gigantic volumes mix bad flour with good flour and sell such a mixture for 16 rubles. And for the sake of us, who do not need such a trick, it is unprofitable to change the entire system, ”says Roman. For the average buyer, it remains a mystery what is actually in the bag of flour and where it was produced.

We pass by a large vat with kneaded dough. I see that it contains flour with some particles. “This is just whole grain flour, in which the shells of the grain remained,” the baker explains. “They enhance the beneficial properties of bread, so we add 5-7% whole grain flour to premium flour.”

Click to enlarge

What's in the dough?

It is almost impossible to understand by eye what mixture of flour bread is made from. Because flour improvers, baking powder and flavor enhancers come into play. The improver is a white powder that is diluted in water and added to the flour before kneading the dough. “Of 100% of the raw materials for bread, only 1% will be for improvers, so no examination can detect them,” the baker complains. The quality of the flour used can only be shown by the finished bread: if it crumbles, it means that there is not enough gluten in the flour.

All the bread in this bakery is made by hand: the dough is kneaded for several hours, then it must be infused, baked and cooled for several hours. “If the baker does not knead the dough, large cracks or other defects will appear on the bread. - Roman shows me a hole in the crust of rye bread. “That’s where carbon dioxide came out of, for example.”

Before us is Borodino pan bread with coriander. It is baked at a temperature of 246-258°C and must retain 46% moisture. “The freshness of bread is determined by the amount of moisture inside it. If the bread is not properly proofed at 100% humidity, then the product will float, if at 60% the crust will dry out. If the manufacturer wants the moisture to remain as long as possible on low-quality flour, then he adds stabilizers: then the water is retained and the bread does not dry out. There are no natural ways to keep bread for more than 3 days.

It takes from 12 hours to create any kind of bread without accelerators. The accelerator can cut this time at least in half. “Before packing, the bread needs another two hours to cool down,” adds Roman. - Customers need to understand that it can take 12 hours for fresh bread to be delivered to the store. Large producers sometimes put tomorrow's production date, and the consumer thinks he is getting fresh bread.

Not a single loaf of bread in the bakery is stored in cellophane, Roman sells pastries exclusively in open paper bags - this is how the bread breathes. “Firstly, cellophane hides the appearance of bread, and the buyer will not even understand whether the crust is baked or not. And it should be fried and crispy. Secondly, cellophane creates a greenhouse effect and takes away moisture. Because of this, bread loses its properties, the crumb becomes dry, and mold can form on the crust, ”explains Bunyakov. By the way, the baker is sure that bread already cut into pieces and packed in cellophane cannot be stored without spoiling for 5-7 days - unless, of course, it is stuffed with stabilizers and preservatives.

The raw material cost of a long loaf at Bunyakov's is 30-35 rubles. Roman buys flour for -45-50 rubles. per kilogram, and from 1 kg of flour he receives two loaves of 1 kg of bread. “Quality bread without additives and from good flour cannot cost 15-20 rubles,” the baker is indignant when I wonder why he has such high retail prices. - Stores always cheat on products at least 100% of the factory price. So, such bread initially costs 10 rubles. Let's subtract the producer's earnings (at least 3 rubles), the cost of water, yeast, light, etc. It turns out that flour costs less than 5 rubles? And what quality should it be?

Which loaf didn't pass the test?

The Union of Consumers "Ros-control" tested the most popular bread - a sliced loaf of wheat flour of the highest grade, the recipe of which was developed in the 50s. XX century.

5 samples of well-known brands were sent to the laboratory: Kolomenskoye MBKK, Nastyusha, Zernitsa, VkusVill and Schelkovokhleb.

The only loaf whose difference from the others was immediately evident was the product of Schelkovokhleb. If the labeling of other firms indicated that the bread was made according to GOST, then this loaf only imitated "Nareznoy", but was made according to TU.

The first thing the experts checked for the purchased loaves was whether they contained a “potato stick”. “This disease can be caused by soil microbe-contaminated flour,” explains Andrey Mosov, head of the expert direction of NP "Roskontrol". - Her pathogens die during baking, but their spores persist. The stick multiplies when the product is stored incorrectly.

After 36 hours, this disease manifested itself in the Nastyusha, Zernitsa, VkusVill loaves. According to Mosov, such bread will quickly become inedible, which means that the buyer will simply throw away the money.

Another unpleasant moment is a violation in the labeling. On the samples of "Kolomenskoye MBKK", "Nastyusha", "Zernitsa", "VkusVill" there were no indications of the type and grade of flour. And the label of Schelkovokhleb lied about the mass fraction of fat: 2.3% was indicated, but in reality it was only 0.9%. As it turned out, all manufacturers saved on fat, but not so much: instead of the declared 2.9%, the rest had from 1.9 to 2.1%.

It turned out not very good with the crumb of loaves. So, for Kolomenskoye MBKK, Nastyusha, Zernitsa and VkusVill, the crumb was uneven and with voids, while for VkusVill it was inelastic and crumbly. And the taste of loaves left much to be desired: the Kolomenskoye MBKK and Nastyusha had unpleasant lumps when chewed, and VkusVill gave a bitter taste. The only high-quality crumb turned out to be in the “Schelkovokhleb” loaf: baked, elastic, without lumps and traces of non-mixing. “If bread is made using accelerated technology, that is, with the addition of improvers, then the crumb may turn out to be bad. At the same time, the volume of products can be overestimated, with excessively large porosity and voids," Natalia Semyonkina, a leading researcher at the Research Institute of the Baking Industry, is sure.

And the mark "excellent" for the selected flour was given to two loaves: "Zernitsy" and "VkusVill" - the mass fraction of protein in them was 7.5%, which indicates the high quality of the flour used.

Expertise results*
Manufacturer	Flaws
"Kolomenskoye MBKK"	Uneven porosity, clumping, inelastic crumb, broken label, High acidity (but within acceptable values).
"Nastyusha"	Uneven porosity, the presence of voids and clumping, inelastic crumb,
"Grain"	Uneven porosity, the presence of voids and crumbling, inelastic crumb, Signs of potato disease of bread after 36 hours of exposure.
"Vkusvill"	Slight aftertaste of bitterness, uneven porosity, presence of voids, inelastic crumb, Signs of potato disease of bread after 36 hours of exposure.
"Schelkovokhleb"	Mismatch of the mass fraction of fat indicated in the labeling.
* Provided by the Union of Consumers "Roskontrol".

Ode to bread can be sung endlessly. Bread is the head of everything, there will be bread - there will be lunch ... Today, buying bread is not a problem, but technology in this case has rather gone to the detriment, since now you can find an almost complete periodic table in a loaf, which allows baking not stale for weeks. Have you ever bought American bread for toast? Check it out, you will be unpleasantly surprised.

Whether it's homemade cakes, the components of which you are more than sure of. Baking bread at home is very easy. Do not be afraid to work with the dough, treat it with confidence, and in return it will give you a warm and fragrant crumb.

History of creation

It is possible to consider the history of the development of bread endlessly - it has been constant as the basis of the human diet from century to century, while the recipe and cooking method have been steadily changing. According to scientists, it began about 15 thousand years ago, when our ancestors began to grind grains with stones, after which they mixed them with water. Thus, the first bread was in the form of a semi-liquid stew. Over time, having curbed the fire and learned to keep it in the hearth, people began to bake unleavened cakes. Thanks to this, they made their diet more stable, having the opportunity to stock up on food from grain.

The first bread in its more or less familiar form appeared thanks to the ancient Egyptians. According to the assumption, about 6 thousand years ago, due to a mistake (very successful, we have to admit), people found out that the fermentation process is able to loosen the dough, probably they simply left it in a warm place overnight, and in the morning they found that the mass became softer. Such a fast fermentation process is associated with a high ambient temperature and unrefined grain. Thanks to this discovery, the inhabitants of ancient Egypt figured out how to bake soft and fluffy bread at home instead of a hard cake.

The familiar name "bread" supposedly appeared thanks to the bakers of Ancient Greece, who baked cakes in special vessels - klibanos. From there, it spread further throughout the world, undergoing changes, depending on the locality.

Role in society

The very technology of baking bread has also improved over time, taking an increasing part of people's nutrition. Bread was an indicator of status in Europe. For example, it was not enough to know how to bake homemade bread - the hostess had to strictly observe the serving of dishes at the official table.

Bread varied from the highest quality - white from sifted flour, which was offered to the most titled guests at the head of the table, to plain black, which was placed at the end of the table for the simplest eaters. Stale loaves were also used - they were hollowed out, imitating plates, and food was served in them.

Role in Russian culture

In Russia, it is extremely difficult to overestimate bread as a symbol. It is justifiably considered a synonym for well-being in all its manifestations. That is why all joyful events, whether it be the arrival of dear guests or a wedding, were met with a loaf and salt. Bread is like a full house, a house is like a talisman from troubles.

Our days

Now there are no problems with how to bake bread at home. The classic recipe includes a fermentation catalyst (sourdough or yeast), flour, water and salt. From here, recipes are increasingly diverging that will help you revive the heritage of both Russia and other states in the conditions of home cooking.

Judge for yourself, at least you have access to:

Russian loaf;
Caucasian lavash;
Italian ciabatta;
french baguette;
german pretzels.

But each of these names has several varieties! You will be able to please your loved ones with something new every day.

Basic Recipe

In order to bake bread at home in the oven, just take:

wheat flour of the highest grade - 1 kg;
warm water - 625 ml;
fresh yeast - 30 grams (if your yeast is dry, then take it half as much);
coarse salt - 2 tbsp. spoons;
sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons;
flour for kneading - as needed.

Sequencing

It should be noted that you can both bake bread in a bread machine and manually - in the first case, you will even make your task easier. It will be enough to correctly set up all the stages of mixing and place the necessary components in the equipment. Plus, in busy conditions, it is even more convenient, since the device will do everything for you - there is no need to be constantly at the oven.

Sift the flour with a slide on a clean surface, make a depression and pour half the water into it, add the rest of the ingredients there, except for the flour for kneading. Slowly gather the flour along the edge with your hand, kneading the dough to a semi-liquid, viscous mass. Add the rest of the flour and keep mixing until you've used up all the flour in the "slide". At this point, the dough will no longer stick to your hands, it will be soft, but elastic. Work with it as actively as possible - knead, fold until it becomes elastic. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with cling film and place in a warm place.

Once the dough has doubled in size, knead it vigorously for at least half a minute. At this stage, you can add various products and seasonings in order to give it personality. We will consider options for such combinations, which will show how to bake bread at home with a unique taste, after the main recipe. It should be noted that you can both bake bread in a bread machine and manually - in the first case, you will even make your task easier. It will be enough to correctly set up all the stages of mixing and place the necessary components in the equipment. Plus, in busy conditions, it is even more convenient, since the device will do everything for you - there is no need to be constantly at the oven.

Put the prepared dough in a baking dish, return to a warm place, previously covered. It should again double in size. This will take approximately an hour.

Heat the oven to 200 C. Place the risen bread in it and bake for half an hour. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the dough layer. In order to determine the readiness of baking, it is enough to knock on the bread bottom - if the sound is deaf, then everything is ready.

Wrap the finished bread in a kitchen towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Taste variations

Below we highlight successful combinations of additives, thanks to which you will learn how to bake homemade bread with a taste that is not available in store samples:

All of these variations are not limited to the oven - if necessary, you can either bake bread in a slow cooker or in your grandmother's wood-burning stove.

Alternative to yeast

More and more people are trying to move away from yeast in favor of sourdough, arguing that the latter is older and healthier. The dispute between these two baking powder is still open.

Making sourdough at home is quite simple, just get rye flour and patience. Sequencing:

Mix in a spacious container 100 grams of rye flour and 150 grams of warm water. Cover with a towel and leave overnight in a warm place.
The next day, add another 100 grams of flour with water, mix, return to the place.
After another day, add 150 and 100 grams of water with flour, respectively, return the container to its place.
A day later, repeat the procedure with 100 grams of flour and water, return to its place.
On the fifth day, the natural baking powder is ready. The starter is airy, saturated with bubbles, has a slightly sour bready smell. You can bake!