Principles of Baking

Baker’s percentage is a universal language that bakers use for reading, writing, adjusting, and sharing recipe formulas. Knowing how to read it...

Sugar is one of the most used additives in breadmaking and it is also one of the most misunderstood ingredients in breadmaking. I’ve covered the...

If you’ve watched any one of my videos, you’d now that I’m all about temperature control. It is one of the most important parts of the bread making...

Fat is a wonderful ingredient for bread making. It makes bread softer, moister, richer, longer lasting, and more delicious. There are several types...

There are several methods used for making bread softer, moister, and longer lasting which we have covered on this channel already. You can find...

Most people assume that because I have a YouTube channel about breadmaking I eat a lot of bread all the time. That is not quite true. I only sample...

While baking over the years I’ve tested various ingredients and their effects on bread dough. Most of those tests can be found in the Principles of...

Scalding is a great technique for making bread extra soft and making it stay softer for longer. A portion of flour is mixed with boiling water which...

Cast iron pans come pre-seasoned from the factory. They have a coating of oil baked on to them for protection of the surface and to make them...

Temperature control is one of the most important parts of bread making. If the dough temperature is too warm the dough will ferment too rapidly. If...

My opinion on pre-ferments. I used to be a big fan of pre-ferments. From poolish and biga to flying sponge and pâte fermentée. They can all be used...

Ever since I published my pre-ferment vs cold ferment video I have been getting questions about whether it is worth using both methods for the same...

Since I published all my cold fermentation instruction videos and all the cold fermentation comparisons, I have been getting the same question over...

The breadmaking techniques I use have changed and evolved over time, and my opinions towards certain techniques have changed as well. There are many...

If you want freshly baked bread for breakfast, then cold proofing is the ultimate method for it. All the work is done on the previous day from...

Slow fermentation is the best method for achieving better flavour in our bread. Besides taste it also makes the crust crispier and gives the bread a...

Cold bulk fermentation has been my go-to bread making method lately. It is convenient, easy, and the resulting bread has a far superior flavour....

Scalding is an old European breadmaking method which is performed by mixing part of the flour in a recipe with boiling water and then letting that...

Historically potatoes have been used in breadmaking out of necessity. Grain crop failures resulted in smaller yields and less available flour. To...

This is not the first time I have made a video about milk. In the previous episode I compared four breads: one made with only water, one made with...

In simple terms mixing is the even distribution of ingredients throughout the dough. But of course, it is more complicated than just that. The...

I am a big fan of preferments. The Breads With Preferment playlist on my channel has 30+ videos in it and there are quite a few recipes in other...

This is a question that I have thought about in the past and a few of you have asked me about it in the comments section too. Eventually I will make...

Why Cover Bread Dough as It Ferments? The short answer is – cover it to prevent it from drying out. And there is no good reason not to cover. But of...

One of the most viewed videos on my channel is about all the types of yeasted preferments and their uses. I explained how they work and how to make...

Baking bread on a solid hot surface can really help it rise and get a nicely browned and crispy crust on the bottom. Commercial bread ovens have...

What does steam do? Steam is extremely important for breadmaking, and I have spoken about it many times. But I have never made a dedicated video...

The ability to tell when bread is fully baked comes with experience. The more you bake the sooner you will learn to see the signs. In this video I...

What happens when dough over ferments? As the yeast eats through the sugars in the dough it produces carbon dioxide which gets trapped in the gluten...

If you are really into baking, then you most likely enjoy naturally leavened bread. But not everyone wants to keep a starter and look after it....

Butter is an amazing ingredient. It makes bread soft, and it gives it a wonderful flavour and aroma. The mouthfeel of bread made with butter is...

Soya lecithin is a common ingredient in factory made bread. It is an emulsifier.An emulsifier stabilizes and helps combine two substances that would...

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is essential for our well-being. But what role does it play in bread making?It is commonly used in large bread productions...

I never buy bread and I’m sure if you are one of my subscribers, then most likely neither do you. Baking your own bread is a rewarding and relaxing...

I always warned people who asked me about converting hand mixed recipes to be made with a mixer. I told them that a mixer is more aggressive, and...

If you have been following me for a while you know that I like to use preferments. They improve the taste, texture and keeping quality of bread. But...

Kneading bread dough by hand can be a very satisfying and rewarding process. I enjoy kneading dough with my hands and most other home bakers do...

Tangzhong & yudane are dough improvers. Made with slightly different methods, they produce very similar results. In this video we will have a...

What is vital wheat gluten? It is a great ingredient for people who do not have high protein flour available. I have made a whole video about flour...

The name may be quite deceiving. But it is true – you should activate active dry yeast if you want it to perform similarly to instant yeast.Types of...

It is common to see instructions for degassing or punching down bread dough. But what does this step achieve and what would happen if it was...

Learning to calculate individual ingredients for a certain dough mass will make you fit the loaf in the tin every time. It will take out the guess...

Does salt actually harm yeast? No it does not. At least not in any significant way. If you have watched any of my videos you would have noticed that...

Temperature control is one of the most important parts of breadmaking. I sometimes even say that temperature is one of the most important...

There are two proteins contained in flour that when water is added combine to form gluten. They are called glutenin and gliadin. It is the balance...

Fats used in breadmaking have different effects on the crust, crumb, flavour, and keeping quality of the final loaf of bread. There are two main...

A soaker can be a mix of grains and seeds or a single variety of grain or seed that is mixed with water and left to soak for several hours before...

Salt makes up a tiny part of any bread dough, but it has a huge effect on it. Most bread nowadays is made with salt. I have read that it has only...

Contrary to popular belief sugar slows down fermentation. I have made a video explaining it already. This video is about the other effects sugar has...

Milk is a common ingredient in breadmaking. But how exactly does it affect bread dough? And what alternatives are there? Generally, milk is used in...

Comparing 15 glazes on one dough was quite a fun experiment with surprising results. We all know the most common ones like egg, milk, oil. But you...

We all use eggs in our bread dough from time to time. But do we ever question the effect it may have on the dough? And which part of the egg does...

Freezing bread dough. Sounds simple, but there are always things to look out for. Many people have been asking me about this and I was quite curious...

Long bulk fermentation vs using a preferment. This has been quite a common question under some of my ‘breads with preferment’ videos. And it totally...

Autolyse is a great way to hydrate the flour. Reducing mixing time and making the dough more extensible and potentially helping with oven spring.But...

Let us look at how sugar affects yeast and subsequently bread. Why you should and why you should not use sugar. Sugar is hygroscopic meaning that it...