What are my essential must-haves for baking breads and rolls?
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I have been baking seriously for quite a number of years. My main baking passion is bread, and I have a soft spot for baguettes. The basic recipe for bread is quite simple, with 4 ingredients. You can do it all by hand, but I have found quite a few products and items that I use for every single bake. The items I list below, I have myself, and use every time.
For bread baking, this is the list of go-to items for me.
Stand Mixer
The best way to learn to knead is to do this by hand. You can feel the gluten develop, whether it is wet enough, or too dry. Some doughs, like brioche and ciabatta are very wet, making kneading by hand not impossible, but hard.
But it is good to have an alternative. I use the KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook to knead bread dough as well. Especially when you are multitasking, it is good that the machine adds extra hands.
Do note that the Artisan model is strong enough for dough based on 500 grams of flour (one large loaf or two smaller pans) but making more will strain the mixer to the point where it can break. The “Professional” model, or “bowl lift”, I have tested as well, but as this doesn’t pick up all the ingredients. If you’re making larger batches, this is a good option, but you’ll have to every now and then scrape down the bowl.
Bowls
Bowls are crucial to have. In bowls, you mix your dough, you have the first proofing and you measure.
I recommend a combination of plastic and glass. Plastic is handy because of the price and the weight, but for some recipes (meringues) you shouldn’t use plastic, and for proofing yeasted dough, a glass version is preferred as you can see how the dough is proofing.
These bowls from Pyrex are strong, heat-resistant and easy to clean. These Rosti plastic bowls are my favorites –very strong and versatile.
Jars
I use Ball’s Mason Jars for keeping many of my cooking and baking exercises, but there is one jar I always use: the large one. I buy Fleishman’s yeast in the vacuum package, and when I open for use, I pour the yeast in the jar and placing it in the fridge. This size is perfect because it holds one of the Fleishman packages perfectly. That slows the yeast down, and helps it keep longer.
Scale
I live in the United States, and here, it is very common to measure using cups, spoons, and other volume-based measurements. In Europe, where I am from, it is custom to use weight. For baking, which in many cases is an exact science, weighing actually may be better. Depending on how tightly you pack the ingredients in your cup, there is a -sometimes significant – difference between a cup of flour that is sprinkled in, versus a cup of flour that is scooped in. With weighing, 500 grams is exactly that. No matter which version you ultimately pick, a scale is a very good investment.
Bench knife
A bench knife is a tool I honestly cannot see myself without. It is perfect for scraping dough off of your counter top when you knead, to clean up after your done and you want to scrape off the remnants of your dough, or to quickly cut a larger dough into smaller pieces without tearing up the gluten you have so carefully built up.
You can find all steel ones, or, as I have, with a plastic grip for more comfort. I actually have a few in my kitchen drawers.
Dough scraper
Similar to a bench knife, a dough scraper can be used to clean the counter top or cut the dough, but for those activities I prefer my bench knife. The dough scraper comes in handy when you want to scrape ingredients from your bowl, such as your bread dough or cookie dough. The dough scraper is made from plastic, so it is flexible, and it doesn’t damage your bowls. They are so cheap that I have a few laying around.
Bannetons
A banneton is a proofing basket, made from light wood or wicker, used for the second proofing of breads. I use them for when I bake my country loafs (“pain rustique”) or my breads in the Dutch oven. They prevent the dough from drying out, and spreading out during the important second proofing. You can use the round ones or the rectangular, or batards. You line the inside with bread or rice flour, which also gives the bread beautiful rings on the outside.