Tips for Baking French Bread

Posted 4/13/2009 @ 10:29:02 am by todaysbaker.com

We all know that good ingredients are the key component to making good food in any kind of cooking. The same applies when making French bread or any other kind of bread. Kneading is also a very important part of making good bread. When it comes to kneading dough, generally the idea is the longer the better. Obviously you don't need to spend all day kneading, but a few extra minutes can really make a difference in the final product.

Using a bread machine is ideal, but if you don't have one, you can also use a conventional oven. If you use an oven, you might want to consider steaming it before baking the bread. This will help to form the bread's crust.

Making use of an oven stone is another helpful technique. Since adding two or three pounds of dough to your oven at once can greatly reduce the temperature you have set it to, an oven stone could be a good investment. Plus you can use it for any kind of baking, not just bread.

Baking your bread on high heat in the first few minutes will help it rise to its maximum size. You'll also want to preheat the oven sufficiently to compensate for the heat loss from opening the oven door and inserting the cold dough.

Last but not least, practice. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Even baking masters don't always get it right the first time. But as long as you have patience and use good ingredients, you'll be baking some great bread in no time.

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