Basic Bread Recipe

Due to the recent agenda, Corona, demand for bread making at home has increased. Since I have started the sourdough adventure recently, it is possible to find the recipe for almost every type of bread that can be made with sourdough from French baguette bread to whole wheat flour bread. Although I have different bread recipes such as rye bread and Japanese tangzhong bread, which can be made with store bought yeast, I did not have an easy to make bread recipe that someone who will make bread for the first time could easily understand and make. I think there would be no better timing than this. As the recipe is so basic, the tips and tricks I will give will be very basic.

There are four types of yeasts that you can find in the supermarket right now; active dry yeast, instant yeast, fresh yeast and dry sourdough starter. I have not tried store bought sourdough starter (and it's not so common yet), so I don't know how it is used (it probably has instructions on the pack). So I'm not going to write anything about it. Let me explain the others;

Active Dry Yeast: It is sold in the pastry ingredients section of the supermarkets together with baking powders, etc. Stored at room temperature. It is in powder form. It can be used after mixing with warm water, preferably sugar, and waiting it to become bubbly.

Instant Yeast: It is sold in the pastry ingredients section of the supermarkets together with baking powders, etc. Stored at room temperature. It is in powder form. It is the same as the active dry yeast in appearance. It does not need to be mixed with water first, such as active dry yeast. It can be used directly by adding to flour. But as far as I have experienced, mixing it with water first gives a better result.

Fresh yeast: It is sold in the refrigerator sections of the supermarkets. Stored in the refrigerator. It is in the form of a very hard dough. It is mixed with warm water and used doesn't need waiting.

These yeasts can be used interchangeably using the appropriate transformation formula. 1 part instant yeast is equal to 1+1/4 part active dry yeast. 1 part active dry yeast is equal to 3 part fresh yeast.

The amount of flour and water you should use in pastries and naturally in bread may vary depending on the flour you use. So instead of adding the amount of flour written in the recipes at once, add the flour little by little, controlling the consistency of the dough and adding as much as the dough needs (until the consistency specified in the recipe).

Let me tell you a little bit about what kind of bread you will get with this recipe. When it comes out of the oven, it has a crunchy crust. The inside is cotton soft. When warm, the crust is still crunchy. But when it cools down completely, especially the next day, both crust and inside is soft.

Enjoy the recipe...

Bon Appetit...