What are the 14 bread production stages?

02 Jul.,2024

 

The 14 Steps of Bread Making | Bread Magazine

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Making a great loaf of bread is a process that takes time &#; from the few hours to make a quick yeasted bread to up to 48 or more when working on slow fermented sourdough breads &#; so it&#;s usually a good idea to plan ahead a little bit. And in order to plan well, knowing all the steps involved in the project you are about to start helps a lot.

When you are familiar with the steps, you can work on your bread with confidence, without worrying about whether you forgot something or looking for ingredients you forgot, just when you should be mixing them in.

This is why today, in this post, I will share with you the 14 steps of bread making.

As always, I suggest you try it yourself &#; and experiment a lot! Change some elements from here and there and look at the results: What worked? What didn&#;t? Did the change help you with your bread making schedule?

The 14 Steps of Bread Making

1. Refreshing the sourdough starter or creating a pre-ferment

This first step is optional: if making a quick, yeasted bread, most of the time, you will begin from step 2. However, great bread is bread that has taken a bit of time to make: sourdough bread or just yeasted bread made with a poolish or biga pre-ferment.

In many cases, the first bread making step is done the night before you mix the dough, but there are also variations that take a longer time, such as the famous French method of building the production leaven in three stages.

Additional reading:

2. Mise en Place

&#;Mise en place&#; is French (translates to &#;setting in place&#;) and a term used by chefs around the world. But the idea is simple: before you begin, go through your bread formula and collect all your ingredients and tools so that you won&#;t have to go looking for them later, when you have your hands covered in dough.

This step also helps you to make sure you have everything you need and either go fill up your pantry before you continue or adjust the recipe accordingly.

Weigh everything and set the bowls aside to wait.

If working on a quick dough, you may want to preheat the oven already at this point. But most of the time, that can wait (you don&#;t want to be wasting gas or electricity, after all).

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3. Mixing

Once you have all the ingredients at hand, it&#;s time to begin.

Take one big bowl and pour the flour and liquid in, according to the formula you are using. Usually, I leave the salt as well as the starter or pre-ferment out at this point and add them only after the next step. If using yeast, it&#;s easiest to add it already at the beginning.

Sometimes, you may also want to leave some of the water aside and add it together with the salt at a later stage.

The goal of this first mixing step is to mix all the ingredients evenly so that there are no dry lumps of flour in the dough and everything gets hydrated properly. No kneading yet!

I like to do this step (as well as working the dough) by hand, but if you have a mixed and like to use it, that&#;s OK too.

4. Autolyse

Once the flour and water (and sometimes other ingredients too) have been mixed, you can let time do some of your work for you and use the autolyse method to help the dough develop. To do this, you simply cover the dough and let it sit at room temperature for anything from 20 minutes to an hour (or more).

During that time, water and flour mix together and some fascinating chemical reactions begin to build the gluten network and bread some of the strength in the flour, making it easier to handle.

This is clearly an optional step, but it will make your work easier, and seeing the dough develop without you touching it is always a fun experience.

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5. Working the Dough

After the autolyse, add your sourdough starter or pre-ferment. Don&#;t put the salt in just yet (unless you are working on a quick dough and added it already when mixing the ingredients).

The goal of working the dough is to build strength into the dough and shape the gluten network so that the final loaf of bread will be able to hold its shape and keep the gasses produced by the fermentation inside long enough during the proofing and baking of the breads. This much, we all agree on. But there are big differences in opinion and many different schools of thoughts when it comes to how working the dough is actually done.

I say, go with what works for you. If you like to knead the dough like your mother taught you, go for it. If you like some adventure, pick up the French slap and fold technique. A combination of autolyse and gentle folding of the dough every 30 minutes works wonders as well. It all depends on the bread you are making and the way you like to work.

At the beginning of this step, we still left out the salt. This was to give the fermentation a chance to get going without salt&#;s slowing down effect &#; but bread without salt is bland and doesn&#;t get quite the right structure either, so sooner or later, you need to put it in.

The right time for adding the salt depends a bit on the bread making process: When working the dough more intensively, I add the salt after ten minutes or so of kneading or &#;slap and folds&#; and then continue working the dough for a few more minutes. And when doing a slower process with just stretches and folds every 30 minutes, I like to add the salt in the first fold, after the first 30 minutes have passed.

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6. Bulk Fermentation

Now that the preferment or sourdough starter is in the mix, the yeasts and bacteria get to work and the fermentation process really begins its work. At the same time, the autolyse processes that began the minute you mixed your water and flour still continue. Together, these chemical and biological processes produce flavor and character into your bread. According to Ciril Hitz, &#;75 percent of the flavor of the bread is developed during this time.&#;

Cover the dough, leave it aside, either at room temperature for a quicker rise or in a cool place to slow the process down and thus give it more time to develop flavor and character.

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7. Stretch and Fold

During the first fermentation, you can continue building strength into the dough by doing a series of folds every 30 minutes or so. As Chad Robertson explains in his book, Tartine Bread, this can be used to completely replace the kneading &#; or working your dough &#; step. Time, together with these folds will do all the work for you.

But, it&#;s also important to notice that you can do a bit of both: stretches and folds during the fermentation are useful also when you do work the dough in advance. They give some additional strength to the bread but also break the gluten bubbles, giving all those little yeast cells more fuel and new pockets for the carbon dioxide to enter and grow.

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8. Dividing and Preshaping

When the dough is well rested and has developed in strength, volume and personality, it&#;s time to start the shaping.

Flip the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and get to work. At this point, it&#;s important to be firm but gentle. You want to get some of the gas out of the dough&#;s small gluten pockets and create still some more so that the yeast cells can do their work in the final proof but not all.

Preshaping is an optional step that helps you prepare the dough for shaping. It also gives you a final chance to do a stretch and fold and build some strength. To do it, divide the dough into pieces and shape each of them loosely to the desired shape.

Then cover the loaves and leave to rest for about 20-30 minutes so that they relax and are ready for your real shaping.

9. Shaping

The actual shaping is your last chance at touching the dough. In firm and decisive moves, mold the bread into the shape you are after. The goal is to build a shape that can keep its form as it rises and has good surface tension &#; this will help it expand and open beautifully when baked in the oven.

Don&#;t touch the dough more than you need to, but don&#;t be afraid of the dough either: I find that most beginning bakers are rather too gentle than too forceful with their doughs.

The best way to learn shaping is by practice, and then some more practice. Videos come close second, so I&#;ve collected a few in the list below.

Additional Reading and Videos

10. Final Proof

Now that your breads have been shaped, they need time to rise again and be filled with carbon dioxide again before you put them into the oven for baking.

At this step, you have a variety of options to choose from, depending on your bread and your preferences: if you like tin loaves, you can place the shaped breads into bread tins, you can also use proofing baskets (they give the bread support as it rises and produce a nice pattern on top of the loaf), you can place the shaped loaves on a couche, a floured linen cloth designed to keep the breads from sticking, and so on.

And just like with the first fermentation, you can again delay the process by placing the breads in a cool place. With all these little decisions, there are no right or wrong answers: each of them make your bread a bit different, so the best thing to do is to experiment!

11. Scoring

Once the breads have risen and are ready for baking, it&#;s time for the final artistic moment: scoring.

This step was traditionally made to mark breads before they got baked in a community oven. Every family had their own pattern that they used to find their breads once they were ready and it was time to bring the bread home. Following this idea, you can get artistic and carve your initials or some other symbol into the bread.

But there is also another benefit to this step. The way you cut a loaf&#;s surface will direct how it expands in the oven, and so, you can use your cutting to make sure most of the expansion goes towards the top of the loaf, giving you a beautiful, big oven spring.

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12. Baking

Now, there is just one step between you and a finished loaf: baking the bread. This is the step where the bread takes that last jump (called oven spring) and grows into its final shape before the crust sets and the carbon dioxide escapes from its bubbles. It&#;s also the step where the loaf gets the most of its aroma in &#; my favorite part &#; the dark and flavorful crust.

The key in the baking step is having enough heat and conducting it into the bread in the right way as well as keeping the bread moist during the first 15 to 20 minutes of the bake so that the crust doesn&#;t set too early.

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13. Cooling

The bread is ready and fills your kitchen with the most delicious fragrance. What do you do next? Grab a knife and cut the bread?

Actually, no.

Sure, you can do that at times to enjoy butter melting on warm bread. But for the best bread, you need to wait. Even though the bread looks ready, it is still developing as it cools down. So, take some time (at least half an hour) to listen to the sound of the crust cracking.

Smell the bread. Look at it.

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14. Eating or Storing

And then, eat the bread. Sourdough bread lasts well even if left on the kitchen counter, but in general, if you are not going to eat all of the bread in the next couple of days, I think it&#;s a good idea to slice the bread and freeze it. This way, whenever you want to have some bread, you can just take a few slices, defrost them and enjoy fresh bread right away.

And that&#;s it. The fourteen steps of bread making.

If you have other steps that I didn&#;t include, or questions, or other comments, share them in the comments! And then, let&#;s bake some bread!

The stages of bread making

Understanding the stages of bread making helps make the process easier. When you start making bread the whole thing can be a bit confusing. You aren&#;t sure when your bread should be left to rise; or when it should be shaped; or when it&#;s ready to bake. Following the twelve stages of bread making as I show you below will make things less confusing.

The twelve stages of bread making

Ok, it&#;s normally twelve but I added the most important one at the end to make it thirteen.

  1. Gathering everything that you need to make the loaf.
  2. Measuring the ingredients
  3. Mixing the dough to the right consistency
  4. Resting and stretching & folding or kneading the dough
  5. First rise/ fermentation/ proof
  6. Deflating (gently) & dividing (if you are making more than one loaf)
  7. Shaping
  8. Second rise / proofing / secondary fermentation
  9. Pre-heating and preparing the oven
  10. Slashing/ scoring the loaf with a sharp knife or razor
  11. Baking (and steaming the oven)
  12. Cooling
  13. Eating

Stage 1: Gathering everything that you need to make the loaf

Chefs call this mise en place. Having everything ready ahead of starting can make things go more smoothly. That way you are always ready for the next stage. For bread making there are a few essentials that you need:

  • Your ingredients, flour, yeast, salt & water
  • A large bowl
  • A jug or cup
  • Scales (I prefer electronic and the ones that can measure in 1g increments are best)
  • A proving cloth/ shower cap/ clingfilm/ beeswax wrap/ another bowl the same size or bigger for covering the dough
  • Baking tray/ loaf tin
  • Sharp knife or razor (aka baker&#;s razor/ lame/ grignette)
  • Oven gloves
  • Oven (preheated to 220C, gas mark 8, 425F, with a solid baking sheet or stone on the shelf as bread, even in a tin benefits from a hot surface)
  • Cooling rack

Once you get bitten by the bread bug you may want to invest in a few other items:

  • A plastic scraper, for scraping the dough out of the bowl and cutting your dough
  • Banneton/ proving basket
  • Temperature probe to test the internal temperature of the bread when baked
  • Oven thermometer
  • Flour dredger
  • Dutch oven
  • Bread storage bag

Stage 2. Measuring the ingredients

You don&#;t have to be as precise when making bread as you do for a cake so you can relax a bit here.

When you are just starting out with bread making start with one basic recipe and practise again and again. My recipe for simple white bread is a great starting point. Then when you have grown in confidence try experimenting with reducing the amount of salt and yeast you use.

Salt is normally 1-2% of the flour weight, so 5-10g for 500g flour. It is important for flavour; it tightens the gluten network, slows down fermentation and helps add colour to the crust but you can reduce it to 1% of the flour weight if you prefer.

If you reduce the amount of yeast that you use it slows down fermentation and this can help improve the overall flavour and texture of your baked loaf. I tend to use 2g easy bake yeast or as little as 5g fresh yeast when I make a loaf with 500g flour.

Remember that salt will kill yeast so try to keep them separate from one another. I add one and mix it well into the flour and then add the other and mix again.

Stage 3. Mixing the dough to the right consistency

The important thing to remember is that different flour will absorb water differently. I always start with measuring in less water than I know I will need, then I take the scales away and splash more water in gradually until I am happy that the dough feels right. You can watch my video of mixing my dough to see how I do this and what your dough for a simple white bread should look like.

Bear in mind that different types of bread require different amounts of water. A bagel for example is quite a dry dough to achieve the chewy texture, a ciabatta is a very wet dough to achieve the large holes that bread is known for. For a simple white bread I usually add between 320-340g of water to 500g strong white flour.

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Stage 4. Resting and Stretch & Fold or Kneading

Once your dough is mixed the next stage is to develop the gluten. Gluten makes the dough nice and stretchy so that when the yeast eats the sugars in the dough and exhales carbon dioxide that gas can get trapped in air bubbles and the gluten can expand and stretch without bursting. This then creates a dough filled with holes, making it light and fluffy.

When your dough is mixed to the right consistency you can cover it with a cloth, large plastic bag, shower cap or cling film and let it rest for 10 minutes up to an hour. As soon as you add water to flour the proteins called gliadin and glutenin start to form chains and make gluten all by itself. By letting the dough rest you are giving it a head start to form gluten and you won&#;t need to do so much mechanical stretching with the stretch and fold method or by kneading the dough.

You can watch a video of the stretch and fold method here. It is my preferred choice for developing the gluten in the dough. The method is convenient, less messy, easy, it isn&#;t hard on your back or hands and is gentle to the dough. It is also just as effective in developing the gluten as kneading is.

If you prefer to knead I show you my preferred method of slap and fold here. You could just as easily use a stand mixer to make life easy.

I also definitely don&#;t object to you using a bread maker to develop your dough if it makes life easier for you.

By the end of the stretches and folds or kneading your dough should feel different. It should be smoother, have a satin sheen to it and you should be able to feel that the dough has some strength to it. By this I mean if you pull it you can feel the dough resisting you. This will feel different with a white loaf to a dough that is made with wholemeal or with one of the more fragile flours such as spelt and einkorn. You will still feel that resistance though.

Stage 5. First Rise/ Fermentation/ Proofing

Once your dough has developed the gluten through stretches and folds and kneading it needs time to rest and ferment.

Enzymes get to work in the dough breaking the starch down into simple sugars. The yeast consumes the simple sugars and lets out carbon dioxide and ethanol. The carbon dioxide gets trapped in the gluten network and the bubbles expand. The dough rises and becomes full of air.

Your dough can ferment at room temperature or in the fridge. It takes ten times longer for it to ferment in the fridge. Slowing your dough down can be beneficial. The longer it takes to prove the more chance of good bacteria getting to work and improving the digestibility of the dough. The enzymes also have more time to unlock more of the sugars from the starch increasing the residual sugars in the dough. These contribute to the flavour of the bread and the sheen and improved colour of the crust. Putting your dough in the fridge also means that you can get on with your day or leave it overnight to deal with the next day.

Your dough is ready for the next stage when it is full of air and has doubled in size.

Stage 6. Deflating and dividing your dough

You only need to divide your dough if you have made enough dough for two loaves or you want to make rolls, pizzas etc.

As for deflating, you will read in lots of recipe books the term &#;knock back&#; or &#;punch down&#;. I don&#;t do either of these. I handle my dough with care. If I do deflate it it is done gently. I normally tip my dough gently onto a lightly floured work surface ready to be shaped without deflating it too much. I like my bread to have irregular air pockets.

If you want a bread with a lots of tiny holes, for example a sandwich bread then you might want to deflate the dough by pushing it down all over with your hands to expel the air pockets. It will take longer for your bread to rise after shaping and be ready for the oven if you have fully deflated the dough.

Stage 7. Shaping

Once your dough is risen and full of air it&#;s time to shape it. You can shape it as a bloomer or in a tin, use a banneton or make it into rolls, or pitta breads or pizza bases. The list is endless.

Shaping your dough takes practice to get right. You will get better at it each time.

Stage 8. Second Rise/ proof/ secondary fermentation

After shaping most breads will need a second rise to recover the air lost in the shaping process.

Some breads though can go straight in the oven after shaping, this includes flatbreads, pittas, pizzas and focaccia.

The second rise can also happen either at room temperature or in the fridge. This makes it convenient for fitting bread making into your day.

You don&#;t want your dough to double this time, you do want it to expand to about half again of its original size. It should feel uniformly airy when you gently place a hand over the loaf. If it feels less airy in the centre of the loaf leave it for another ten minutes and try again. You can see how to test your loaf to see if it&#;s ready for baking in this video.

Stage 9. Pre-heating and preparing your oven

Preheat your oven to 240C, gas mark 8 at least thirty minutes (or for as long as it takes your oven to heat up) before you think your bread will be ready to bake. if you are proving your loaf in a warm room it may only take thirty minutes to be ready to bake so you may want to turn your oven on after you have shaped it.

I always put a solid shelf into the oven to heat up. This could be a baking tray or a baking/pizza stone. Your bread will benefit from being placed onto a hot surface even if you have shaped it in a tin. It will help with oven spring.

If you are planning to use a dutch oven you may want to preheat it with the oven or you could try baking the loaf in a cold dutch oven in a cold oven.

Stage 10. Slashing/ scoring your loaf

If your loaf is not in a tin then it will probably benefit from being slashed/ scored before you place it in the oven. Slashing or scoring is to cut across the top of the dough with a sharp blade. This allows the loaf to burst at the cut as it rises in the oven with oven spring. If you don&#;t slash the loaf then your loaf won&#;t expand as much as it could have done leading to a loaf with less volume and a heavier crumb. Your loaf will also try to expand where it can which can lead to it bursting at its weakest point and you end up with a ball of dough escaping from the side or bottom.

Learning how to score your loaf can take practice but you will be really pleased with the results if you persevere. I show you one way to score your dough here.

Stage 11. Baking and steaming the oven

When you put your loaf in the oven you need to steam your oven unless you are baking in a dutch oven. Steam helps the crust of the loaf to stay moist. This is important because as you put your loaf in the oven the gases trapped inside the gluten network expand and cause the loaf to rise more (oven spring). If the crust dries out too quickly your loaf can&#;t do this extra rise. I steam my oven with a plant mister, spraying the oven walls and floor (avoiding the light and the glass door) and then quickly close the door. You can read more about steaming the oven here.

Once the door is closed lower the temperature of your oven to 220C, gas mark 7 or the temperature advised by the recipe that you are following.

Your loaf is baked when it is evenly golden all over, sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Be aware that white loaves sound different when knocked to a wholemeal loaf. You can check by inserting a temperature probe into the centre of the loaf and if it reads 90 degrees C then the loaf is baked.

Stage 12. Cooling

This is a really important part of bread making. When your bread cools the water evaporates from the centre of the loaf and the crumb sets properly. If you cut into your loaf before it is cooled then you will always think you under baked your loaf as the dough will still be gummy. Allowing your dough to cool properly will also allow the full flavour to develop.

Then you get to the best bit, stage 13 of the bread making process, eating your loaf. Nothing quite beats tucking into a homemade loaf.

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