Some questions about baking
Please share your views along with your answer to the following questions:
1. What is the purpose of yeast used in the baking recipe?
2. Why do we use eggs in a baking recipe?
3. If we use only flour, yeast, water, and salt in a single baking recipe, then what will be the outcome of it?
4. Why temperature is important in a baking recipe?
5. Why baking powder always has a larger quantity than baking soda used in a baking recipe?
6. Which baking machine is best for a baking recipe among air fryer, OTG, Bread maker, electric pressure cooker, or simple gas oven?
7. What is the best baking temperature for most baking recipes?
8. What is the best room temperature for most of the baking recipes?
9. What is the best timing for rising for most of the baking recipes?
10. During the rising or proofing, what will be the temperature in the dough?
11. How much least water is needed for dough making in the baking recipes?
12. Why honey, milk, and sugar is applied in baking recipes?
13. Is it true that every degree of baking the temperature change could spoil or make a baking recipe?
14. How many minimum numbers of tools are required in baking? Tell their name.
15. What are the most important ingredients for the soft bread recipe?
16. Should always use a strainer for flour in a baking recipe?
17. Who are the best YouTube baking experts in the world today? Tell their names.
18. What qualities are required for becoming a baking expert?
19. What is the maximum time for making bread is needed?
20. For better flavor in a baking recipe, what are the least ingredients required?
21. Which ingredients are responsible for making soft bread?
22. Which is the best technique for kneading in a baking recipe?
23. If you like to use a baking recipe from Northern Hemisphere in Southern Hemisphere, then what kind of adjustment will require to work perfectly?
24. As we know that the selection of flour is important for baking but how we can select the perfect flour for it as Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere are quite different?
https://amzn.to/3etZBTF
Lots of questions, lots of confusion
Most of all Enjoy!
Thank you for sharing your views!
1. What is the purpose of yeast used in the baking recipe?
- In bread baking, yeast is a bread improver, In other recipes, like cookies, cakes and pastries, it is usually for leavening, for making them fluffy. There are other unique purposes for yeast in the baking recipes, but then the recipe would tell you its purpose.
2. Why do we use eggs in a baking recipe?
- because the recipe say so.
3. If we use only flour, yeast, water, and salt in a single baking recipe, then what will be the outcome of it?
- whatever you want it to be. The outcome depends both on ingredients and method of working with ingredients.
4. Why temperature is important in a baking recipe?
- because you must follow the recipe. If it mentions temperature, you should follow the recipe in that part.
5. Why baking powder always has a larger quantity than baking soda used in a baking recipe?
- because baking powder is soda plus something else. Two or three ingredients weigh more than one and have larger volume.
6. Which baking machine is best for a baking recipe among air fryer, OTG, Bread maker, electric pressure cooker, or simple gas oven?
- the recipe should say so. Some baking is specifically adjusted for certain machines or equipment: fried breads, flat breads, pan breads, hearth breads, steamed breads, cookies and cakes, pastries, etc.
7. What is the best baking temperature for most baking recipes?
- for most recipes the best baking temperature is the one that is indicated in the recipe
8. What is the best room temperature for most of the baking recipes?
- for most recipes the best room temperature is the one that is indicated in the recipe. If it is not mentioned, then figure out where the author of the recipe lives and what is considered normal room temperature in their country or location.
9. What is the best timing for rising for most of the baking recipes?
- the recipe should indicate that
10. During the rising or proofing, what will be the temperature in the dough?
- the recipe should indicate that
11. How much least water is needed for dough making in the baking recipes?
- the recipe should indicate the range of grams or spoons or cups of water to use, from the minimum to the maximum for optimal results
12. Why honey, milk, and sugar is applied in baking recipes?
- because without them the outcome would not be the same
13. Is it true that every degree of baking the temperature change could spoil or make a baking recipe?
- no
14. How many minimum numbers of tools are required in baking? Tell their name.
- it depends on what you are baking. You don't bake everything at once, true? Just get the tools for that recipe that you are working with. Some recipe require no tools at all.
15. What are the most important ingredients for the soft bread recipe?
- flour and water
16. Should always use a strainer for flour in a baking recipe?
- no, in some baking sifting flour would make your results worse. Sift if the recipe says so or if your flour is dirty and you need to remove the impurities.
17. Who are the best YouTube baking experts in the world today? Tell their names.
- I have no idea. I have my favorite youtube experts from different countries and for different kinds of baking, but are they the best in the world? I don't know.
18. What qualities are required for becoming a baking expert?
- the same as for any other expert: desire and ability to endure 10,000 hours of practice.
19. What is the maximum time for making bread is needed?
- 2 weeks
20. For better flavor in a baking recipe, what are the least ingredients required?
- flour and water (if it is flour based goodies), some baking is flourless (flourless cakes, etc), so the recipe would tell you what is a must and what is optional in the recipe.
21. Which ingredients are responsible for making soft bread?
- flour and water. Softness of breads depends on the method more than anything else.
22. Which is the best technique for kneading in a baking recipe?
- depends on the recipe. The recipe should indicate it.
23. If you like to use a baking recipe from Northern Hemisphere in Southern Hemisphere, then what kind of adjustment will require to work perfectly?
- none. the same recipe works perfectly well on the North Pole, South Pole and Equator. Cooks and bakers on ships that travel while crossing the equator don't change their recipes.
24. As we know that the selection of flour is important for baking but how we can select the perfect flour for it as Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere are quite different?
- to select the perfect flour for your baking read the label on the bag of flour. It would tell you what it is best for, some flours are for bread, others are best for cakes and cookies, and then test it in your own baking to see if you like it.
best wishes,
m.
Thank you for your answers!
when you pass your test? (These questions read like a test.)
I am trying my level best to pass it but I need blessings from the people like you from here.
There are many different kinds of bread, made in different ways! I/m afraid hat fact makes many of your questions unanswerable. Follow a few different threads on this board and you will start to get a sense of the variety.
In our last exchange I pointed you to John Kirkwood's videos and recipes. He knows what he's doing and explains well. Another free internet source with competent people behind it is King Arthur: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/search?Product%5Bquery%5D=bread#recipe_index
The thing you need to learn right now is dough handling and dough development. To do that, choose one good recipe, and follow it as closely as possible, repeatedly (you can scale all ingredients up/down, but keep the proportions). Last time around I suggested Kirkwood's sandwich bread, which is a competent recipe with good video so you can compare your results along the way. After you have gotten flour on your hands several dozen times, and gotten a feel for a yeasted dough, then you can return to some of these larger questions, but for the time being you are perhaps over-thinking this.
I'm a little confused about where you are, since your last post said "from India" but India is in the Northern hemisphere. In any case one constraint for India is that the standard maida or white flour is relatively low in gluten. If you search this site for "India" and "flour" you will find multiple discussions among bread enthusiasts in India about available flours.
Your link is very much helpful for me. But one thing is that flour in India is not quite good for bread making. Rather you can say that Indian flour is suitable for making chapati or roti because it is the staple food for most Indians. You should know that the difference between roti and bread is huge. Even, for making roti, you don't need a stable temperature but for bread making, you will need a stable and consistent temperature for its flavor and softness as well. I don't know whether you eat roti or not, if you do, then you will understand what I mean by it. Still, I am learning to make bread and I have a long way to go for making it perfect as well.
Maida is not ideal ,but people make the bread for pav bhaji out of it, which is a basic soft roll. It works! Here is an example of a sandwich loaf using maida: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/39599/first-real-sandwich-loaf
See also https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/64683/flour-india. Depending on where you live you may have access to other flours.
Indeed, most rotis are not fermented: they are just mixed up plus a little kneading and some rest. With yeasted bread you are cultivating yeast and setting it to work, and over several hours the fermentation will change the character of your dough -- the way it feels, the way it behaves. It takes practice to get used to that. All of us start by failing and gradually figure it out! My one appeal to you is to adopt a competent recipe, like Kirkwood's or something from the King Arthur site.
Bread rising does not really need a stable temperature. Normal indoor temperature is generally fine, even if it's a bit hot (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2019/03/12/where-to-put-dough-to-rise).