Instructions: References
I am using a several sources of information:

girl and boy who took the cooking classes received in my school.

"Kleine Backschule Brot" by Betty Bossi. Betty Bossi is the Swiss housewifes steady companion with many cookbooks.

This is just one of them.

Instructions on making bread from my best friend Ruth whose father is a well-know baker in the region where I grew up.

My own humble experiences, including all the times when my bread turned out wrong.

Measurements

Since these are Swiss recipes, measurements are metric. Here are approximate conversion tables. (If I have time, Ill include American measurements. Myself, I got me a metric scale.)

1 l = 1 quart
1 dl = 1/10 of a quart or a little less than 1/2 cup 2.5 dl = 1 cup
20g is 4/5 of an ounce. 1 ounce is about 27 grams.

1 Swiss pound is 500 grams or 1.1 American pounds.

Celsius to Farenheit as a rule of thumb for cooking: Celsius
* 2 + 30 = Farenheit.

This is accurate enough for baking and does not require mathematical acrobatics.

Note, that especially with bread, most measurements are relative.

Play with the amounts until they work for you. When I want to make quick bread, I measure about 2 pounds of flour, dump in some water, salt, and the yeast, all by eye, and the result is usually just fine.

Temperature

"Middle Heat" is about 400F;

"Low Heat" is about 250F; but you have to experiment. The terms are intentionally fuzzy since different ovens bake differently, and the good baker is supposed to find out by experience what works for their kitchen.

Yeast and Baking Powder

20 grams of fresh yeast is equivalent to 7 grams of dry yeast.

That is the average amount of yeast needed per 500g (5.1 pounds)

of flour. Amounts can vary, depending on whether you like your bread yeasty, and how much time you have to let it raise. But more on that later. I usually guess at about a teaspoon of dry yeast per pound of flour. (In Europe you can buy yeast in little 7g packages, pre-measured. It is so common that most recipes ask for n packages of dry yeast. I havent seen that here.)

Sometimes, when I am really lazy, or when I want a bread that tastes differently, I use baking powder instead of yeast.

If your bread comes out tasting too yeasty, use less yeast and let raise longer. But more on yeast later.

Salt

Be generous. Most non-professionally made breads are bland, because there is not enough salt in them. I have seen Ruths father add salt, and it is by the handfull, and the bread never turns out too salty. Unless you are on a salt-restricted diet for medical reasons, this is not the place to skimp on salt!

Salvaging and Trouble Shooting

bread to turn out too heavy is that the dough is TOO DRY! Make sure the dough is is still somewhat sticky when you make the loafs.

If your bread turns out totally heavy, toast it dark to eat it.

Or use it in soup. Or put lots of jam on and eat it with your eyes closed. Or bake it again. It wont raise, but it will dry out.

Or feed to your pets, theyll love it. Use it for stuffing.

Kneading, the Secret Ingredient

Kneading has two purposes: to thoroughly mix all the ingredients, and to push air into the bread. When you are kneading, harass, torture, and work that dough. Fold it over to trap air. For one kilogram of flour (2.2 pounds), you should vigorously knead your bread for 20 (twenty!) minutes. If you dont break out into a sweat, you are not working hard enough. My friend Ruth says, it is all in the kneading; that you should torture the poor bread dough until you feel sorry for it and yourself.

Get your hands in there, and dont be afraid to get all full of dough. Its therapeutical. :-)

I knead bread first in the large bowl, then take it out onto a dry, clean surface. Sprinkle the surface and your hands with flour whenever things get too sticky, but not too much, lest the dough become too dry.

To find out how much air you have in your dough, cut it with a knife and examine the the split. The more and the larger the air bubbles you see, the better.

When is My Bread Baked ?

I know of three ways of checking, whether your bread is ready:

1) Baking time based on experience.

2. Stick an needle in. If any dough sticks to the needle when you pull it out, the bread is still wet inside. That is a knittin needle. I believe some people use a straw here.

3. Knock on the bottom of the bread. If it sounds really hollow, then the bread is done. This is the best method, but it takes some practice to find out what "hollow"

means.

... and Finally

Making bread depends on a lot of factors. Experiment with the information you get until you find out what works for you.

Making bread is not a science. Bakers apprentice for 4 years to get their certificate!

These instructions are not infallible. Use at your own risk. and expect to eat a lot of almost good bread before finding the perfect combination.

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