5 Essential Tools for Bread Making

5 Essential Tools for Bread Making

If you're wondering if you should start making your own homemade bread, we say go for it! For starters, homemade bread can be fresher and more delicious than bread purchased from the market or the bakery. When making homemade bread, you can customize the bread to whatever flavor you want. There are so many different ingredients that you can add to dough to tweak it depending on what you like. Honey, dried fruit and nuts are a few of our favorites! Not only is homemade bread tastier than store-bought bread, but it's also much more nutritious. By making your bread at home, you control what goes into it. Choosing wholesome and healthy ingredients is the best way to ensure that your loaf is rich in nutrients. When making homemade bread, it's crucial to have the proper tools to ensure that your loaf is baked to perfection. To help you make a mouthwatering loaf of homemade bread, we've outlined five of the most essential bread making tools. Continue reading to discover what baking tools you should invest in before baking your bread recipe.

Essential Tools for Bread Making

High-Quality Flour

5 Essential Tools for Bread Making | Bob's Red Mill Blog First, it's impossible to make good bread without good flour. While all-purpose white flour will make a good loaf of bread, it will not be the most nutritious. When making a tasty batch of dough, we recommend going whole grain. Whole wheat flour is one of the most common flours used for whole-grain bread. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Flours made of rye, spelt and sorghum are only a few of many different choices. When selecting whole-grain flours, the one that was milled with the highest standards is likely the better option.

Gluten Free Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix

New to making bread? If youre looking to get started in the world of bread-making, try a whole grain bread mix to get your feet wet! Using a mix is great for new bakers because all the dry ingredients have been carefully measured and mixed together. This Gluten Free Hearty Whole-Grain Bread Mix creates a bread that is both moist and delicious. It is made with our unique gluten free flour blend to create the ideal bread loaf. Use this flour for sandwiches, toast, bread crumbs, hamburger buns and even pizza dough! Overflowing with flavor and nutrition, this flour uses high-quality ingredients like buckwheat, garbanzo beans and sunflower seeds for a tasty crunch and flavor!

10 Grain Bread Mix

Our 10 Grain Bread Mix is the ideal multi-grain bread mix and will quickly produce the best loaf of bread that you've ever baked. Quick and easy to make, it yields a delicious bread that has a mildly nutty flavor. This bread mix is excellent for French toast, sandwiches and other bread recipes. Mix it by hand or with a stand mixer. There are not many ways that you can mess up this bread recipe!

Mixing bowl/tub

While selecting a mixing bowl might not seem like a hard task, there are certain things you should look for. For a more traditional bread recipe, we recommend making your dough in a wooden trough. If you're a pro, a plastic bucket or tub will do. Or, if you're learning the ways of bread making, we suggest getting a bowl that you can see through. A clear bowl will allow you to monitor the dough's rising activity and better tell if it is over or under-kneaded.

Bench knife/dough scraper

5 Essential Tools for Bread Making | Bob's Red Mill Blog Now, you've probably heard of a chef's knife, but what about a bench knife? A bench knife is an essential part of baking the perfect loaf of bread. When it comes to mixing your dough, a bench knife or dough scraper can help you divide your dough after fermentation, pre-shape your dough and ensure that you use all the mix. Don't have a bench knife? Don't worry. This Easy Focaccia Bread Recipe is one that you can create with minimal bread baking tools.

Thermometer

Fermentation is arguably an essential part of the bread-making process and it is greatly affected by temperature. Keeping close track of the temperature of your kitchen, the dough and the water you mix it with, plays a vital role in how your loaf turns out. Once you better understand how your dough reacts to different temperatures, you'll discover what you need to turn it into the perfectly baked loaf of bread.

Scale

When it comes to bread, it's important to be accurate. While you may be intimidated by weighing ingredients at first, as soon as you do, you'll realize it's the easiest way to measure them. It's also the most accurate! When measuring dry ingredients without a scale, you may end up with drastically different amounts, which will change your bread recipe every time you make it. Purchasing a simple kitchen scale is a valuable investment, especially if you plan on making bread regularly. Now that you know the tools you need to get started, it's time to begin baking the bread of your dreams. Whether you plan on making delicious sourdough biscuits or sweet blueberry bread, these tools will make your bread baking process much easier!  
Bob's Red Mill
September 12 2020

Comments

Virginia Singer

I tried 3 times and followed the recipe on the back to a T. I tried every tip from making sure the room temperature was correct, testing the yeast, and putting water in the oven with the light on, letting it sit for HOURS and it would not rise. The recipe on the back of the bag called for an optional 2 T of wheat gluten. Where in the world do you find gluten? I saw Viral Wheat flour on your website )Is that what the recipe calling for? but who wants to buy 20 oz. of something for 2T? I have made white bread, potato bread honey whole wheat bread and tons of quick breads and never had any problems. What could you do to help me here? The rye just will not rise

Reply
Sarena ShasteenVirginia Singer

Yes, it is calling for vital wheat gluten in that recipe. It needs it to help the bread rise. We have a recipe specialist on staff that can help too if you would like to talk with someone about it. You can reach her at [email protected] or you can call (800) 349-2173.

Reply
Alisa Rowland

It has been over and hour and my Gluten Free Homemade Wonderful Bread mix has only raised about 1/2 way. What did I do wrong? I took the temp of the water to make sure it wasn’t too hot. I mixed by hand with a wooden spoon, I do not own a mixer with a paddle attachment. I covered with plastic wrap and set near my warmed up stove to rise. How much longer should I wait before it’s too late to put in the oven to bake?

Reply
Whitney BarnesAlisa Rowland

Hi Alisa, it sounds like maybe the kitchen was too chilly or there wasn't enough air incorporated into the mix. Either of these things may be the cause of a flat loaf. We're sorry about that! If you have more questions or would like further advice, please email our Recipe Specialist at [email protected]

Reply
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