What is the Best Way to Make Bread?

(Originally Published on February 26, 2016 by Trevor Wilson)

The world of bread baking is a confusing place. At least, it is for those new to it. It should be simple, you’d think, because you have all these famous bakers telling you how to make bread; and clearly, each knows what they’re doing . . . they’re all known for their great bread!

And yet . . .

Each one is telling you something different. Oh sure, they might all agree that long fermentation and natural starter make the best bread, but outside of that, they all have unique and different methods to make their bread.

And therein lies the rub; if you reread the last two words of that sentence, you’ll see where all the confusion comes from . . . “their bread.”

You see, each baker is showing you their way to make their bread.

That’s the thing with bakers; they are simply incapable of making bread any other way than their own. And if you make bread your own way, it becomes your bread — regardless of whether the recipe is your own or not.

The bread making process is an incredibly dynamic thing. Variable upon variable affect it in a multitude of ways, from major to minute. If you change even just one variable, you’ve changed the end product. And no matter how subtle that change might be, it ceases to be “that other baker’s” bread and becomes your own.

So each baker may use similar recipes. Each may use similar methods. But the difference in results can be astounding.

This variability in method and manner is one of the most exciting aspects of bread baking — there are endless ways in which you can make great bread. Bread is practically begging for you to make it your way. In fact, it’s damn near impossible not to.

Look at it this way, you are a dynamic and complex system. You are the result of the interaction of billions upon billions of individual cells. Yet you are not just a summation of their physical properties. You are more. You are a culmination — a living, breathing, and changing system. In short, you are far greater than the sum of your parts.

Bread is the same.

It too is a collection of billions upon billions of cells. It too is a dynamic and complex system.

It too . . . is a culmination.

Maybe I’m being a bit hyperbolic here, but you get the idea. The fact is that bread is a dynamic system and so are you. And so the bread you make is the direct result of the interaction between those two systems.

And just to complicate matters even further . . .

No single system can remain the same forever. In other words, both you and your dough are ever changing. Call it growth. Call it evolution. But understand this, what works best for you now may not necessarily be what works best for you 5 years from now. Or even one year from now.

As you change, so changes your interaction with your bread. And therefore, so must your methods change. Otherwise you doom yourself to inconsistency and frustration — the inevitable result of systems that clash instead of cooperate. If you won’t bend your ways to accommodate the systems you’re working with, they sure as hell won’t bend for you.

Now I know that sounds a bit New Agey, but I’ve seen it. Life responds to life. The most amazing ability I’ve witnessed from great bakers is that they somehow manage to make dough bend to their will.

Actually, that sounds a bit one-sided; perhaps I can phrase it better . . .

**If you give your dough what it wants, in turn, it will give you what you want.**

The greatest bakers understand this and work with their dough to accomplish their results. Dough has a mind of its own. Ask any baker of standing and they’ll tell you: dough can act in mysterious and counterintuitive ways. Even with the same ingredients, same techniques, and same conditions; you can get wildly different results.

If you’re unable to adapt, then it will show in the final loaf.

So What’s All of This Mean?

Simply put, there is no one right way to make bread. No matter how famous a baker may be, no matter how well regarded his technique may be, there is always another baker out there making bread that’s just as good; and doing so in a completely different way.

Therefore . . .

The best way to make bread is the way that works best for you.

And sure, that way may change over the years. That’s ok. It should change. If you change then it must change as well. Otherwise you, and your bread, will remain stagnant.

Cheers!

Trevor J. Wilson

Original comments no longer active.

Comments

Yasemin saysJune 27, 2016 at 1:03 PMHi Ttevor,
just wanted to let you know that I really loved your post. You made a point there. I never thought about bread baking the way you described it but it makes sense. I always try to include the bread baking into my fulltime work schedule and up until now it worked out just fine.
By the way the pictures are sooo good. I´m tempted to bite into my Notebook 😉Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge with us!YaseminReply
- Trevor Wilson saysJuly 3, 2016 at 9:54 AMThank you Yasemin! I appreciate your kind words! I think it’s important for us to fit bread baking around our schedule, and not the other way around. Unless you’re a full-time baker, of course. Bread baking should be enjoyable, and if you feel that the bread is controlling your life it will be difficult to enjoy the process. If you don’t enjoy the process then you won’t be making good bread. It’s just the nature of the craft. So by all means, continue to fit baking into your schedule in whatever way suits you best. Keep it fun and you’ll keep making great bread. Cheers!TrevorReply
Paul Johnston saysJuly 21, 2016 at 5:50 AMI started of my bread making days with the “No Knead” method that Jim Lahey published about 10 years ago and found that I had a much better bread the longer that I let it set… In the end I would not like the flavor of the bread with any shorter time that 24 hrs… and could definitely taste the flour in a 12-14 hr rise… I think I noticed that some of your breads recipes are on the short side of the 24 hrs… am I reading them wrong??AND… OH my GOSH… Your breads are AWESOME!! Looking!! and your blog is awesome tooooo BIG THANKSAND…AND… How about that Cuisinart Knife?? Is that your knife of choiceReply
- Trevor Wilson saysJuly 21, 2016 at 3:30 PMHey Paul, I’m glad you like my blog. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the original “No Knead” method a process for making yeasted bread? If so, then that could explain why you preferred a 24 hour fermentation to the 12 hour. Commercial yeast produces a mild flavor with very little acidity. In order to really taste the effects of the yeast in a direct-mix method such as “No Knead” then the proof will need to be exceptionally long.That’s why artisan bakers use preferments such as poolish when they make their yeasted breads. By letting a mixture of flour, water and yeast sit and ferment for 12 hours or so before they add it to the dough, they’ve essentially prolonged the fermentation phase and added that much more flavor. Since “No Knead” doesn’t use preferments then the dough itself must ferment for a very long time in order to get your preferred flavor.The breads I typically make are sourdough breads. No commercial yeast. The sourdough starter acts as a preferment and leaven in one. And since sourdough starters contain much more in the way of acids and other organic flavor compounds and aromatics than does commercial yeast, the flavor is inherently stronger. So if you think about it from a certain perspective, my bread is actually pretty close to 24 hours old. The starter itself is about 12 hours old when I use it, and then the dough itself fermemts for another 6-10 hours (on average). So we’re looking at 18-22 hours of total fermentaion time or so.Additionally, because sourdough fermentation creates more and more acid the longer the fermentation lasts, there’s a danger to letting sourdough breads ferment for too long. In the short term, acid strengthens gluten. But in the long term, it breaks it down. That’s known as gluten degradation. So if your sourdough sits out at room temperature for 24 hours there’s a fair chance the gluten will begin to degrade (usually starts happening somewhere around the 12 hour mark, plus or minus a few hours depending upon various conditions). Essentially, your dough begins to dissolve. If the process continues for too long then you end up with something that resembles something more akin to sticky runny glue than to dough.I know that was a very long answer to a simple question — I hope I didn’t waste either your time or mine.As for the Cuisinart knife, it definitely is not my knife of choice — it’s just what I bought at the time with the money I had. I prefer bread knives that are 10″ long (this one is 8″) and that have more of a wave-tooth blade to them rather than the saw-tooth blade this one has. I’m sure Cuisinart makes other models that are closer to my preferences, but this is the one that was available at the time.Cheers!TrevorReply
  - Paul Johnston saysJuly 21, 2016 at 11:46 PMAre you kidding… actually… I have JUST started using sourdough 4 -5 months ago so I totally followed what you were saying… so you did NOT waste my time and thank you for such an in depth answer… I believe that I will need to read and reread yer stuff… unfortunately I want all of the answers NOW!! and I am a VERY SLOW reader… I think that I may have learned most to the lingo that goes with making Artisan Bread… but NOT a full understanding of how each of the relationships work with each other… ie how time and temperature work together… like what the temperature needs to be when and how long it needs to rest in the bulk ferment… thank you for taking time to answer my question and taking time to put this site up GREAT STUFF!!Paul Johnston
    American Fork, UTReply
    - Trevor Wilson saysJuly 23, 2016 at 10:58 AMThank you Paul! I totally understand what you mean when you say you want all the answers now. But I’ll tell ya, the real joy in sourdough baking is the challenge that’s inherent in the process. If it was easy to make good bread, then you would have no appreciation for it. That’s why you’ll often see bakers referring to the process as the “baking journey”. It really is a journey. And the satisfaction grows more and more the further you travel. Because when you look back and see how far you’ve come, that’s the real joy.Cheers!TrevorReply
Peter Jaworski saysNovember 18, 2016 at 12:20 PMHi Trevor,
Fabulous videos on bread baking! I have been baking bread using guides from Dan Leader and Jeffrey Hamelman for over 25 years and I never stop learning because the result can always be either better or consistent. One question, I have. The photo of the flat loaf in “What is the Best Way to Make Bread?”. What is the technique for a flat bread like that?Thanks, PeterReply
Joy roxborough saysApril 11, 2017 at 7:33 AMVery inspiring post!Reply
Cecilia saysJuly 30, 2017 at 5:53 PMI like your very interesting articles and videos. Have learned a lot from them. Better than a lot of books that I have read from famous Bakers! Thank you!Reply