There’s sure is nothing that says home like the smell of fresh-baked bread. Except for, possibly, when the baker takes it up a notch and the bread in the oven is banana bread. read full article…

Homemade bread shouldn’t be dense. You can make light airy loaves that are every bit as good as the bread from the local bakery. The secret is in using quality ingredients and getting your bread to rise properly. read full article…

It depends. The best way to tell if the dough has risen enough is not by time—though it helps to set the timer so you don’t forget about your dough—but by look and feel. It will look soft and bloated. When you touch the dough, read full article…

Often we field questions about making great bread. Great bread is a matter of using the right ingredients and the right techniques—there’s no single secret that will make perfect bread. But really great bread is readily attainable. read full article…

Can you make bread and buns in the mountains?

We got a call from California this week, “I can make great bread in L.A. but at my cabin in Montana, it doesn’t turn out so well.” read full article…

We’re partial to cornbread. We like its rustic texture and chewy goodness. We like its versatility—it works for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It complements eggs in the morning, a hearty soup for lunch, or a dinner meal such as pork chops or chicken. read full article…

When we started this project, we envisioned an overview of fried breads from around the world with a handful of accompanying recipes. read full article…

While challah is a traditional bread baked for the Jewish Sabbath, it has become popular with everyone, everywhere. It’s attractive and has a firm, egg-rich texture that works for dinner, sandwiches, or French toast. It is typically braided with three, four, or six strands of dough. (The braided strands are symbolic of love.) read full article…

A quick perusal of your baker’s shelves will tell you how popular multi-grain bread is. But it’s not hard to bake—you can make your own. You can use any recipe and add the cracked grain mixture though traditionally, a whole wheat recipe is used. The following instructions and recipe will tell you how. read full article…

Sourdough simply uses wild yeast in place of commercial yeast to leaven the bread. It relies on the wild yeasts that are in the air all around us and cultures those yeasts in a warm, wet environment created with water, flour, and sometimes other components. read full article…

This rustic Italian bread is unique. The dough is so wet that you don’t even shape the loaf—just scrape it onto the baking pan into any interesting shape. The resulting loaf is flat and irregular; Ciabatta in Italian means “old slipper”. read full article…

It depends. The best way to tell if the dough has risen enough is not by time—though it helps to set the timer so you don’t forget about your dough—but by look and feel. It will look soft and bloated. When you touch the dough, it will be soft and your finger will leave an indentation when lightly pressed against the dough. If it is not ripe, the dough will tend to slowly spring back. read full article…

Pizza has been around for thousands of years. When did out of the ordinary and delicious gourmet pizza make its debut? What would the forefathers of pizza think of this culinary masterpiece? read full article…

During a recent trip to San Francisco I came across the most famous sourdough bread made in the U.S.; the San Francisco Sourdough. This bread has remained in production for nearly 150 years and combined with an amazing soup that is placed inside the bread, it constitutes today one of the most popular dishes of the West U.S. Coast. read full article…