Tips for Perfect Bakes by Paul Hollywood

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Here are some of top tips by Paul Hollywood to ensure your bakes are perfect every time.

Lighter crusts

For a better crust, set your oven to around 220°C/425°F/Gas7 and leave a roasting tray in the bottom of the oven to heat up. When the oven reaches the right temperature and just as you put the bread in to bake, fill the tray with cold water. This creates a steam bath in the oven which helps the bread to have a lighter crust and prevents tearing.

Is your dough kneaded enough?

To check if your dough is kneaded enough, pull out a piece of dough between your hands. It should be able to stretch to 20cm without breaking.

Crunchy crusts

To give your crusts a lovely crunch, add a light coating of fine semolina to your dough.

Sticky-hand syndrome

Use oil rather than flour on the table when kneading, as this will not alter the dough’s consistency and will prevent too much sticky-hand syndrome.

Warm the milk

When adding milk to dough, make sure that you warm it a little first. This is because the fat in the milk can slow down the action of the yeast slightly, and warming it balances this out.

Try a tin loaf first

When making bread for the first time, always use a tin so you can work on getting  your dough right. In the tin, the only way for the dough to go is up. Once you have got your dough right, then move on to free form loaves.

Keep salt and yeast apart

When mixing your ingredients during bread-making, always add the salt and yeast to opposite sides of the bowl as the salt can kill the yeast.

Blind baking

When blind baking, instead of buying ceramic beans you can simply use rice or lentils.

Don’t worry about using an airing cupboard

You don’t need to put rising dough in the airing cupboard or anywhere particularly warm in an attempt to speed things up. A slower rise gives more flavour to the bread.

photo credit : paulhollywood.com