What are your dreams and goals for 2025?  Are they on your calendar and have you had conversations with your family or friends about putting them into action?

On cold days when it’s tempting to be less active, why not use a family meal to discuss the next vacation or project to do at home?  Having everyone involved not only helps get them excited about the discussion, but it also teaches them the process of setting goals and the discipline of achieving them. 

During the winter season, I enjoy spending more time in the kitchen, whether it’s baking or trying out a new recipe.  I love yeast breads and while I don’t make them as much as I used to, I do love to try out my bread machine and wake to a wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread. 

Attention bread bakers - some handy tips to put into use

In cleaning out some files, I found the following tips for baking bread that might help us be successful if we are trying a new recipe:

1. A scant tablespoon of bulk yeast is equal to one package of yeast; keep it stored in your refrigerator.  Always check the expiration date before using or “proof” the yeast by adding 1 tablespoon of sugar and ¼ cup water to 1 tablespoon of yeast to see if it activates before adding to your recipe.

2. Hot water kills yeast, so be careful when adding water to recipes.  The perfect temperature for allowing yeast to rise is 110 degrees.

3. Using milk in recipes will result in a finer texture bread than if using water.

4. Eggs add color, flavor, and some leavening to the bread.  One egg equals ¼ cup egg substitute.  Make sure eggs are at room temperature when adding them to the recipe, so as not to chill the yeast mixture.

5. Fats such as butter and margarine add flavor, tenderness and lengthen the life of the bread by adding moisture. 

6. Use bread flour for making heavier breads and most yeast breads.  The higher protein allows greater gluten to be developed during the kneading process.  Don’t add too much flour as the bread will become tough, knead until it’s glossy and not sticky.

7. To make self-rising flour, mix 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons baking powder, store in a tightly covered container.

8. When in doubt, always sift flour before measuring

9. When baking in glass pans, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees

10. When baking bread, place a small dish of water in the oven to help keep the crust from getting too hard or too brown

I’m sure for many of you, this is not new information.  I hope that as you are sharing recipes with family members who are learning the basics you might include the reasons “why” things are done the way they are for best results.  On these cold winter days, why not try a loaf of bread to go with your favorite soup for a meal that will taste as good as it smells!

Melinda Hill is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or hill.14@osu.edu
CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.