FAQ for alt.bread.recipes

How this FAQ is organized

Basic Concepts establishes the baseline for more detailed discussions found later in the FAQ. We strongly recommend that even experienced bakers at least skim this section to avoid misunderstanding statements made elsewhere. For both novice bakers and those who are merely new to the newsgroup, a thorough reading of this section is essential. The Vocabulary section defines terms that are used elsewhere in the FAQ.

In the Sample Recipe section, some of the key concepts introduced in Basic Concepts are applied to a single recipe for a standard white bread made by hand. This is a teaching recipe. Steps are explained in detail, including the reasons for doing specific things in a particular order or a particular way.

The astute reader will be able to apply the lessons learned in this section to other classes of bread and to bread made by other methods.

The Basic Concepts and Sample Recipe sections form the foundation for the remainder of the FAQ.

Techniques examines how to do things in at least one way that works. Often there are alternative ways of accomplishing something in the process of making bread; so you should not expect the section to include every variant.

Tools and Equipment, discusses both the essentials and the nice-to-haves, for making bread by hand or by machine, in the home kitchen. There is also some discussion of commercial equipment as a point of reference.

Ingredients in Depth is where you learn to say, "Flour? What do you mean by that? What kind of flour? Who grew it? On which field?" Okay, that's an exaggeration.

The Chemistry of Bread is an outline of the chemical changes that occur from the time the grain enters the mill until you're ready to make breadcrumbs.

The Troubleshooting Guide can help you determine the cause for problems you may observe in your baking.

Resouces is an extensive list, organized in categories, of places where you may obtain additional information on the topics covered briefly (but we hope insightfully) in this FAQ. This section includes annotated bibliographies as well as Web resources, and it is the starting point if you are looking for sources for ingredients or tools, demonstation videos, historical information, or recipes.