Breadmaking 101

Lesson 2: Getting Started

Baking Your Bread

After the batter is mixed until the dry ingredients are just wet and everything is incorporated (no streaks of egg or milk running through the batter) pour it into your prepared pan. It will be pretty thick, and you should try to spread it relatively evenly. You can just give it a swipe across the top with your spoon to make sure it’s all level. Then stick it in the middle of the oven and bake according to the recipe’s instructions.

Some recipes can be really vague about baking times. The first quick bread I ever made, which taught me my unorthodox mixing method because of its complete lack of instructions, has a baking time of 30 minutes to an hour. I find that it usually takes about 45 minutes. It’s important to check on your bread, especially if you haven’t made the recipe before, starting 10-15 minutes before the recipe suggests it may be done. This is especially important if your oven has hot spots or is inaccurate, so you can turn the bread if your oven browns unevenly.

There are a couple of ways to tell if your bread is done. First, it should look dry. It should be pulled away slightly from the sides of the pan and at least lightly browned on the edges. But the most failsafe way to tell if bread is done is by sticking a toothpick a couple of inches into the bread in the center of the loaf. When you pull it out, if it’s clean, the bread is done. If some batter sticks, check again every minute or two. Another good tip is that your bread will start to smell done as it gets close to being done.

Once you’ve taken your finished bread out of the oven, remove it from the pan. Books like “The Best Quick Breads” will tell you to let it cool at least 30 minutes before you cut into it, so it won’t crumble, but try to wait as long as you can stand it before cutting.

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