If you like these, there are more on the Virtuous Bread Youtube and Vimeo Channels
One way to Proof Dry Yeast
How to proof dry yeast – Step One of baking a basic loaf of bread from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
One way of kneading dough by hand – it’s all in the stretching
How to knead bread by hand – Step 2/4 of how to bake a basic loaf of bread from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
One way to shape dough for that perfect “sandwich loaf”
One way to shape bread for a basic loaf – step 3/4 of baking a basic loaf of bread from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How do I know when the bread is done?
How to know when bread is done – step 4/4 of baking a basic loaf of bread from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to shape rye dough and pop it in a tin
How to shape baguettes
Shaping bread dough into a baguette from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to mix scalded flour into dough
Kneading scalded flour bread dough from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to knead scalded flour in dough
Kneading scalded flour bread dough from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to shape dough into a loose and a tight ball
How to shape dough into a loose and a tight ball from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to shape buns
Shaping bread dough into rolls or buns from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to shape dough into a sausage
Shaping dough into a sausage from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to knead soft and sticky dough
Kneading very sticky bread dough from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
How to stretch and fold dough
How to stretch and fold bread dough from Virtuous Bread on Vimeo.
Dear Madam,
Please can you tell me how you get 250grms of water which is a dry weight, surely it must be mls or pints, this is in the simple rye loaf, which says 300grms of rye and 250grms of water. Thank you
Barbara Elmore
Hi there, I put a jug on a digital scale and weight it for more precision. However, a gram is a ml so if you only have cups, measure in mls and you have the same thing.
Thank you for these videos, they are SOOO helpful!
Thank you! I am sooo pleased!
Thank you! That is so kind of you – I am delighted they are helpful – sometimes it is so much easier to see things in video than any other way!
When a recipe on this site calls for plain flour, is that the same as All purpose flour? I live in Canada. We also have cake flour.
Thanks
Hi there, yes, the closest flour is All Purpose. It’s not a perfect match, but it’s a good one!
Thank you for your time! You are an incredible teacher!!
Thank you!!! Lovely to hear from you.
Dear Jane,
I am from the United States and have recently just started baking breads and cakes. I love baking and would love to learn as much as I can about specifically bread. The first book I bought for learning is your “All you knead is bread”. I loved the recipes there and thought the instructions are simple enough for me to try. Before this I have used youtube videos for some months to just bake any bread recipe that I could find. I watched your videos on vimeo as well. So far I have tried the Semlor and the Milk Bread recipes from your book and have done them atleast 5 times now. Every time though my dough doesn’t turn out to be stikcy. It seems dry and it doesn’t rise. I use dry yeast and have followed your recipes to the T. For the Semlor I put the dough in the fridge to rise and it did until a certain point. But when I tried shaping it the dough just broke apart. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong as I am doing exactly what is written. I am in desperate need of your help since there are no teachers around me to really answer my question. I cover my dough airtight as well just the way you said. I used all purpose flour just like in the recipe and proofed the yeast just like that. But it’s still not sticky enough for me to pull and stretch and seems very heavy. Please help. Look forward to hearing back.
Best,
Parisa
Hi Parisa
without seeing the dough it’s hard to tell. The first thing I would recommend is don’t proof anything in the fridge until you are used to what it “should” be like when it prooves outside of the fridge. If your dough is dry it could be that you need to add a bit more liquid. All flour is different and perhaps your flour is very dry. Also get a scale and measure everything in grams. That is the best way to bake. When you heat milk, heat more than you need, cool it and THEN measure out the milk called for in the recipe. However, if the dough is at all dry and “breaky” add more liquid. Without being in front of you it’s hard to tell you HOW soft/sticky the dough should be. Are you proofing the yeast? If you are proofing the yeast so that it forms a beige sludge on the top of the liquid, you know it’s alive. If you are not proofing it, you may be should be (it depends what type of yeast you are using), nor do you know if it’s alive. If the dough is not rising at all, the yeast is not working. Truly, get a scale and make sure the yeast is alive – try that! Let me know.
Hi Jane,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I will try out the things that you mentioned in your reply and see if I get a different result. I do have a picture of my dough but can’t seem to find a place here where I can upload and show you (if I can please let me know) I’m pretty sure you would instantly be able to tell me what went wrong if you saw the dough. I wish you were here in the States so I could take your amazing lessons! Please do consider coming this side some time 🙂 I will let you know how it turns out on my next try.