Appearance and presentation are all-important in contemporary North American dining rooms. The truth is, we consider bread almost like a glass of water by our plates, a standard fare.
You can bake a wonderful bread that looks like a showpiece in a classy baker’s window, yet few of your guest stop dinner conversation to ooh and aah when you bring in the bread basket filled with a spectacular, warm Italian Tuscan bread you just pulled from the oven. Few even ask if the bread is your own.
But a perfectly arranged and color-coordinated dinner on a plate, an artistically composed salad or a simple decorated poppy seed-chocolate torte will stop the most heated discussion, even if only for a moment.
A major reward you do get from baking your own bread is satisfaction in performing this seemingly demanding task and, of course, savoring it.
As far as difficulty is concerned, if you are organized, you keep your basic staples on your shelf replenished, and have a basic kitchen experience, you can assemble a quick bread batter in 15 to 20 minutes.
By the time you pour the batter in the pan, the oven is hot, and in 40 minutes you have the loaf cooling on the counter. It is ready to cut, butter and eat in another 15 minutes. Actual work time is 25 minutes, including slicing and cleanup.
Yeast breads take a considerably longer time, but surprisingly not much more total work time once you are a regular bread baker.
To assemble the ingredients and knead the dough takes 15 to 20 minutes, less if you use a food processor or mixer. The first rise takes about 1 to 1½ hours.
It takes only a few minutes to punch down the dough, shape it and place it in a pan for the second rise, which takes some 40 to 50 minutes. A bread bakes in another 40 to 50 minutes, rolls 15 minutes.
Total time is over 3 hours, but your actual working time, including slicing and cleanup, is about 25 minutes when hand kneading or 15 minutes when using a machine. Is this realistic? Once your bread baking is routine, it is and you can prove it to yourself.
Is yeast bread worth the wait? You bet! Other culinary achievements that rival the satisfaction of baking a great bread is stirring up a wonderful, hearty soup or baking a spectacular cake.