Top Five bread baking strategies that helped elevate my baking from flavorless bricks to beautiful delicious loaves.

Top Five bread baking strategies that helped elevate my baking from flavorless bricks to beautiful delicious loaves.

Author: House of Bread January 7, 2025 Duration: 21:17

Happy New Year!

1. Embrace the fact you will have failures, and it is all part of the journey.  

 2. While embracing the learning curves you still want to set yourself up for success by using the right type of flour.    

3.  Recognize the correct moisture content needed to produce a loaf of bread.   

4. Understand it is not an exact science and embrace the fact that there is no set rising time as it all depends. 

5.  Just as all environments are different producing different fermentation times, same with ovens.  They produce variations in the product while baking at the same temperture setting. Focus effort on getting the product properly baked.   

Have fun and relax you’ll get it right and above all else make sure you are Happy Baking!     Sheila

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If you’d like more information about House of Bread, please visit www.houseofbread.com.   For our Utube channel, please go here https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCXH5NgT8vpnAuSuZN5AxEQQ.    




Sheila McCann, the founder of Baking with House of Bread, has spent a lifetime with her hands in flour. This podcast is an extension of that journey, a shared space where the quiet science and profound satisfaction of bread-making come to life. Each episode feels like a conversation in a sunlit kitchen, moving far beyond simple recipes. Sheila delves into the why behind the techniques, discussing the personality of different grains, the magic of a wild sourdough starter, and the small adjustments that turn a good loaf into a great one. You’ll hear the practical sounds of baking-the scrape of a dough scraper, the rustle of parchment, the crackle of a perfectly crusted bake-alongside stories from her own trials and errors at the helm of House of Bread. It’s for anyone who finds rhythm in kneading dough or curiosity in fermentation. The focus is on creating nourishing, flavorful breads that anchor a home, exploring everything from sturdy whole-grain sandwich loaves to intricate festive pastries. Tune in for a thoughtful, hands-on dialogue that celebrates bread not just as food, but as craft, tradition, and a simple, daily joy. This podcast naturally finds its home in the intersection of art and sustenance, inviting you to listen, learn, and bake along.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Baking with House of Bread
Podcast Episodes
Stollen, the German Christmas loaf [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:19
Show Notes: STOLLEN Two loaf yield. I know I said I was Irish in my intro, I’m also half German. My Grandma McCann was German and her Stollen, was delicious. The bread is shaped like how you would wrap a baby in a blanke…
Day of the Dead=El Dia De Los Muertos [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:11
Sheila covers how to make the calaveras skull type bread and the pad de muertos which are the more traditionally shaped loaves. The base is a sweet egg bread with a hint of citrus. The topping is festive as it is in cele…
Snickerdoodle Cookies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:33
What's with the funny name and how to make one of the most popular cookies in the US. SNICKERDOODLES In a bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside. 5 1/2 cups of flour-pastry or all purpose 1 tsp of salt…
For better bread nail your second proof [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:47
While proofing may be the most passive step in bread baking — you literally sit back and wait — it’s also one of the most crucial. Most people focus on the first rise, while the second proofing stage of knowing when to p…
Salt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:52
Next to flour of some type, salt is in all baking recipes. While extremely important, the type to get depends upon what type of baking you are doing. That being said, there is no reason to spend $12.95 on 15 oz of table…
Kings Cake 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:23
I previously did an entire episode on King's Cake. This one offers tips from the McKinney Franchisee who is the queen of King Cake sales. The cakes have a baby inside and are shaped like a big huge donut. For King Cakes,…
Triple Chocolate Bread [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:29
A decadent yeasted chocolate bread that you can shape in a heart for the perfect Valentine's Day gift. Plenty of chocolate and a bit of sugar to make sure you are delighted for breakfast toast, or an evening dessert. If…