Basic Milk Bread

Ingredients

• ### Ingredients Needed
• Bread flour or all-purpose flour *(use bread flour if possible, but **avoid cake flour**. All "all-purpose flour" without special instructions refers to all-purpose flour)*
• Eggs *(size and weight are not critical)*
• Sugar *(syrup is best if available)*
• Dry yeast
• Salt
• Milk or light cream or condensed milk or milk powder *(**milk powder** is best for a rich milky flavor, but **do not use any compound milk powder**, such as adult milk powder or infant formula, because its chemical properties are unstable. You can also mix two dairy products together. Try to **avoid ingredients with added sugar**, because the actual sugar content will exceed the amount suggested in this recipe)*
• Butter or corn oil *(if the **dairy product chosen has extremely high fat content, you can omit this**. For butter, use unsalted animal butter if possible. Soybean oil may have a beany smell, so try not to use it.)*
• Vital wheat gluten (optional)
• Vanilla extract (optional)
• ### Necessary Tools
• Oven *(**do not use an oven without temperature control**)*
• Measuring cup
• Cloth
• Rolling pin
• Parchment paper or mold
• ### Optional Materials, Tools, and Introductions to Materials and Tools
• >
• >
• >Baking is an independent culinary category, so its tools differ greatly from those used in everyday cooking. Common tools are introduced below.
• >
• >- ① Measuring cup: measures ingredients. Measuring cups generally use cups as the unit. Do not shake when measuring, to prevent measuring too little of an ingredient.
• >- ② Spatula: also called a silicone spatula, used for stirring and scraping batter, etc. attached to the edges of containers.
• >- ③ Cloth: covers the surface of the dough to prevent excessive moisture loss during preparation. During preparation, choose a damp or dry cloth according to the actual situation. It is recommended to use a steamer liner cloth (not a disposable liner), or plastic wrap can also be used.
• >- ④ Oven: bakes ingredients. Ovens are divided into small economical ovens and large professional ovens. Because economical ovens have poor sealing, they may heat unevenly; in this case, lower the temperature and extend the baking time. The oven must be preheated first. Later chapters will discuss this in detail.
• >- ⑤ Bench scraper: scrapes dough off the work surface and cuts dough into appropriate sizes. A clean knife can also be used instead.
• >- ⑥ Rolling pin: presses dough flat.
• >- ⑦ Spray bottle: evenly covers the surface of dough or containers with water or oil, used for crispy crusts and preventing sticking.
• >- ⑧ Sifter: evenly spreads flour or filters out lumps and impurities in flour.
• >- ⑨ Work surface or silicone mat: performs kneading operations on top of it, preventing contamination of the dough and surrounding areas.
• >- ⑩ Brush: used to brush egg wash onto dough, making the finished product brighter, more attractive, and glossy.
• >- 11. Parchment paper: prevents sticking to items during baking, which would make the baked product difficult to unmold. Parchment paper is heat-resistant and has no safety issues. Some parchment papers have a front and back side, so pay attention when using them.
• >- 12. Mold: helps shape bread during baking. There are no excessive requirements for bread baking molds, but for cake baking molds, the material must be anodized aluminum and it is best to spray an oil mixture to help the cake rise.
• >- Vital wheat gluten: this is protein extracted from wheat, which forms a network structure after absorbing water. It is widely used in daily life, such as in gluten.
• >- Vanilla extract: vanilla extract is a natural food flavoring highly purified from vanilla. It is often used to make vanilla-flavored foods and also to neutralize eggy smells and other off-flavors.

Steps

1. ### Making the Starter
2. The starter is the product of pre-fermentation. Through pre-fermentation, not only can the success rate be improved, but the longer fermentation time will also make the bread's flavor better. If conditions permit, the starter should ferment for 4 days to achieve the best flavor. But for beginners, a starter fermented for 30 minutes already produces a very impressive finished product. Next, make the starter.
3. First, mix the yeast and ***30°C warm water*** evenly with a spatula or kitchen tool, and let stand for 5 minutes. Then mix with the flour and stir evenly. At this point, the starter should be a **particularly thick** batter.
4. Cover the batter with a cloth and place it in a **warm place** to ferment for 45 to 60 minutes.
5. The final batter should have many bubbles on the surface and be noticeably larger in volume.
6. **Fermentation failed? Look here:**
7. >1. Make sure the yeast has not expired
8. >2. Make sure the water temperature is suitable
9. >3. Extend the fermentation time; it can be placed in the refrigerator overnight
10. >4. The temperature may be too low; in this case, preheat the oven to 60°C, turn off the heat, and place it in the oven to ferment
11. >5. You can add an equal amount of yeast, stir evenly, ferment again, and extend the fermentation time
12. >6. You can try adding 3 g of sugar and ferment again
13. **How to make a "permanent" starter?**
14. >With a starter, baking bread whenever you want is no longer a dream! A "permanent" starter can be made as follows:
15. >
16. >1. After making the starter as above, place it in a cool place (even the refrigerator!). Every 1-3 days, sprinkle a thin layer of flour on top (just enough that the batter is no longer visible!). Stir again, then continue covering with a cloth and fermenting. If it ferments too quickly and becomes too large, you can discard part of it.
17. >2. When you start making bread, simply keep the amount of starter from before fermentation to continue fermenting, and use the rest for making bread.
18. >3. Over time, the starter will develop a unique aroma, and this aroma is the best "ingredient" for bread!
19. ### Making the Dough
20. With the starter, you are halfway there!
21. 1. Mix and stir all the remaining ingredients with the starter using a spatula. When stirring, be sure to scrape the sides so everything is fully mixed. When a dough forms and there is no dry flour, use one clean, dry hand to press the dough while the other hand holds the container, forming a large dough, then turn it out onto a work surface or silicone mat to work with it.
22. >At this point the dough should already be formed and relatively soft. If it cannot form and is very sticky, that means there is too little flour; you can add ¼ cup of flour and stir thoroughly again until it forms. If the dough has formed but there is a lot of dry flour, that means the kneading time is insufficient. In this case, increase the kneading time.
23. >
24. >When pressing the dough, use your fist to push the dough out, then fold it and push it out again, repeating this process to knead all the flour on the container walls into the dough.
25. 2. Use the lower part of your palm to push the dough out, then fold it and push it out again, until there are no dry flour lumps on the surface. At this point the dough is still not very smooth.
26. >If you use a work surface during this process, there may be a small amount of sticking; in this case, use a bench scraper or knife to scrape it off.
27. >
28. >If the dough has formed but is relatively hard, that means there is too little water. In this case, use a wet hand or spray bottle to evenly cover the surface with water and cover with a damp cloth to rest and ferment for 20 minutes, repeating as needed.
29. 3. Use a spray bottle to spray a layer of vegetable oil into a container at least three times the size of the current dough (or spread it evenly by hand), place the dough in, cover with a cloth, and ferment for 1 hour.
30. >If fermentation problems occur, please refer to the solutions for failed fermentation under starter making.
31. >
32. >After fermentation, the surface of the dough should be sticky. If it is not, use a wet hand or spray bottle to evenly cover the surface with water and ferment again for 20 minutes.
33. 4. At this point the dough should be twice its original size. Sprinkle a thin layer of flour on the work surface or silicone mat (just enough that the work surface or silicone mat is still visible), then take out the dough and press it flat with your hands to release gas.
34. 5. Then use a rolling pin to roll it into a 1 cm thick sheet. Roll it up tightly from one side without leaving gaps.
35. 6. Then rotate 90° and repeat steps 4 and 5.
36. 7. Shape the bread and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a greased mold. Make sure the seam side faces down.
37. >You can evenly spray a layer of oil on the baking sheet or spread a thin layer of butter before placing the parchment paper on it. This way the parchment paper will not move around.
38. 8. Ferment in the tray or mold for 30 to 45 minutes.
39. >If fermentation problems occur, please refer to the solutions for failed fermentation under starter making.
40. 9. At the same time, preheat the oven.
41. >Oven preheating: set the oven to the highest temperature and bake empty for at least 20 minutes.
42. 10. Use scissors or a knife to cut several slashes on the bread as a pattern.
43. 11. Brush with egg wash using a brush. (Optional)
44. 11. Place in the oven and bake with both upper and lower heat at 180°C for 30 minutes, then adjust to 165°C and bake for another 10 minutes.
45. >Different ovens have different temperatures. During baking, observe the bread. If there is no obvious color change after 30 minutes, the temperature is too low. In this case, increase by 5 to 10°C or bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer.
46. >After baking ends, taste the bread. If the surface of the bread is bitter (note: as long as it is not bitter, it does not count as overbaked), then the temperature is too high; try lowering it by 5 to 10°C or reducing the baking time by 5 to 10 minutes;
47. >If the outside is already caramel-colored but the inside is not cooked, lower by 5 to 15°C and extend the baking time by 10 to 20 minutes.
48. >
49. >If the bread surface is very hard or cracks severely, you can cover the bread with aluminum foil and remove the foil in the last ten minutes, or invert another baking sheet and place it in the topmost position, then remove the foil or baking sheet in the last 10 minutes.
50. 12. After cooling, place in a food bag and it can be kept for one week. Frozen, it can be kept for one month.
51. >After being sealed in a food bag overnight, the inside and surface of the bread will soften further. So the best time to taste it is the next morning.