Below are some tips that I use to ensure the highest rising bread:
Plan to grease your pans-I use Vegelene spray but any spray will work. Straight oil or butter may cause your loaves to stick to the pan.
Put a pot of soup on to simmer or a large pot of water to create the proper humidity in your kitchen. This will help the bread to rise. Be sure to have all air conditioners off and windows closed. A breeze will inhibit the rising.
Once all of the dough is kneaded, cover with a light towel and let it rise until double-approximately 30-50 minutes. Once it‘s doubled, gently deflate it and fold it until the air is out(perhaps 8-10 gentle kneads) and let it rise again until double(20-30 minutes). Gently deflate again and let rest for 10 minutes covered
Keep an empty metal pan on the bottom of your oven while it‘s preheating. Once the dough is in the oven to bake, pour warm water about halfway up the pan and quickly close the door. Spritz the sides of the oven with cold water every two minutes 3 times. This will help to create a nice oven-spring(higher rising loaf) due to the excess steam that you are creating.
Do not use cold flour for bread baking. At least have it at room temperature.
Be sure that the SAF instant yeast does not touch the water. The water should be between 110 and up to 130 degrees for the yeast to wake up.
You can begin to shape the dough and there are two ways to go about it:
Shape the dough into a ‘log’ and ‘eyeball’ to cut each piece with a bench knife(or chef‘s knife) the size that you think will fit into your greased pan. I like to fill the pan ¾ of the way full.
Or you can weigh your dough. Just figure out how much you want in the pan whether it will be ½ or ¾ full and divide accordingly.
To properly shape the loaf, you can roll it out with a rolling pin or flatten it with your hands into a rectangle that is about the width of the pan. Roll this up jelly-roll style and place the seam on the bottom. Pinch and seal the sides and bottom, pulling ‘taught’ while you shape the loaf into a nice ‘mound’. Place it into the pan shaping and pulling down toward the bottom of the pan as needed. It should have a nicely domed peak in the middle. For a more delicate crumb, let this rise until double and punch down once more to deflate and shape all over again.
Let the loaf rise until double or 2-3 inches above the pan-depending on how much dough you filled it with. This will take approximately 20-30 minutes depending on the humidity. On extremely warm and rainy days the dough will rise faster.
Preheat the oven to 350 while the loaves are rising. Or, for a crisper crust, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Once you place the bread in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350 degrees. Bake 3-4 minutes less than usual.
Place the risen loaves in the oven-being careful not to let them touch.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes depending on your oven‘s accuracy. If you are not sure, purchase an oven timer to find out.
