I love baking bread — the feel of kneading silky dough, the magic of watching it rise and the smell of it baking in a hot oven. If you love baking bread too, or if you’ve always wanted to learn, you’ve got to check out the Bread Baking Basics app by Michael Ruhlman. This clever app gives an overview of Bread Baking Basics and then lets you create custom recipes with the flours you’ve got on hand using ratios. Ruhlman, a writer, cook and renowned food authority, has co-authored cookbooks with famous chefs, including Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert. The man knows his stuff and his writing style keeps the process simple and approachable for novice bakers. If you’ve got experience with the peel, you’ll appreciate this handy app that enables you to be less reliant on recipes and more focused on technique.
Interested in getting your hands in some dough? Keep reading …
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Getting Started
The app has four basic screens: Reference, Ingredients, Recipe and Settings. The home screen, Reference, is a collection of articles covering Bread Baking Basics. It’s straightforward text and while the articles are easy to read, the presentation doesn’t really take advantage of the mobile platform. Scrolling and reading paragraph after paragraph on a mobile phone isn’t very fun, and it would be nice to see some more attention to design in this area. Still, Michael Ruhlman’s overview of the bread baking method is imperative to this app, and each article presents valuable information on things such as Ingredients, Bread Types, Shapes, etc.
The app design is simple, straightforward and easy to understand. The home screen is a valuable collection of articles explaining every component of the bread baking method.
Learn about the different types of flour and yeast, as well as how to make your own starter. Read an overview of the tools used to make bread, like a mixer, baking stone and Dutch oven. Understand the role shape plays and differentiate between bread types, from Sourdough to No-Knead Bread to Rye. The app even gives instructions and ratios for adding flavorings and garnishes to your custom loaf. Try fun flavor combinations, like olives and pine nuts or rosemary and garlic. Ruhlman shares good tips for enhancing flavor by replacing the water in a recipe with beer or apple cider. It’s all covered in Bread Baking Basics. Ruhlman is true to his writing and researching background, sharing his list of Great Books on Bread for further reading.
The Reference section contains a ton of good information, but could use a little design love, left. Before getting started, skip over to the Settings to save your preferences, right.
Once you’ve got an understanding of the big picture, you may want to hop over to the Settings screen and save your preferences. You’ll find convenient options for units of measurement, like English or Metric. Note whether you prefer to knead dough by hand or use a mixer and if you plan on baking in a Dutch oven. Ruhlman makes the method accessible by giving multiple ways to perform the same task. If you own a fancy stand mixer, he’s got instructions for using it to knead the dough. Don’t have the money to shell out for expensive tools? The app has good directions for using your best tool — your hands! Once you set your preferences they are reflected in the recipes, which is a nice touch!
Customizing Recipes
Select the Ingredients tab to Customize Your Bread. This feature is genius because it generates a recipe based on the type of flour, shape and number of loaves you want to bake. Different shaped loaves (like baguette or the circular boule) require different baking times in the oven. You can even choose to make pizza dough or ciabatta! The app provides a good selection of breads: White, Sourdough, Whole Wheat, No-Knead, Multigrain, Rye and combinations of these.
Select the Ingredients tab to Customize Your Bread by personalizing information in drop down menus, left. I chose to bake two sourdough boules, right.
This app uses Michael Ruhlman’s ratios to formulate recipes. It’s freeing to know you can bake a loaf of bread with any flour, some yeast, water and salt. Change any factor and watch the recipe steps and photos update instantly. Bread Baking Basics has got it covered, whether you want to bake one baguette — or six. No need to run to the store at the last minute for specific ingredients, Michael Ruhlman gives you the tools to bake a simple loaf of bread with whatever flour you’ve got in the pantry.
Baking the Bread
So the preferences are set and you’re ready to get your hands into some flour. Go to the Recipe tab to find your customized instructions. The steps are short and clear, each accompanied by a photo. Scroll through each step or tap the plus sign in the top right corner to enlarge each photo, swiping through one step at a time.
The steps for my customized Sourdough Boule recipe appear in the Recipe section, left. You can enlarge the photos and swipe through one step at a time, right.
It’s good to have the photos as a guide, but kneading bread is best learned by a demo. A video of this technique would be helpful to novice bakers. But really, anyone can turn out a decent loaf with all the information provided in this app. Also, if you make any changes in the settings they are immediately reflected in your recipe. The app functions beautifully with no crashing issues or bugs so you can just focus on enjoying the bread-baking process.
Conclusion
Bread Baking Basics is a good solid app that’s easy to use and loaded with valuable information. The recipe calculator makes bread baking simple so home bakers can bust out a fresh loaf with whatever flour is on hand. With Michael Ruhlman at your side there’s no need to be intimidated by baking bread. He demystifies the process with a good overview of the basics and clear instructions. If you’re interested in adding homemade bread to your regular routine, Bread Baking Basics is a must-have resource.